Meet the Emiratis making movies that take place entirely on computer screens
From horror to drama, comedy to action, Emirati filmmakers have tackled many genres to expand the scope of UAE storytelling on screen. The latest genre to captivate the nation's creatives is at the cutting edge of visual storytelling: screenlife. What is screenlife? It is a format that take place entirely on computer or smartphone screens. The viewer follows the story, seeing what the character sees, such a WhatsApp chat, a Zoom call, or a Google search. Films such as Unfriended, Searching and Missing have popularised the genre. They were all produced by Russian filmmaker Timur Bekmambetov, a pioneer of screenlife. Teaming up with Image Nation Abu Dhabi, Bekmambetov created the Screenlife Accelerator Programme, a competition in which budding UAE directors and screenwriters sent their scripts and treatments for a chance to be selected. Once picked, these scripts will be polished by Bekmambetov and his team to be produced into major motion pictures. The first winners of the programme were announced at the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair. Among those selected were Abdulbaset Qayed and Afra Al Marar, two Emirati filmmakers. The pair told The National of their plans for their films, and discussed Emirati cinema. Al Marar, a screenwriter from Abu Dhabi, says she was encouraged by friends to apply to the programme. Having completed multiple courses with Image Nation, she recalled a script she had written for a found-footage film and decided it could be transformed into a screenlife script. Al Marar's film, Hidden Melodies, follows Abdullah, a music composer who receives a song project file from a famous singer. Just 15 minutes later, the singer dies. The file holds clues that lead Abdullah to uncover a human trafficking ring. Qayed, a filmmaker from Dubai, says he had been writing scripts from a young age. After studying a different field in the US, he drifted away from writing. During the Covid-19 pandemic, his mother encouraged him to write again. He says: 'I started writing fiction again, especially horror. I'm a big fan of the found-footage subgenre. Within two weeks, I had a 70-page script. I began entering competitions, and some people really responded well to my work. That motivated me to keep going.' Qayed's screenlife script is titled The Disappearance. Inspired by a trip he took to Oman with a friend, the film follows Omar, a popular Emirati influencer who investigates crimes on his YouTube channel. 'One day, Omar gets a call from Nada – a woman whose husband went missing on a trip to Oman. The police gave up the search. Omar starts investigating using videos from the trip and sees something abnormal – something supernatural,' Qayed says. He and Al Marar say making screenlife films presents an opportunity to tell stories differently. Aside from requiring smaller budgets than more traditional film formats, Al Marar says screenlife films offer a very personal and immersive experience. She adds: 'We spend so much time on our devices [that] we're used to seeing screens and interpreting subtle cues from them. During the pandemic, we got even more comfortable peeking into people's lives via Zoom, so the format feels very natural now, especially to younger audiences.' Being part of the accelerator programme, she says, opened her eyes to using screenlife in projects she was already working on. 'As someone who directs commercials and corporate films for government projects, this experience shifted my mindset,' she says. 'Now, I even think about how to apply screenlife techniques to those projects. For example, instead of traditional filming, I might show a corporate announcement through a screen recording. It's opened up a new creative lens for me.' The pair believe there are many talented people in the UAE who need to find avenues to securing funding and screening for their films. Al Marar says she and Qayed are part of a generation that had the film festivals in Abu Dhabi and Dubai to look forward to, but newer generations do not have that space to screen their films any more. She adds: 'I post a black-and-white photo every October 1 from the old Abu Dhabi Film Festival. We miss it. That's where we watched new films, attended workshops and met international filmmakers like James Cameron, and Bollywood stars.' 'That's a key part of the ecosystem. We need champions to bring back strong festivals. Dubai International Film Festival was a powerful platform,' Qayed says. He also says filmmakers should not wait for festivals to happen again to put their films out. Films need to be written for new and different audiences around the world, he adds. 'We should aim to create content that resonates globally. When I write, I don't write only for Emiratis. I write with universal themes, so people from anywhere, even Brazil, can relate,' Qayed says. Al Marar says filmmakers should learn from the screenlife genre and be more nimble. Instead of waiting for grants to produce and market their films, they should find innovative ways to raise money so they can be active in an ever-shifting film landscape. 'We come from a culture where we've relied a lot on government grants, but we need to start shifting that mindset – towards private investors and self-sustaining projects,' says Al Marar.
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William Mullally is Arts & Culture Editor at The National. An award-winning culture writer, he's lived in the UAE since 2009 and chronicled the rise of the region's diverse creative scenes. He's served as Dubai Eye 103.8's film critic since 2013, and has contributed to Arab News, ET Bil Arabi, The Insider Arabia, GQ Middle East, Esquire Middle East, Al Arabiya, Savoir Flair and Harper's Bazaar Arabia. His long-running celebrity interview series has achieved more than 50 million views across his YouTube and TikTok channels.
