Section
Original title
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Synopsis
Hayat is an obstinate twelve-year-old who lives in a poor fishing village governed by a dark tradition in which every family must give one daughter to the sea creatures. In turn the sea creatures are hunted by the men of the village. Saved from this fate by her father, Hayat is considered a curse on the village and grows up an outcast. Nevertheless, she does not surrender to this fate and fights for a place within her village. After her mother gives birth to a baby boy, Hayat must accept the brutal custom of giving herself to the sea creatures or find a way to escape.
Cast
Basima Hajjar, Ashraf Barhoum, Yagoub Alfarhan, Fatima Al Taei, Haifa AlAgha, Hafssa Faisal, Abdulaziz Shtian
Films Distribution
AGC Studios
Production
Image Nation Abu Dhabi FZ, Film Solution, The Imaginarium Films
Editing
Shahad Ameen
Cinematography
João Ribeiro
Editing
Shahnaz Dulaimy, Ewa Johansson-Lind, Ali Salloum
Language
Arabic
Subtitles
Italian
Premiere
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Main awards
Verona Award (Settimana Internazionale della Critica, Mostra del Cinema di Venezia 2019), Best Asian Film (Singapore International Film Festival 2019), Bronze Tanit Award (Carthage International Film Festival 2019)
Biography
The director and screenwriter Shahad Ameen was born and grew up in Jeddah, in Saudi Arabia. She graduated in production and film studies from the University of West London and obtained a diploma in screenwriting. Her short film Eye & Mermaid (2013) was globally premiered at the Dubai International Film Festival 2013, it was selected for the competition at Toronto and Stockholm and won the Prize for the Best Film and Best Photography at the Abu Dhabi International Film Festival 2014. Her first feature film Scales premiered at Settimana della Critica of Venice 2019.
Filmography
2019 – Scales, ff
2013 – Eye & Mermaid, sf
2011 – Leila’s Window, sf
2009 – Our Own Musical, sf