Introduction to Shahd Amin’s Filmography
At least in the history of the works of the young Saudi director, there are two films that Amin Dara saw in the sea. The first is "Houria and Ain" (2009), a short film about a girl named Hanan, who slaughtered her father every hour to close Houria to extract pearls from her. After years, Hanan meets and she became a young woman on the nymph again. The second film is "The Lady of the Sea" (2019), in which she told the story of a young girl who, according to the traditions from Qasran, escapes and realizes that her survival is alive, she has to work on hunting ships as men.
The Lady of the Sea: A Film of Great Accolades
"The Lady of the Sea" was a film that experienced the first high writer, and it was received by the critics who saw him well and was shown at more than 10 international festivals, and prices came from "Carthage Film Days", "Venetia Festival" and "Sydney Film Festival". This film was witness to Amin Al-Tawil’s growth as a director, and its success paved the way for her future projects.
A New Direction: The Film "Immigration"
In her new film "Immigration", she moves from the sea into the desert and from the film with limited skills to a large production film, which was supported by the "Saudi film authority" by a prevailing 70 percent, and took part in the production of the Egyptian "Clinic" Company. What is not different is the director’s interest in the components of her female characters. When asked about this aspect, she says: "My stories usually turn in a different time than you know. As you know, social life has developed strongly in the kingdom, and part of my wish to achieve this film is the approach between the present and the past. My goal is not to compare because Saudi Social Histor is full of nice values."
The Story of "Immigration"
The history of "migration" begins with a shot that is unclear. She says about her: "I wanted some uncertainty and a feeling of separation between watching the film and the live characters." The events themselves begin quickly and with confidence: a bus that carries a group of women to Hajj, including grandmother and their granddaughter. After reaching the outskirts of Mecca, the great-granddaughter disappears. The granddaughter we know as "Ste" (plays a charitable role) refuses to go to her without her lost granddaughter Sara with the help of her other granddaughter Lamar Faddan. From this position, the film is shot as a long road trip that not only researches the events, but the places where they rotate, and the traditions in which their social environments live, as well as the religious and cultural belonging of the place and its history.
The Significance of the Hajj Season
The choice of the Hajj season is more than an opportunity to tell a story. The director spent 5 years preparing for this film because she wanted to recite a full world on this occasion. She loves the pilgrimage, their ceremonies, and these associated traditions, but she also wanted to talk about other aspects and traditions that highlight the variety of generations and the diversity of Saudi civilization and their culture by the successive generations.
The Evolution of the Script
There was more than one copy of the script. The first scenario was stopped and thrown away. The director said to herself, "I don’t want that." With gradually vision of what she wants to achieve, and the elements of history begin too consistent, so that he heals and answers the questions that are in mind.
A Journey of Fatigue and Hope
The film does not stop here, and the story is just a "Road Journey" film, but this aspect is like a cover that contains history, its people, his desert, and its mountains. The director says that she was photographed in many places from TAIF to the coast of Jeddah and the borders of Jordan, "because snow only flows into this chapter there." On this trip, the viewer tests a tough nature; An extended desert and majestic mountains. Although the road is not limited to the bus, a large part of it is cut off under a burning sun and later poured under the cold until the film ends with a surprise that leaves the viewer and thinks about its meaning.
The Characters and Their Development
There is a small truck driver who sells water and data. The grandmother offered him an attractive amount to lead her and her granddaughter through the cities who stretched to more than one street, and, after she had learned that her granddaughter infiltrated her fleeing and with her intention to ride the ship from Jeddah to Egypt. In the certainty of the second granddaughter Jenny, her sister’s escape is not at her desire for emigration, but at your request to escape the grip of the iron grandmother, which is no longer tolerated. Jenny himself suffers from this situation and we see her from the beginning when her grandmother breaks down because she hears the songs on the bus.
The Reconciliation of Generations
Both the grandmother and her granddaughter, who stayed next to her, changed. Both reconcile with the other, especially with Jenny. The director agrees that this is the situation in which she wanted to talk about the variation of generations. Grandma tends to understand her granddaughter and the granddaughter understands her grandmother and appreciates her knowledge. The grandmother has a lot of science that was not written in books. Her personality is strong and it had to be.
The Cultural Significance of the Film
The film Shahd Amin does not choose a quick and easy way to show the history of the kingdom and its people. And his aesthetics are not tourist cards, but a meat of feelings between the characters, then between them and the geographical environment in which they are inhabited. It is a journey of fatigue and hope together. The girl seems to be an oriental Asian origin, as well as the history of the grandfather and the granddaughter. The director chose the grandmother because she is a well-known actress in Saudi Arabia, but the role of the girl was looking for her embodiment long until she saw Lamar Faddan and she cried immediately: "These are the one I want!"
Conclusion
There is a similarity between "immigration" and the film "Sirat" (Sirat) by the Spanish Olive Lux, which was shown this year at the Cannes Festival: Both revolve around the search for a missing one, both of which meet in a hard natural environment, on a tedious desert trip with a spiritual dimension. However, this similarity does not mean that one of them was pulled by the other because it was filled at the same time, but that it is closer to homogeneity that gives a Saudi director a wonderful testimony who always had the ability to list what is different and new.
