By Anealla Safdar

Yesterday at Venice, Spanish Director David Victori won YouTube’s inaugural Your Film Festival competition for “The Guilt”; a short, fictional film about a man obsessed with revenge after his wife’s murder.

Victori was up against two Arab directors, Egyptian Ramy Gabry (whose entry was titled “This Time”) and Lebanese Niam Itani (“Super.Full”), and seven others. He takes home $500,000 (QAR 133,488) for his next project.

All 10 finalists’ films were screened at the 69th Venice Film Festival and judged by director Ridley Scott and actor Michael Fassbender, who will now give their guidance to Victori as part of the prize.

“I was engaged from the top of the film,” Fassbender said at the award ceremony.

Niam’s film “Super.Full”, a quiet tale of an Indian married couple’s day-to-day life, was entirely shot in Doha. Though the film (supported by DFI) didn’t win big, it marked a special moment – not only was this a rare opportunity to introduce the industry to Doha as a location; “Super.Full” also gave opportunities to first-time actors and crew members.

As we congratulate Niam on getting further than some 15,000 other filmmakers, we take a look behind the scenes on set with the director, crew and cast:

Director: Niam Itani

"Super.Full" director Niam Itani

“We filmed in three days, it was September and it was Ramadan so many people in the crew and cast were fasting. The weather was hot and humid in Doha.
Being chosen among the finalists is a huge honour…This is already a winning position for me, to be among the finalists. I feel that this nomination has sped up my career few years.”

Mahmoud Akhal on set

Assistant: Mahmoud Akhal
“Super.Full was my first job in film making and it was challenging. Setting-up scenes with all the minor details is something that I would have never imagined during the process.

Keeping up with the crew’s pace and rhythm was tiring but very interesting and exciting.”

Leading actor Dima Gharbawi Shaibani

Lead actor: Dima Gharbawi Shaibani
“This was my first acting role. The most challenging part was trying to convey my emotions through non-verbal communication (Dima plays a deaf woman). You couldn’t use words or your voice to emphasise feelings; this was quite difficult.”

Director of Photography Thomas Hines filming

Director of Photography: Thomas Hines (DFI)
“The locations for “Super.Full” show a very different side to Doha than what you would normally see. I think this is key; around every corner there is a very different world. It is easy to gravitate towards same land marks and shoot what would normally be expected. But take some time, there are so many hidden gems tucked away in this city.”