In The Middle (في المنتصف)
Ajyal Competition
Mariam Al-Dhubhani / Short Documentary / Yemen, Qatar / 2019 / 14 min / Colour / DCP
In Arabic
Interests: Politics, Biography, Social Issues, War, Youth, Based on a True Story, Creative Documentary
Synopsis
In a rarely seen perspective of war, we follow Ali—a Yemeni soldier on tour in the temporary capital of Aden. Leaving his hopes, dreams, and education behind to join the military, Ali dutifully sits at his checkpoint, performing a mundane task that he is clearly overqualified to do. His story represents the majority of youth in the country, people who are unable to just ‘live’, but instead are forced to continually struggle to survive.
About the Directors
Mariam Al-Dhubhani is a Yemeni-Russian award-winning journalist and filmmaker. Al-Dhubhani is currently doing an MA in Museum and Gallery Practice at UCL Qatar. She first pursued her passion for media during the 2011 Arab uprisings and co-founded her first media production. Al-Dhubhani’s films have been screened globally in festivals such as Carthage, Interfilm, and Oaxaca. She also utilizes Virtual Reality in highlighting stories from Yemen.
Credits
- Director
- Mariam Al-Dhubhani
- Editor
- Nur Munawarah, Amit Chowdhury
- Cinematographer
- Mohammed Al-Jaberi
- Sound
- Mariam Al-Dhubhani
- Cast
- Ali Mustafa, Um Ali Mustafa, Yousef Mustafa, Ibrahim Mustafa, Jamil Mustafa, Yasser Hamsan