Award-winning documentary Just Another Memory dives deep into the recesses of the filmmaker’s thoughts of her war-torn country Yemen and its people with profound love and longing.
Streaming on Doha Film Institute (DFI) YouTube channel since Thursday as this week’s featured short film, the 14-minute documentary by Yemeni-Russian journalist and filmmaker Mariam Al Dhubhani is deeply affecting as it tackles the subject of sudden displacement because of war, and moving on amid thoughts of the ongoing conflict back home. While the film is a quiet personal reflection on loss and displacement, it also spotlights on the ill effects of a devastating war that the world generally disregards. With great visuals and poignant sound design blending well, the film effectively delivers internal and external conflicts in a film brimming with human emotion.
Just Another Memory is Al Dhubhani’s directorial debut and was produced as part of DFI’s annual Documentary Lab in 2018 which was led by worldrenowned Cambodian documentary filmmaker Rithy Panh.
The film was adjudged Best Documentary at the 2018 Ajyal Film Festival and has participated in various festivals around the world. Previously, Al Dhubhani had worked in a number of films which gained acclaim including her first short film We are the Peace (2011), which received an award in Yemen’s first film festival and Wishes for the New Year (2012), which was the first chalkboard animation in the Middle East. Just Another Memory was uploaded on Thursday on DFI’s YouTube channel as part of the second season of its Short Film of the Week initiative.
Launched in April, the initiative brings the very best of DFIsupported films for film enthusiasts to enjoy in the comfort of their own homes. The initiative aims at encouraging people to stay home amid COVID-19 pandemic while lending support to Qatari films and Arab cinema. The series kicked off with the short narrative Al Johara helmed by Qatari filmmaker Nora Al Subai. Other films which had been featured were Red by Kholood Al Ali, Elevate by Hamida Issa, In the Middle by Mariam Al Dhubhani, The Unlucky Hamster by Abdulaziz Mohammed Khashabi, Gubgub by Nouf Al Sulaiti, Land of Pearls by Mohammed AlIbrahim, Smicha by Amal Al Muftah, Kashta by AJ Al Thani, 1001 Days by Aisha Al Jaidah, Caravan by Suzannah Mirghani and The Palm Tree by Jassim Al Rumaihi.
SOURCE: THEPENINSULAQATAR