Title: My Drvier And I
Director: Ahd Kamel
Red Sea Section: Arab Spectacular
Logline: Salma is a young, privileged, and rebellious Saudi girl whose family hires a Sudanese man named Gamar to drive her to and from her day-to-day activities. Initially adhering to a simple employer/employee dynamic, Salma and Gamar’s relationship quickly evolves into an intimate personal friendship that bonds them through her teenage years and beyond, but their friendship is put to the test when Salma gets older and starts taking the wheel.
Panelists: Roula Dakheelallah (Actor), Mustafa Shehata (Actor), Georgie Paget (Producer), Nils Astrand (Producer)
Key quotes: Dakheelallah said of the reaction to the film at the premiere screening, “It was so beautiful. Everybody was laughing, people were cheering, people were clapping, and then when the lights went on, I saw multiple people tearing up. And I connected with that, because we’ve cried so many times — either on set or when you wrap the film — it was really an emotional experience, and I’m so thankful that we got to experience it with everyone.”
On the evolution of filming in Saudi Arabia, Dakheelallah recalled working on earlier shorts and student films, “It was very challenging to to create cinema here in Saudi, but things have unbelievably changed — the laws, the regulations. It’s been so amazing shooting here… you see the people of the historical areas and the historical sites, the people of those neighborhoods just embracing cast and crew and just embracing the equipment and just understanding that, yes, we’re filming over here, and everybody’s just been so cooperative, and it’s a drastic change from how it used to be.”
Shehata said of director Kamel, “Ahd is very, very helpful and humble. And she gives you space before you flourish and you end up doing what she needs.”
For Paget, “It’s wonderful to be back in Jeddah where we shot the film, and at Red Sea, where I think we first came out three years ago… and then a year later, we were here prepping. So it feels like the festival has been very much a part of the of the film’s journey — in the same way that that Jeddah as a city, has been such a big part of the film’s journey.”
