Mohammed Buali: Film Director

Earlier this week, I had the pleasure to attend an informal gathering and screening of a number of short films by Mohammed Buali at the Bahrain Cinema Club, the films shown were:

• غياب (Absense)
• البشارة (The Good Omen)
• كناري (Canary)

I’ve had the the pleasure of seeing ‘Absense’ once before and loved the simplicity of the storyline and how a simple action of opening a door can convey such painful emotions of lonliness and yearning. Also from what I understand that the house used as the location of the film is the director’s old family house before it was torn down thus adding another depth to the yearning and lonliness.

(The Good Omen) and (Canary) were first times for me.

What I loved about The Good Omen is that it’s a very Bahraini storyline and can be considered an excellent introduction to what Bahrainis are all about; loving and loyal. I felt some of the editing was a bit off but the story flowed well.

Canary though when I first watched it didn’t really move me as the two previous movies but after leaving the theatre and sleeping on it made me realize a number of things about the Canary and her relations with all four characters in the film. It’s very interesting how one living thing can mean so many different things to different people. In the 10 minutes we saw the canary as a friend for a lonely soul, a means of selfish monetary gain, a dependant and finally a means to reach one’s love and heart.

I don’t know if it was intentional for screening purposes but all three films shared the theme of painful lonliness, and I use the word painful as we Bahrainis are very social people who without weekly family visits go crazy!

I thoroughly enjoy Mohammed’s work and wish him all the best in his future endevours.

You can find him across the web:

Twitter: @MohammedBuali

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mohammed-BuAli/190298327668462?ref=ts

Web: www.mohammedbuali.com