Starring Hala Shiha

The Fantasy Short Film Athel at Al Ain Film Festival in UAE

04 January 2021:

The Fantasy Short film Athel by director Alyazia Bint Nahyan Al Nahyan will participate in the 3 rd Al Ain Film Festival (January 23 – 27). Headlined by Egyptian star Hala Shiha, the film will be screened within the Falcon Emirati Short Film competition.

Al Ain Film Festival is an annual non-profit event that brings together professional filmmakers, promising talents, students and the public from across the UAE. The Festival gives them a chance to watch the latest artistic films and the opportunity to exchange knowledge, share visions, develop cinematic approaches and celebrate the local film industry.

The film has previously won three awards, including the Outstanding Achievement Certificate at the Berlin Flash Film Festival in Germany, where it progressed to participate in Berlin International Film Festival as a semifinalist, Gold Remy Award at the WorldFest - Houston International Film Festival in USA and an award from Calcutta International Cult Film Festival in India.

Furthermore, Athel was officially selected at many international festivals, namely; the Madrid International Film Festival in Spain, Toronto International Nollywood Film Festival (TNIFF), where the film received an award nomination, Toronto Lift-Off Film Festival in Canada, Around International Film Festival in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Vienna Independent Film Festival (VIFF), Corto Creativo Short Film Festival in Mexico, Rome Independent Prisma Awards
in Italy and Amsterdam Lift-Off Film Festival in Netherlands.

The film revolves around Salma, a widely known presenter, who is filming a poetry show about Tarfa, the pre-Islamic poet. With a sand storm disrupting the episode shoot, Salma suddenly finds ahead of something far from reality. The film deals with a new style and subtraction in a light witty drama template, about the story of the famous pre-Islamic poet Tarfa Bin Al-Abd or the “murdered boy” as it became known throughout history, a poet killed at the
height of his glory and bewildered many thinkers and intellectuals in relation to his fate.

Directed by Alyazia Bint Nahyan Al Nahyan, produced by Toaster Productions & Anasy Media, Athel is headlined by renowned Egyptian actress Hala Shiha and Emirati artist Mansour Alfeeli, produced by Afra Almarar and Hayfa Al Haidary and filmed by Alessando Martella. The
films is distributed in the Arab world by MAD Solutions.

In 2007, Alyazia Bint Nahyan Al Nahyan has founded Anasy Media Productions that has produced a number of cinematic projects that are now available on platforms like iTunes and Virgin Megastore along with other TV series projects. Alyazia also participated in the production of a number of documentaries by Anasy, including “Home of History, Future’s Nation”, “Serat Al Ehsan”, “Common Ground”, “DesertSuperstars”, “The Tainted Veil” and “Nanny Culture”.

Anasy also organizes a number of cultural activities, presenting out two award ceremonies with international awards, as well as a documentary club in Abu Dhabi. Besides the media, Alyazia Bint Nahyan Al Nahyan is an artist who showcases her paintings locally and internationally.