Film Director
Arabs in space
Q&A
As a director, what new things did you bring to the table?
My aim for Arabs in Space was to set a whimsical tone by merging elements from diverse Arab cultures and establishing a believable futuristic realm for our characters. The construction of the spaceship itself is inspired by Oriental-Arab architecture through the integration of defined light, gates, and walls. The light-contrasted mood is used to enhance the dark comedy behind the story. Costume choices match each of the characters’ personalities and culture, making them unique but defining them as part of a team. An example of that is the shirt of the Saudi character which is inspired by the traditional thobe. With the help of the forward-looking producers and the post-production team, we developed a broad and diverse Arab culture on board of the spaceship. I wanted to bring my own perspective to the screen without limiting myself to contentious boundaries defined by political and religious affiliation, so setting the story in space gave me the right opportunity to do just that.
Why do you think such a setting was chosen to explore the seemingly underlying Arab issues?
Arabs in Space is a cultural practice set on a spaceship where four Arabs of different nationalities must come together for a significant cause. The restricted range of the spacecraft pushes our characters to confront their differences which mirror those in today’s world. As we venture into the uncharted territories of space, endless possibilities present themselves. We come to understand throughout the season that it is the venture itself that matters as our main characters come to realize the power of togetherness, questioning today’s political and religious issues that are keeping the Arabs disunited.
The project itself brought together artists and talents from different Arab regions to explore and develop a phenomenal world of science fiction.
Did you experience any difficulties on set? If so, what were they?
My team and I faced several challenges given the scope of this ambitious project. The first hurdle was building the set, a spacecraft. Despite having limited time, we made quick yet efficient decisions that allowed us to have a production friendly environment where we felt comfortable working in. Those decisions included the assembling and disassembling parts of the set, integrating lights as well as working closely with the post production team which in turn enabled them to comfortably work on the special effects. Every corner of our set meant an opportunity for a scene to unfold as we constantly looked for ways to welcome diverse camera angles. The second challenge was working with sophisticated prosthetic to create aliens. We did not have the budget to create them from scratch but we managed to construct them by assembling pieces that we ordered from all over the world. The last challenge was working with actors whose Arab dialects differ from one another, rendering it difficult to be understood. We tried our best to find common grounds during rehearsals which allowed them to act at ease during the shooting.