Female Bahraini filmmaker bags award at US film fest

Manama

Bahraini filmmaker Eva Daoud has won the best director award for her film "The Light Thief" in Film Quest 2015 film festival held recently at Salt Lake City in Utah, US.

 Basking in the glory, an elated Ms Daoud said that being an Arabic lady she was feeling very proud to have won such a prestigious award.

 “It is a matter of pride and satisfaction for me that my film was selected out of 1,500 films. What pleased me the most is the way the festival audience lapped up the film and their appreciation of the storyline and the outstanding quality of the film production and direction,” she said.

 Though economics is her academic background, her real talent lies in writing and making films. The talented woman filmmaker wanted to use her full potential in writing films especially for the kids and the youth.  

 The film was produced in collaboration with the Spanish company Corpo film and 32 Productions in Bahrain. It was the premiere of the movie at the American film festival, one of the most prestigious festivals in the world specialized in fantasy and science fiction.

 “The Light Thief” was highly acclaimed at the festival, winning five nominations, including Best Short Film, Best Director, Best Music Score, Best Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress.  

 The film was appreciated by the US film critics, with one of them wrote: "Bahraini filmmaker Eva Daoud is a name you have to put in your memory."

 Commenting on “The Light Thief,” Daoud said, “The film is like a surrealist painting, in which the viewer captures as much as what intersects with the depths of himself, his passion and pain.”

The film tackles the question: When passion is taken away from love, how will it transform, how can this passion be imprisoned and how would it imprison our breath with it… and does darkness have a heart that loves?

According to her, the film, to a large extent, relies on the outstanding performances of her actors with a minimum of dialogue. The original music is composed by talented musician Jorge Magaz.

Daoud is currently writing for her next feature film in collaboration with Bahraini author and scenarist Fareed Ramadan.