I wonder if it is just a coincidence that both the first Egyptian and Saudi film producers are women. Aziza Amir was responsible for the first Egyptian film. After over a century, Haifa Al-Mansour, a young Saudi woman, is the first Saudi producer. More than mere chance, this seems to be the result of Haifa’s determination and courage. Her mature presentation of issues has drawn the attention of the world though not much attention from us Saudis. Her three short films have won international awards, though Haifa is not a producer with expertise in cinematic technology or experienced in the complex world of filmmaking. Impelled by her urge for bold and powerful expression and a clear perception of the social and cultural reality, she decided to become a producer and so she read as much as she could about filmmaking.
The events in one of Haifa’s films unfold around three people lost in a trackless desert. Instead of looking for a way to get out of their predicament, the three men embark on an ideological debate over topics such as religion and politics. One of them is an ultra-rightist, while the second a believer in liberal ideology. The third is a moderate who prefers a middle path on such issues. Finally, their wandering comes to an end when they stumble upon the missing car in which they had strayed into the desert.
The car carries the Arabic registration number WTN 551 (“Watan” means motherland) which signified that one’s own nation was the only means of escape and solution to all problems. It will accommodate all the people despite their diverse viewpoints and objectives. Each one should tolerate and coexist with those who hold different ideologies and interact with them without denying their right to live with the freedom of faith in any ideology. This is a beautiful idea which requires courage to implement and so deserves respect.
The second film deals with the issue of the veil without any bias toward any particular viewpoint. Haifa does not feel it necessary to make a hue and cry over women’s literature or women’s films. She is apparently against the polarization of men versus women.
Haifa is, in fact, looking for financiers to produce a big feature film. If only media companies such as ART, who spend millions on musical programs, would come forward to finance her proposed venture. A film is, undoubtedly, far better than a thousand songs.
According to an old saying one should not tempt destiny because it is better to leave destiny to take its own course. The saying also suggests that one should not expect bad things to happen to him because a pessimistic attitude is likely to double the sufferings when the unhappy event takes place. The negative attitude will spell doom for others as well.
In her book published recently, Susan Omali, a journalist, describes the brutal murders committed by a woman who feared the worst for her children. She drowned her five children — Noah, John, Paul, Luke and Mary. She was convinced that she was not committing a crime but saving her beloved children from a world fraught with evil and the devil that would overpower them when they grew up. She only aimed at winning eternal bliss for her children by liberating them from the corrupt influences of people in the contemporary society. She believed that they would become angels in paradise if they died in a state of innocence before they reached adulthood.
The woman, Andrea, committed the horrible acts in her flat in Houston, Texas in June 2001. After she was arrested, the journalist met her several times in jail and interviewed witnesses such as her husband and several attorneys involved in the case. The journalist also discussed the case with the doctor who was treating her. The writer is sympathetic to the woman and argues that such patients should not be put in jail since the mentally deranged should be treated in special hospitals. The court, however, found her guilty of killing her children and handed her a life term and she will not be eligible for parole until 2041.
Omali got a clear picture of the background of the crime after she made several attempts to make Andrea speak out. In the course of a number of interviews, Andrea narrated her story to the journalist. Omali was, obviously, the only journalist who met Andrea after she was put in jail. She had attempted to kill herself before she made the decision to kill the children. The journalist also learned that she was under treatment for mental disorders. The tranquilizers, which she used often, might have induced a kind of hysteria, the writer thinks.
Omali also learned that a religious fanatic used to tell Andrea that she was a bad mother and would be consigned to hellfire because she permitted her children to look at TV cartoons and because she spanked them when they did not behave properly.
Finally, Andrea decided to save the children from the devil and “send them to heaven” by killing them while they were in a state of innocence even if it meant she herself would jailed and would surely end up in hellfire.
