MUSCAT, 14 January 2005 — The government has given the go-ahead for Oman’s first feature film that focuses on fishing, the country’s oldest national past time, a local newspaper reported yesterday.
Awadat Zaher (The Return of Zaher) has already received the government’s approval and will go under production in the coming weeks, Oman Tribune quoted Dr. Khalid Abdul Rahim Al-Zadjali, assistant director general of production for Oman TV, as saying.
“ You may soon get to watch a delightful romantic feature film replete with drama, suspense and thrills’, said the film-maker. The film is about a fishing community waiting for a young fisherman who had suddenly disappeared from the scene.
“Zaher’s whereabouts are not known. Some believe he is dead. But everyone waits for him, his fiancee, father, friends and the rest of the town.’’
The film in a way is based on the classic tragic-compic play, Waiting for Gadot, by Samuel Becket.” But in its setting by the seaside, its idyllic air and its portrayal of love and longing, it will be totally Omani”, claimed Al-Zadjali, who is also the president of the Oman Film Society (OFS), currently holding the Majan Film Days at the Shatti Al Palaza- the cinema which screened Mel Gibson’s Passion of Christ recently.
“ The script is ready and approved. We are about to start shooting”, said the youthful Omani, adding the screening is expected early next year when OFS plans to hold a film festival, the first of its kind in the region.’’ said Al-Zadjali, himself an actor and playwright. Some of his productions like Al-Baladeen, Shuf un Naas and Al-Bareeq have been picked by some Gulf channels, said Oman’s newest English language daily in a front-page report.
