Bahraini filmmaker and artist Jaan Albalushi continues to shine a bright spotlight on the kingdom’s cinematic brilliance after picking up another prestigious award in an international film and photography competition.
The talented 39-year-old’s hour-long film called Zaraab, which tells the story of a group of people enduring hardships in Gwadar, a city in Balochistan and Pakistan’s westernmost province, won the best film category in the international Xposure competition in the UAE, out of 500 submissions.
The event, which offers a platform for filmmakers to showcase their talent, judged participating films on story quality, technical execution, originality and impact.
Mr Albalushi, who has an intense curiosity and passion for film and art, spent more than 10 months perfecting his cinematic masterpiece, which comprised nine months of editing, two weeks of pre-production and a three-week shoot.
“With every project or film I work on, I aim to challenge myself and learn more,” Mr Albalushi, who lives with his family in Isa Town, told the GDN.
His inspiration for making the film started when he attended a film course in the sunny city of Los Angeles.
Despite the fact that Mr Albalushi has travelled and explored many places, his visit to Los Angeles gave him a renewed motivation, and his next step was finding the ideal location to make the film as authentic and real as possible.
“I wanted to find a location that already had so many stories just waiting to be told,” he said, adding that, Balochistan was an ideal location due to its already vibrant culture and tradition, as well as the fact that no feature film had ever been shot there as far as he was aware.
Mr Albalushi’s love for filmmaking and art started in 2005 when he started creating short and funny clips with his friends.
“Since then, I have developed an innate artistic flair that has guided my journey throughout all my creative processes. My passion only grows stronger and despite all that I have accomplished, I remain humbled by everything I still have to learn,” he added.
Although the talented artist has received countless awards, he said that this one was especially meaningful.
“Winning such a prestigious award feels incredibly rewarding and validating. It’s a culmination of hard work, dedication and creativity,” said Mr Albalushi.
He added that being recognised by industry peers and greats makes his accomplishment all the more special, and has inspired him to keep pushing and encourage others to pursue their passion, no matter how crazy the end goal may seem.
To date the filmmaker and artist has won numerous awards including best documentary film for his 2024 submission Under the Sand in Oman, best short film Jilbab at the Bahrain Films celebration in 2020 and best team at the Red Carpet Film Festival in 2013.
julia@gdnmedia.bh
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