In the largely abandoned Saudi village of Da’a, a collection of single-storey concrete dwellings scattered on the fringes of the desert, the crew of Norah is four days into a 28-day shoot, battling 42°C (107°F) temperatures. And unlike the recent Hollywood production Kandahar, which also shot in the area, Norah — the first homegrown feature to film almost entirely in the northwest region — is using AlUla as AlUla.
“It’s a unique environment, otherworldly and mythical,” says Norah’s US producer Paul Miller (Lone Star) of Escape Pictures, who has worked locally for several years, running film financing at Doha Film Institute as well as producing Shahad Ameen’s 2019 Saudi feature Scales. “I keep thinking of John Ford’s The Searchers, and it does feel like a western. We’re shooting widescreen to give it that effect.”
Written and directed by 40-year-old Saudi filmmaker Tawfik Alzaidi, making his feature debut after a series of acclaimed shorts, Norah is set in 1990s Saudi Arabia, when conservatism was at its height and all forms of art — including painting, music and film — were banned. It centres on Norah (16-year-old newcomer Maria Bahrawi), a young woman who dreams of a better life, and Nader (Yagoub Alfarhan), a teacher from the city who moves to her village. When Norah discovers Nader is an artist, she is determined that he paint her portrait, and so begins a relationship of artistic discovery as Nader introduces Norah to a world of possibilities outside the village.
Budgeted at sub-$2m, Norah is a co-production between Riyadh-based Black Sugar Pictures and local service provider Nebras Films. “It’s a lean operation but looks oversized because we’ve got all this great equipment,” says Miller, who produces alongside Sharif Majali and Alzaidi. In addition, Film AlUla supported the production with permits and location scouting, plus a newly built “film camp” with 300 accommodation units and office space.
The bulk of the financing was won by Alzaidi from Saudi Film Commission’s Daw Film Competition, launched by the ministry of culture in 2019 to support local film production and the next generation of filmmakers.
Given filmmaking is still in its infancy in Saudi Arabia, Norah’s crew consists mostly of Jordanians who have worked on the likes of Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Dune, albeit with a sizeable local contingent.
At present the film has no sales agent or distributors attached, but Miller is hoping for a festival slot in 2023.
“[Norah] is about the human need to express ourselves through art, and in that period you couldn’t,” says Miller. “Tawfik grew up during that time and struggled with how to be a filmmaker. Now, he’s part of what you would call the Saudi new wave.”
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