Title: Saify
Director: Wael Abumansour
Logline: At 40 years old, Saify Muhammed is a washed-up confidence trickster who owes money to everyone, including his ex-wife. Now he is trying his hand at blackmail. The year is 2000 and Saify has a dilapidated music shop selling cassette tapes, including recordings of banned Islamic sermons he mistakenly thinks will turn an illicit profit. His sermon supplier is Al-Mahdi, a shady religious advisor to the local bigwig Sheikh Asaad Aman, who has a name as a philanthropist. When Saify finds one tape containing a scandalous recording of the influential Sheikh Asaad, he thinks he’s finally in the money.
Panelists: Wael Abumansour (Writer-Director)
Key quotes: “I wanted to capture that character – when I grew up I saw him a lot around me,” said Abumansour. “This ambitious guy with a zeal that he is going to make it but doesn’t have it. He doesn’t have the talent. His ideas are way off. He is very opportunistic. I think that gave me an indication for a character that if you put him in a messed up situation, that could drive the drama in a very sarcastic way, and this is where it originated in my head.”
On being a journalist before he became a director: “I always go back to that time to when I was a journalist. I still have a sweet spot in my heart for journalism. The one thing that I got from journalism is the research and knowing the city and digging for stories. While you’re doing that, you’re always finding these interesting characters.”
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