Amid criticism from the local community, three young women in Qatar have decided to publicly release a 10-minute film they produced in 2012 called “Bader.”
The documentary is about the life of a young Qatari boy attending an independent elementary school here. Bader, a fourth-grader, is often in trouble at school, for example locking his teacher out of her classroom, and getting suspended for playing with a fire extinguisher.
But he begins to use poetry as a way of expressing himself and finding his place.
Beyond his story, the film includes scenes of out-of-control classrooms, depicting the larger problem that teachers face in maintaining discipline and order at some of Qatar’s independent schools.
In the past few years, Bader has been screened at 10 film festivals and won two awards. But despite a largely positive reception at these events, the filmmakers said they have drawn criticism at home.
Speaking to Doha News, Sara Al-Saadi said that a trailer of Bader (embedded above) drew the attention of some people in the Qatari community earlier this year, prompting the Al Watan newspaper to dismiss the movie as one that “threatens social values.”
The former Northwestern University in Qatar student, who co-produced the film with classmates Latifa Al-Darwish and Maaria Assami, added that they have decided to make the documentary public so that people can make up their own minds about it.
However, taking into account concerns from people that “Qatar doesn’t need any more bad publicity,” the filmmakers have decided to charge $9.99 for the movie, which can be downloaded or streamed online. Al-Saadi said:
“Initially we were going to put it on YouTube, but after the criticisms that we got and how they created some publicity for the film we thought why not sell it, this way since we are all interested in working on future films we can use whatever we make to fund our next projects.”
For his part, Bader, who is now in sixth grade, has apparently flourished since becoming the star of the film. According to Al-Saadi, he has been asked to act in a film and to be a presenter and recite poetry at some Doha Film Institute events.
He will also be attending a screening of the documentary tonight at NU-Q. The movie will be followed by a panel session to discuss the themes raised in the film. More information about Bader can be found on the movie’s official website here.
Thoughts?
Would love to watch it but $9.99 for a 10 minute film?
around $0.999 per minute… 1.66 cents per second… 😉 They’ll probably make a whopping $99.90 if 10 people pay…
Good on Bader for improving his academics and behavior as a result of participating in this film.
But holy crap! No wonder so many of the independent schools suck so badly, if that’s the level of behavior and classroom management that happens in a normal day. I’d sooner head back to my home country and flip burgers for a living than work here and stick my kids in a school like the one pictured in the trailer.
What kind of child thinks that it’s okay to throw a backpack across a classroom, nearly hitting a teacher? How have their parents allowed them to become so disrespectful? Better to have no children than ones who behave like this.
Why do you think the roads are such a war zone as well? Just the same kids getting bigger.
Unfortunately this boy is very typical of a student in an independent school. The parents don’t instill discipline so it then becomes hard for the teacher to main tain order. Especially since the teachers working in these school aren’t the best teachers anyway.
Would like to see this movie but10 bucks for a 10 minute film is excessive. You can buy a full length movie from iTunes for that price.
“Amid criticism from the local community” Never even heard of it!
Looks like good publicity …
I don’t why it attracted criticism… Is it because of the Øذري/بدو thing?
From the Al Watan link shared, looks like it…
criticism for what?
The article cited this piece in Al Watan http://www.al-watan.com/mobile/viewnews.aspx?n=27A158B2-245A-4645-BB96-89DE581D37BE&d=20140216#.U1TCvuaSz5L
Thanks for the link …
I saw the film at the DFI event. Thought it was very good and yes, it shows a complete lack of discipline of the students and teachers who have no control over them. But, I think the point of the film is to show this little boy who writes poems amid the chaos. He knows his school isn’t teaching him much, he knows he can do these things, but given the opportunity he could flourish. And the fact that he is doing better and settled down proves the film. $10 is a lot, but it’s supporting up and coming film makers who typically have no budget (unless using their own funds) It is obvious these women are serious about their work and want to prove themselves as film makers.
Bad publicity? This movie just confirms what many parents and teachers are already worried about. There are a few independent school that are doing really well, and the rest are letting their students down.
So “good” journalism now comes at a steep price. This what they teach at NUQ? Greed
No one understands your point. Are you complaining that you’re poor?
No. It’s the reasoning behind the move to charge.
So you want it for free? What’s your reasoning?