Middle East Film Series: Barakah Meets Barakah (Saudi Arabia, 2015)

Open to the Public

New location and time: This event has been moved to Science Center Hall D (1 Oxford Street) at 6:45pm to accommodate the overwhelming response! Thank you all for your interest!

Join us for a screening of Barakah Meets Barakah (Saudi Arabia, 2015), an independently produced and directed Saudi rom-com that was picked as Saudi Arabia's second-ever Foreign Language Oscar submission. Directed by Mahmoud Sabbagh.

Date: Thu, Feb 23, 2017 Time: 06:45pm - 08:45pm Location: D

Still from Barakah Meets Barakah, Saudi Arabia, 2015

Updated Time/Location

Please note new location and time: This event has been moved to Science Center Hall A (1 Oxford Street) at 6:30pm to accommodate the overwhelming response! Thank you all for your interest!

Trailer

Saudi Arabia’s first rom-com features comedian and social-media superstar Hisham Fageeh as a mild-mannered civil servant who runs up against his society’s strict mores when he sets out to romance the outspoken daughter of a wealthy couple.

Synopsis

Barakah (Hisham Fageeh) is a Saudi municipal civil servant whose origins are humble to say the least, while Bibi (Fatima Al Banawi) is a wild beauty, the adopted daughter of a rich couple who functions as a crowd-puller for her stylish adoptive mother’s boutique and has become ultra- famous via her own widely-seen vlog. When Barakah and Bibi meet by chance at a photoshoot the two share a kinetic moment. Could it be love at first sight? And what could a municipal agent and a gorgeous media-star possibly have in common?

Inspired by their mutual feelings of attraction, the young would-be-couple set out to get to know each other better. But under the ever-watchful eye of authority - where meeting in public unchaperoned is prohibited and physical contact is verboten - Barakah and Bibi find themselves in a near-impossible situation trying just to go on a first date.

BARAKAH YOQABIL BARAKAH is a remarkably candid Saudi Arabian love story. Using stabs of acerbic humor, the film gives an insightful look into a time and place where tradition clashes with the modern world of smartphones and social-media. Featuring breakout performances from Fageeh and Al-Banawi the film marks an inspiring debut by first-time feature writer/director Mahmoud Sabbagh.

Poster

Cast and Crew

Mahmoud Sabbagh (Writer / Director) Born in 1983 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. He is an independent film director and producer from Saudi Arabia. He holds a master degree in documentary filmmaking from Columbia School of Journalism in New York. BARAKAH MEETS BARAKAH is his first full-length feature film.

Hisham Fageeh (Actor, Barakah) is an Actor/Producer/Writer from Saudi Arabia. Perhaps most- known for his 2013 viral video “No Woman, No Drive”, Fageeh focuses on satirical content in both Arabic and English. Studying and graduating from the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater (UCBT) while doing his masters at Columbia University in New York, his love for theater and improv grew. He continued studying, doing musical theater at Magnet Theater and long form at the Annoyance Theater. Now based in Jeddah, where he resides with his wife, part of the small but growing movement of film creatives in the country.

Fatima Al Banawi (Actress, Bibi) is a young Saudi social media provocateur, activist, scholar, and most recently an actress. She co-founded a Theater of the oppressed chapter in Jeddah, and recently founded The Other Story Project, to continue an open engagement with people through story writing. Her Masters degree from Harvard University in Theological Studies, with focus on Women, Gender, Sexuality, and Religion, alongside her work against violence at the Family Protection Society, helped her renew and tailor her art to today's social demands. This often results in her solution to be art, and not merely to make it.

Victor Credi (Cinematographer) is a young Arab cinematographer (born in 1983) based in Cairo, Egypt. Credi has worked primarily with the maters of modern and contemporary Arab cinema such as Khairy Beshara, Mohammed Khan and Yousry Nasrallah. He associates himself more with the growing Pan Arab indie film movement; working with young and emerging talents, such as, Mahmoud Sabbagh, Ibrahim El Batout, Sherif El Bindery and the Yemeni activist and filmmaker Khadija Al Salami.

Zainab Al Mashat (Production Designer) is a young female Saudi art director, (born in 1986). She holds a masters degree in art from Pratt Institute in New York. Her role in production design in "Barakah Meets Barakah" was her debut in the film industry.