What’s Between Two Seas is a contemplative short film capturing the essence of Bahrain through a two-day visit in May 2023. Filmmaker Zubayr Hossain combines a Super8 film and audio recordings to document his journey, weaving together a tapestry of visuals and sounds that reflect his experiences on the island.
The soundscape includes recordings from the souq, featuring the ambient sounds of cars and people passing by, layered with Khalid Al-Shaikh’s song “Shra’a Al-Hawa” (there is this iconic BTV video with two kids staring out into the Gulf, that is seared into the memory of many Bahrainis). This distant melody evokes a past that feels intimately remembered and not so far away; yearning for the sea.
The film serves both as a personal exploration and a universal reflection on how landscapes and memories intertwine, offering viewers a space for reflection and reconnection with their own experiences of place.
- Text by Zeina AlKhaja
Abar Kobe Ashba?
(When Will You Return)
This photo series and auditory experience are from a visit to Bangladesh after a 5 year gap.
The lapse in time breathed itself into actual dissonance and distance from my once understanding of this place. Occupying space with a consented lack of privacy is a luxury. I searched for solitude and comfort in real estate, in places of worship without its religiosity and deep nostalgia in a time and space I never occupied in the physical world
(When Will You Return)
This photo series and auditory experience are from a visit to Bangladesh after a 5 year gap.
The lapse in time breathed itself into actual dissonance and distance from my once understanding of this place. Occupying space with a consented lack of privacy is a luxury. I searched for solitude and comfort in real estate, in places of worship without its religiosity and deep nostalgia in a time and space I never occupied in the physical world
Audio Link
Temporary is a short film based in Dubai about a young group of friends from the
South Asian diaspora. It showcases a night of events in the life of teenagers in Dubai, where modernism meets authoritarian Arab rule of the land. I cannot deny there is a charm in telling a nuanced story of adolescence and coming of age, unique within the bubble of this city.
The themes focus on othering in the middle east, generational trauma and the migrant mindset of the diaspora.
