A young Bahraini creative with a passion for film, Aisha Almuqla always dreamed of being part of the film industry. Aisha debuted her film career in 2004 when she worked as an Indie filmmaker, and started volunteering in several youth development programs in the Bahraini media sector. Aisha created several short films, participated in the Emirates Film Festival, the Gulf Film Festival won several Media and Youth Achievement Awards. Khaleejesque scouted out this young creative achiever and got the scoop on her films, career and what she's planning next.
How did you get interested in film making ? What is your earliest childhood memory of your passion?
My interest in film making started at an early age. The earliest I recall was when I was five years old, and fortunately it was caught on tape; where I was playing an act to a theatrical musical song. At the age of seven, I had my first on location experience when my father took me to the shooting of a Ramadan Series. In general, since then, I held a great interest in watching and observing series, films, shows, etc.
Accordingly my passion led me forward to individually learning and discovering the techniques used in such media from lighting to camera angles, to movie tricks and that’s how my ongoing ambition started.
What is your academic background? Did you manage to study film making ?
I am an International Studies Graduate. I was willing to study film making, however due to the lack of a film making industry within the country, and job opportunities in this field, my parents were not convinced.
What type of films do you currently do? And what types would you want to do in the future ?
I am currently categorized as a Short Film Filmmaker, however I aim to be involved in Feature Films as I am keen to moving forward to being a Feature Film Producer. Alongside, I am involved in several production works, such as live shows, where I have lately co-directed a fashion show under the patronage of her Royal Highness Princess Sabeeka bent Ebrahim Al-Khalifa, in addition to music productions.
What film festivals did you participate in so far?
I have participated in the Emirates Film Festival for the short film “The Awakening” and the Gulf Film Festival for the short film “The Cork” which was selected to be screened in the opening ceremony, representing the Bahraini films.
You recently won the Young Creative Entrepreneur Award (YCE), can you tell us about the significance of it?
The YCE Media Award is an award held annually by the British Council. The Media Award was held in October 2011 where I was selected to present the Bahraini media entrepreneurs amongst fourteen other worldwide entrepreneurs in London, UK. It was a great opportunity to represent the Bahraini media field and talents over a global spectrum and benefit from the UK’s prosperous experience in this field. In addition, I was privileged to be selected as the only Arab participant representing the ‘Screen’ category amongst four other participants. The award gave me a fulfilling experience, building international connection needed to improve and help build our local industry.
You co-founded the Bahrain Creative Team to promote Bahraini talents, can you tell us more about that?
When I won the YCE Award, I initiated an idea on how to promote the Bahraini Talents on my trip. Accordingly, BCT is a non-profit project specializing in the multimedia field specifically and artistic talents in general, promoting a gateway to discovering new talents, enriching the field and a achieving a higher level of professional productivity within Bahrain. BCT initial projects are portrayed through a website and a Bahraini Song. www.bahrainct.com
The BCT website serves as a ‘show and tell’ of the Bahraini Talents. In addition, the BCT combines those talents in producing multimedia productions portraying the members’ capabilities. We also aim to get sponsors to promote this idea and put it into action at a larger scale.
For more information on Aisha, check out her twitter stream @AishaAlMuqla , or her Youtube Channel
