TimeOut Dubai Kids – June 2019

68 June 2019 Time Out UAE Kids

Interview

From TV to cinema, animation to real life, can this Emirati

director make the big switch? By Dean Wilkins

Role

reversal

WOULD YOU GIVE the keys to your new Ferrari to

someone who’s only ever ridden a bicycle? Of

course you wouldn’t. You don’t own a Ferrari.

But, someone else did. Sort of.

The UAE’s Oscar-winning production

company Image Nation has shown remarkable

trust in cinema novice Mohammed Saeed

Harib. The Emirati animator, best known for

kids’ TV cartoon FREEJ, has never shot a

cinema film before. Nor worked with real film

actors. Nor even seen a body-switch film.

Yet, here he is, sitting relaxed in front of us,

having coolly ticked off his first feature film,

the family-friendly comedy Rashib & Rajab.

And, just like getting behind the wheel of a

Ferrari, it’s been a pulsating ride of roaring

exhilaration. Sort of.

“The first five days on set I was like [he

clutches the arms of his chair, widening his

eyes in fear].”

“People just stare at you. Sixty people

asking ‘What do you think of the nails? What

do you think of the wardrobe? How is the

lighting? You said something two months

ago that this starts on a wide and goes to

medium...?’ Yes, it took me about five days but

then I transitioned.”

Harib’s more at home in his beautiful

animation studios in Dubai’s Alserkal

Avenue, the beating heart of the emirate’s

independent arts scene. He and his small

team work slowly on hit TV show FREEJ, a

cartoon about four old Emirati women who

adjust to life in the modern UAE. They finesse

small details, they sit in nice meeting rooms

sketching scenes out at their own pace, they

all have the chance to breathe.

“Suddenly,” he laughs. “I’m getting up at

5am and joining the mad circus. A crazy tribe

just waiting for instructions. It was a rush.

But, we laughed so hard, it’s a comedy after

all. And coming in to work on it every day was

pure pleasure.”

The film, which is out across the UAE in time

for Eid al-Fitr, tells the story of wealthy Emirati

executive Rashid (Marwan Abdullah Saleh)

and carefree Egyptian fast-food deliveryman

Rajab (Shadi Alfons). The pair switch bodies

after a freak accident. You know how the plot

goes... The initial shock, the poor guy finally

has the treasures he’s dreamed of, the rich

bloke sees how lucky he’s actually had it all

these years. They desperately search for a way

to reverse it all, but not before they both learn

some valuable life lessons. “Be careful what

you wish for,” warns Harib.

Should he be? Should he himself be slightly

careful of risking a flourishing reputation

by switching roles from TV animation to live

action movies?

“The main reason I signed up to this project

is because I knew it was with Image Nation –

otherwise I wouldn’t have bothered,” he adds.

“I also had a fear of live-action camera set

ups. I know a lot when it comes to animation,

but what do I know about a camera?

“That’s why Image Nation wanted me,

because I have a very raw talent when it

comes to live action – especially as I’ve never

done it before.”

It’s not the sort of credentials that fill a

production company with confidence. But,

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