Jordan, Arabic - 90 min
Feature Narrative
TOTAL BUDGET
US $185,338
CONFIRMED FINANCING
US $90,000
Primary Contact
shahee.ibraheem@gmail.com
+962795743853
A conservative Muslim girl is thrilled when the man she loves finally proposes to her, but her happiness is threatened by the prospect of revealing her secret skin condition to him.
Twenty-year-old Hadeel, a Jordanian Muslim girl who works in a lingerie shop, finally receives the long-awaited marriage proposal from her love, Basil, a 42-year old barber who works across the street.
Hadeel is ecstatic, but simultaneously consumed by self-doubt. She asks Basil to let them spend more time together before getting engaged, as she has things she must reveal to him, but only at the right time. Hadeel, who studies to be a fashion designer, has a very painful secret—she suffers from vitiligo.
Obsessed with the possibility of her secret being revealed, Hadeel religiously covers her skin with makeup. When it comes to Basil, she faces a dilemma. She thinks he has a right to know, but does not want to lose him. She knows he loves the pretty face he sees, not the splotches buried beneath her makeup.
Already filled to the brim with anxiety and doubt, things get even worse for Hadeel when she is blackmailed on social media by an individual who possesses an intimate video of her.
The Day of Arafah’s colors in general are going to be unsaturated. The color style includes an abundance of warm colors: dark yellow, brown-red, and crimson. There will be lots of vibrant shades in the early scenes, but throughout the film, as the protagonist increasingly encounters adversity and even danger, the colors will get darker.
The film will feature carefully crafted steady camera movements in the early scenes of the first act, which gradually become shakier to reflect an increase in tension and danger as the story progresses. The scenes in the first act are mainly slow-paced, and they grow faster as the tension increases.
After Hadeel comes to terms with herself, her history, and her circumstances, she develops a classier taste in clothing, choosing calmer, more peaceful colors that reflect her stable psyche and self-acceptance.
Hadeel lives with an extended family; therefore, the scenes in her house would feature nearly no negative space. This style promises to convey the cramped, highly scrutinized nature of Hadeel’s life. However, when things get worse, I plan to use more negative spaces around our protagonist to emphasize her solitude.
The film will feature iconic shots that resonate and remain in the viewer’s mind, from the seduction of the lingerie in Hadeel’s shop; through the warm and sturdy simplicity of her home and extended family; all the way to the dark intensity of her childhood memories of bullying, as well as her current encounter with cyber abuse.
During my early career, I worked on multiple film projects around the world, which inspired me to start my own company in my hometown, Amman, and my goal was to start telling stories that resonated with me and the society I lived in.
When I met Al Qaisi, I was shooting the feature film Slam by Partho Sen-Gupta in Sydney, Australia. I was surprised to find a Jordanian among the crew. Al Qaisi was in the camera department. So, when the opportunity arose, she offered me a short synopsis and I thought that it was a no-brainer to take on The Day of Arafah, as I was always impressed by the passion and dedication Al Qaisi puts into her films. Another reason I was drawn to the story is because of the subject matter that is unexplored, universal, and that touches on a very delicate matter.
Finally, as a team, we believe that we can achieve something that we can all be proud of, shedding the light on a story that has been ignored for a while.
Fiction:
2020: Tala’vision
2019: Give up the Ghost
2018: Slam
2018: Born a King
2018: From the Mountain
2014: Black Out
TV Shows:
2021: Trapped
2020: Rafaa
2019: Zika Boys
Non Fiction:
2018: Champions Without Borders
2017: Learn from Our Ancestors
2017: Zad Albadou
2017: The Borrowed Dress
2016: A Day in a Student’s Life
2016: A Trip
2015: Tree of Life
2015: The Other Kids
2014: Albatal
2012: Life for Rent