Playtime
Spring Grant 2012 - Production Stage
Hamad Al-Tourah / Short Narrative / Kuwait, Qatar / 2013 / 17 min / Original Language: Arabic, English / Interests: About Family, Women, Coming of Age, Drama, Middle Eastern, Social Issues, Family, Identity, Children, Women Issues
Synopsis
Matthew lives with his mother, an army secretary, in Ahmadi, Kuwait. One night, she leaves him alone for a night out and he tries to fill his time with the company of Dalal, a local girl who lives around the corner. Dalal is attempting to sneak out herself and, after a brief evening with Matthew, proposes to ‘borrow’ his mother’s car while she is out. Matthew, refusing to be left alone again, sneaks into the ‘borrowed’ car, and escapes with Dalal into Kuwait’s underworld. On his secret night out, Matthew learns an inconvenient truth regarding his relationship with Dalal. Far removed from his residential neighbourhood, Matthew must now forge a way back home to his mother.
Credits
- Director
- Hamad Al-Tourah
- Screenwriter
- Hamad Al-Tourah
- Producer
- Nadia Al-Saqqaf
About the Director
Hamad Al-Tourah is a Kuwaiti-American filmmaker and writer who obtained his bachelor's degree from New York University, where he studied journalism, cinema and Middle Eastern studies. In September 2013 he obtained an MFA from Tisch School of the Arts, Asia, in Singapore. His film ‘Alice in the Meantime’ (2010) was an official selection of the Palm Springs International Shortfest.
Awards and Festival History
Festivals
Dubai International Film Festival 2013, Muhr Arab Short (UAE)