Young Asad dreams that his new rap song will take him up the ladder of glory and quick wealth, but his dream is shattered on the rock of reality.
He achieved the fame he aspired for, but wealth did not find its way to him, so he tries to find another way to get rich quickly, so Asad and his friend Salem discover a cache of guns and they head towards the arms and prohibited materials trade.
This trade leads them to the world of mercenaries and illegal trade, and Asad finds himself in strange places and unenviable situations, then his memory takes him back and he shouts: What brought me here?
Or in the Gulf dialect, "Shayabni Hani".
It is the title of the Kuwaiti-Saudi film, directed by Kuwaiti director Ziyad Al-Husseini, produced in 2022.
One of the elements of successful national cinema, locally and internationally, is to dive into the local culture, reveal its secrets to the world, and present paintings about the past, present, geography, history, customs, traditions, and social challenges according to a critical artistic vision.
The film is considered the last Kuwaiti film production, and it represents an unconventional entry for Kuwaiti cinema into the world of the currently emerging Gulf film production.
It took 5 years to work on the film between Kuwait and the United States, and it included a group of famous stars in the Gulf and the world, as the American actor Ron Perlman, known for his role in the American series “Beauty and the Beast” in the eighties, participated in it, in addition to the Indian actor Javed Jafri.
And the excitement of the film is increased by the statements of its producer, Mashari Al-Mutawa, that the film was originally based on a real story that actually happened.
American actor Ron Perlman, known for his role in the American series "Beauty and the Beast" in the eighties (communication sites)
The film tried to jump to rapid success, perhaps following the same method as the story, but in a legitimate way, which is to combine Hollywood and Bollywood on the one hand, and comedy, musical films and action on the other.
It also brought together the Kuwaiti and Saudi productive identities.
This is something that can achieve temporary success at the box office and spread in festivals, but it is not a continuous success that establishes a national cinema.
One of the elements of successful national cinema, locally and internationally, is to dive into the local culture and reveal its secrets to the world, presenting paintings about the past, present, geography, history, customs, traditions and social challenges, according to a critical artistic vision, and it is not necessary to combine all these elements in one film.
In this film, the director has extensively reviewed his directorial capabilities, and it may not have been necessary, and it would have been better to provide it for other films.
Perhaps this production and directorial mixture is due to the nature of the first experience of the Kuwaiti director, Ziad Al-Husseini, with a feature film of this size.
This is usual in the first experiences, as the director usually has a professional concern in order to strive for success and achieve a strong start, after which he often understands his strengths and gains more self-confidence.
That is why the following experiences are more expressive of the director's personality and more specific to the field he would like to focus on cinematically in terms of the story and the quality of the films.
Ingredients for the success of Kuwaiti cinema
The story of this Kuwaiti film struck several important chords among Kuwaiti youth in particular and the Gulf in general, which is the attempt to get rich quickly and the relationship with the world and the different cultures that these youth come into contact with locally and when traveling abroad, whether for study, work or tourism, in addition to the mood of this artistic youth with songs rap.
It is a good introduction to a new wave of Kuwaiti films that can present a vision of themselves and the world in a different artistic language, as they have several ingredients for success.
The first of these ingredients is to work in a climate of political and social freedoms that does not exist in many Arab countries, as this climate provides them with a promising opportunity to express thorny issues and local, Arab and international problems.
Let us imagine the form of the cinema through which the heated debates of the House of Representatives and the debates and debates in the Kuwaiti press are transferred to the silver screen.
Thus, cinema in Kuwait has achieved one of the most important conditions for a successful artistic work, which is the ceiling of freedom.
This ceiling differs from censorship, as I am not one of those who consider censorship an obstacle to creativity, whatever its degree, as long as other necessary conditions are met and we will come to mention them, in addition to the fact that Kuwait’s cinematic history has no bitterness or negative experiences with banning and blocking films.
Secondly, these cinematic experiences come in the midst of Kuwait's cultural heritage and an atmosphere of intellectual interaction that is more than 6 decades old.
And if this legacy is well invested and employed cinematically, it can present a distinct Arab cinema that is far from the commercial and research purpose to the broader cultural and aesthetic cinematic goal.
This means that the view of film production should go beyond the profitable purpose without ignoring it, but that profit should not become the first or only criterion.
Thirdly, Kuwait has a rich social experience with a mixture of painful experience with war, loss, and regional tensions, in addition to a public movement related to exposing social problems and an open public debate on how to treat them.
This represents a fertile source for stories and drama if this movement is invested creatively to provide imaginary visions to monitor it and try to fix it, and this is one aspect of positive interaction with life's problems.
Fourthly, the country has businessmen and a large investment climate, if contact occurs between it and the film industry, it can represent a great investment and commercial value if it is done in the required manner, in addition to the artistic value in terms of culture and knowledge.
There is a successful local experience with Cinescape, but it is a theater company, not a movie production company.
All these factors are untapped potentials in Kuwait, and in order for them to be optimally invested, there are several steps that should be followed, on top of which is a review of the form of cinematic education, whether at the university level or courses.
It is difficult to advance the cinema industry without a good professional and academic foundation, and most importantly, creating a state of discussion and public taste provided by these educational institutions, as well as the need to establish a fund to support new cinematic experiences and provide an encouraging and safe production environment.