![]() The director pushed himself further than he ever had before, guided through a harrowing experience by the yearning to become a better filmmaker than before he started - a goal he accomplished. We all were learning as we went - we grew up with the character,” Harib continues. Then as the film goes on, my best directing comes just as the wrestling gets really good as well. “In the film, the wrestling starts very amateurish, both in its choreography and how it’s filmed. We ended up having to build a wrestling ring in one of the board rooms of the hotel, just to practice the routines over and over again because I was so adamant on understanding what every movement meant,” says Harib. “I was a big fan as a kid, but I haven’t really focused on it for years, and never with a filmmaker’s eye. And even with all that weighing on him, a pressing question jumped into his mind: ‘How the heck do I capture pro wrestling?’ “King of the Ring” was a major film, with an international cast - the first large-scale co-production between Saudi Arabia’s MBC, Abu Dhabi’s Image Nation and Vox Cinemas. His last live action film, 2019’s “Rashid & Rajab,” was made over a six-year period in intimate locations near his home, with actors and crew he’d known for years, and producers he counts among his closest friends. It was a bit surreal checking into a hotel and having them repeat back to me, ‘So you’ll be staying here 90 days?’ And just as that was sinking in, Saudi Arabia stopped all flights, and we lost our lead actor,” says Harib.įilmmaker Harib directing the cast of ‘King of the Ring’ during shooting. “Abu Dhabi was by far the most restrictive city during the pandemic, and so we had to adjust accordingly. The film was shot in Abu Dhabi halfway through 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, and ‘unprecedented times’ led to a production no one could have prepared for. That was easier said than done, of course, especially in the circumstances Harib was handed. Yassin Ghazzawi as Musaab in ‘King of the Ring.’ (Supplied) I said, ‘Perfect, that’s exactly what I want to do.’ I wanted an action-comedy with some soul in it,” says Harib. “When I was approached, they cautioned me that this was not a slapstick film - it was a heartfelt story. But beneath the surface it’s something more. It’s the story of a Saudi man who aspires to be a pro wrestler, far from Harib’s usual wheelhouse. ![]() It’s funny, because I’d would rather be known for that kind of work, honestly.”Īt first glance, “King of the Ring” (Malik Al-Halaba in Arabic) may be an odd fit for an artist with those intentions. “My animated series ‘Siraj’ may not get as much media attention, but it’s been (out for) years and it’s still shown in schools. “I’ve found it very important to use my skills to make sure that there are good products for kids growing up,” Harib tells Arab News. He hasn’t lost his sense of fun, of course, but while he may have set out 20 years ago with a goal to entertain and lovingly poke fun at his own culture, he’s become much more aware that he is a cultural ambassador, and as the region’s artistic voice begins to boom louder, what is being said matters just as much as how it’s said.Ī scene from ‘King of the Ring.’ (Supplied) It's no wonder, then, that Harib focuses more these days on the message behind what he’s making. The Emirati animator, artist and filmmaker behind the new film ‘King of the Ring’ - now screening in cinemas across the Middle East - has become an icon in his home country, and is responsible for so much of how the city presents itself to the world, with the characters from his animated series “Freej” welcoming tourists on FlyDubai, his robot design having guided visitors through Expo 2020, and now the newly redesigned characters Modesh and Dana serving as the city’s mascots. DUBAI: If Dubai has a face, it was probably drawn by Mohammed Saeed Harib.
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