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A heart-rending movie starring Bahrain-based actress Eskedar Girmay Dubois will be screened in the kingdom this weekend.
Known as Esky to her friends, the mother-of-two from Juffair plays a journalist called Sara who was adopted as a child and goes in search of her biological parents.
Tikur Engda, or Unexpected Guest, will be shown at the Seef Cineplex at the weekend. Filmed in Ethiopia, the main character speaks English and when local dialect is spoken there are English sub-titles.
Esky explained: “Since I was a teenager I always wanted to act and a few years ago I started writing and developing my own scripts. I was ready to give up on my passion when the opportunity to do Tikur Engda was born.”
A resident of Bahrain for 16 years and married to French IT manager Pierric Dubois, she teamed up with renowned Ethiopian actor and director Michael Tamira to form Hala Film Productions in Ethiopia 18 months ago. This is the production house’s first project and a team of professionals were hired to work on it.
Talking Pictures, a video production company in Bahrain, also handled the colour grading of the motion picture.
The director decided on Esky taking the lead role as she fitted the determined, strong-willed character.
Esky worked in the media industry in Bahrain before delving into the fashion world and designing her own range of traditional Ethiopian attire.
She said: “I have always dreamed about having my own production company. I love anything artistic.”
The aim of the film, which runs for one hour and 48 minutes, is to raise awareness of adoption issues.
Due to her love for the kingdom, Esky wanted to showcase the film here. She said: “Bahrain is my home. It is my adopted country. My family and friends are here.
“I want to show my respect and appreciation to the kingdom by sharing my first film here. I hope people love it as much as I do.”
Esky has modest hopes for the film, but believes it could lead her to new movie challenges. She said: “I’m only following a desire I have always had and I don’t feel I have to achieve anything, but I will be happy if I somehow create awareness about adoption and its side effects.”
Tikur Engda will be screened at Seef II at 3pm on Saturday, Sunday and 7pm on June 20. A debate on the subject will follow it.
For more information and tickets, call 33331072 or 39288315.
