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Curiosity over why people love to take pictures inspired Bahraini director Maryam Abdulghaffar to develop the subject and create an expressive documentary for film-lovers around the world.
The six-minute short film was written, shot, directed, produced and edited by Maryam, a human resources growth digital manager at Beyon, who enjoys creating art one frame at a time.
“Why Do People Take Pictures? is a narrative film that’s based on our thoughts and curiosity,” said the award-winning photographer and filmmaker from Hamad Town.
“It all started with my own thoughts and questions about why people take pictures and I decided to turn it into an expressive documentary.
“There is a twist within the film as well to keep people thinking and it is open-ended to allow members of the audience to make up their own minds.”
It took Maryam three months to put the pieces together. It includes a shot from Dubai provided by friend Abdulla Faqeeh and voiceover work
by Aysha Alattiya.
Why Do People Take Pictures? premiered in the UK at the Lift-Off Filmmaker Sessions at Pinewood Studios and also at the First-Time Filmmaker Sessions there too.
It has also been featured in Lebanon at the Tyre International Short Film Festival and in Bolivia at the Black Cat Award International Film Festival. This year it has been nominated as the Best Documentary DXB Shorts International Film Festival in Dubai.
The short film will also be featured at the LA Independent Women Film Awards in the US next month and once it’s done making its film festival rounds, Maryam is planning on sharing it on YouTube.
“It has been premiered in four film festivals so far and I hope it will be displayed at more festivals to come,” she added.
Maryam is now working on a documentary and two short films.
Her last 11-minute movie called Sound of Feathers, launched in Bahrain in December 2021, achieved 12 laurels including its official selection in the Tennessee International Indie Film Festival 2022 in the US. It also won accolades such as the Second Best First Time Director and the Best Short Documentary in the first Monthly Film Festival 2022. The movie has been screened in Brazil, the US, the UK, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Serbia.
Maryam has also won the Chromatic Award with honours, twice, which is an international competition of colour photography open to both professionals and amateurs. She also received an honourable mention in the food photography category in 2020 and an honourable mention in fashion photography in 2021.
For details, follow
@maryam.abdulghaffar on Instagram.
