Sharjah 24: Emirati animator Mohammed Saeed Harib, creator and producer of the hit series FREEJ, and Fatma Almheiri, creator of Emara, have highlighted the new and emerging opportunities in the UAE’s animation industry at a virtual discussion hosted recently by the Sharjah International Film Festival for Children & Youth (SIFF).

Challenges giving way to opportunities 
Speaking to Emirati comedian, Ammar Al Rahma, who was moderating the discussion, Harib remarked, “Creating an animated series was a big challenge for me”, alluding to FREEJ, the project with which he made his career debut in animation.

“It required different tools and resources”, he added, explaining that he put together a team of 500+ people from around the world for FREEJ’s production. “I did not have any experience in animation direction at the time nor the cash required to finance the project, but due to our hard work to see the project through to success coupled with the huge support we received in the UAE, which has big plans for the future of the creative and cultural industries, FREEJ turned out to be a big hit. It is the first Emirati 3D animation series to be translated in Japanese.”

Sharing her personal experiences, Almheiri said, “The production value of animations is extremely high and requires a team of experts and industry professionals to be done well. A lot of these are still imported and dubbed here in the UAE.”

A dearth of good actors and skilled scriptwriters who could build the right scenarios for every 15-minute episode were some other challenges enumerated by Mohammed who said that his homegrown project has added value to the overall experience of the local entertainment industry.    

The emergence of the female hero in Emirati animation
Inspired to champion authenticity and local representation, Harib went back to Emirati folk tales while researching character development for FREEJ, only to find that most of them were laced around male protagonists. “In my project, I wanted to document and highlight the role of women in the society”, he said adding that he was proud to see how well this was received by the region.

Fatma’s journey began with a similar goal. “Before writing my story, I tried to create an Arab female superhero inspired by Emirati heritage, and this is how ‘Emara’ was created. I submitted my idea to different entities, and one accepted to finance five episodes. The series was finally broadcasted on YouTube.”

A promising road ahead… 
“The UAE boasts a flourishing animation industry. Many producers invest in Emirati talents to create amazing works. I hope to see even more support coming through in the near future, which will help take this industry to the next level”, Harib opined. 

Harib, who has leveraged the educational role of animation to raise awareness about the Coronavirus through FREEJ, said he was working on a big project for Dubai Expo 2020 that would combine art with highly sophisticated media tools. He also disclosed to his audience that FREEJ will be airing its last and final season during Ramadan 2021.

The two Emirati animators recommended aspiring animators and artists to produce quality content to educate and ignite the imagination of the audience, while contributing to the advancement of the animation industry in general.

SIFF, the region’s largest festival of its kind dedicated to bring the magic of cinema and media arts to the young generation is organised annually by FUNN – Sharjah Media Arts for Youth and Children, an organisation dedicated to promoting the media arts in the UAE.