Logline: NOUR, by Maitha Alawadi

‘Nour’ is a melodrama film that follows a family’s struggle for survival in war-torn Syria as the opposing sides look to tear them apart.

Writer Biography

Born and raised in Dubai, UAE, Maitha was surrounded by rapidly growing industries which define her city beautifully, one of which was media. However, her journey actually started in Melbourne, Australia, when she moved to pursue a bachelor’s degree in the Swinburne University of Technology where she took up a major in Digital Media Design and exercised a minor in Film & Television. It made her discover her true passion which is filmmaking.

She went on to pursue a higher degree and has completed her Masters in Filmmaking at the University of Sussex in Brighton, UK in 2016, where she met and worked with great filmmakers and upcoming actors, building a network and making short films across the UK.

Over the years her work has been featured globally, with her winning 2nd place in 2012 for Sheikh Majed Youth Media Awards in the animation category for her short film “Imprint”. While between 2016 to 2020, her films “X” and “Charlie” were featured globally, while her short script “Nour” won multiple awards, including Oregon International Film Awards, Mexico International Film Festival, and Amsterdam International Film Awards. She also was also a speaker at TEDx JESS talk, talking about identity back in 2014, and has interviewed multiple international and Hollywood actors and directors during ADFF and DIFF between 2013-2014, including Irfan Khan, Anil Kapoor, Michael B Jordan, David O’Russell, Andy Serkis, etc.

She’s currently working on multiple film projects in the UAE, including her first television series, and seeking developing options for her feature film ‘Nour’.

Writer Statement

This project is based on my multiple award-winning short script ‘Nour’, which was written back in 2015.

The script was created to define the struggle that people have faced in Syria during the war, with one of my major inspirations being the stories captured by famous ‘Humans of New York’ author and photographer Brandon Stanton, who led a two-week exposé on his Facebook page focusing on Syrian refugees in Lesvos, Greece.

Another inspiration was the UNHCR’s series of interviews with refugees on YouTube, the most memorable one was the story of Hala and family which was covered by Angelina Jolie-Pitt back in 2014 and 2015. While news reports in BBC, Al Jazeera and many more news sites, have also helped shape my story.

These along with statistics of over 12,184 million people have been affected by this situation, among them over 5,600 million children, strengthened my need to tell their stories of survival through the eyes of one family.

I believe that sharing these stories will not only have an impact on showcasing the struggles and hardships that the Syrians have gone through, but also help in understanding the current situations in the Middle East better through the eyes of its people without prejudice or judgement.

Ratings