Mountain Boy: dir Zainab Shaheen (2024)

A special screening of Zainab Shaheen’s debut feature, a coming-of-age story that doubles as a love letter to the landscapes of the UAE. Suhail is a young Emirati with autism, living alone in the Fujairah mountains after his father shuns him. There he is at one with nature and has a kindness that infiltrates those who engage with him. When he crosses paths with a child caught in a storm, it prompts him to set off on an unexpected an Arabian saluki in search of his mother’s family. On his travels toward Abu Dhabi the strangers he meets become friends …

The screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Zainab Shaheen, writer Michelle Ziolkowski, and actor Naser Almessabi.

Registration is free (and does not require a museum ticket) with seats allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.