Mountain Boy: dir Zainab Shaheen (2024)

A special Ramadan film 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, producer Nancy Paton, writer Michelle Ziolkowski, actor Naser Almessabi, and guest Saleh Almessabi.