Choosing a career in the creative fields is almost never a calculated decision. Instead, passion, interest and curiosity become powerful drivers on a bumpy road toward realizing interesting projects. When Nourah Al Hasawi was younger she thought that studying business might be the smart, stable and right choice, until she stumbled into the world of filming. Through the medium she has found self-expression and has already won multiple awards for her Thriller/Horror Short film, Courage.

The film opens with a young woman praying. Sirens go off in the distance, and she is visibly distraught. We follow her as she grapples with her personal issues and mental health. There is beautiful play with colors and light to show a shift in the mood and tempo, as well as the main character, Aliya’s feelings.
Nourah explains that Aliya’s dealing with Islamophobia, as well as being alone as a foreign student in the US. She wanted to highlight the fear, anxiety and paranoia that people have to deal with when they feel that they are a minority, especially one that is visibly marked with the hijab.

Nourah stumbled into the film world as an amateur. “I started filming, and just taking casual home videos for my teachers in high school. They asked , ‘Can you direct this video, can you shoot this?’ especially for my Arabic class.” Once I started editing, I was very interested,” Nourah says. She had also started watching many behind-the-scenes documentaries that showed how directors worked and movies were made. The more she watched, the more interested she became. By the end of high school, she knew that she wanted to dive into the deep end and become a professional filmmaker.

There was some resistance to the idea, as extended family members tried to dissuade her, telling her that she might not find a job later or that it wasn’t a stable career. But Nourah was already determined, so she packed her bags for Los Angeles and embarked on her biggest adventure yet. The experience for her was liberating, she was no longer living up to other people’s expectations or being compared to siblings. Instead, she had carved a little space in the world where she could be creative and focus on her own craft.

Courage was her thesis project for the New York Film Academy. In the Fall of 2019 she had already submitted her treatment (proposal for the project) and by December the script was written and auditions had started. Finding the perfect actor to play the part was important for Nourah. She wanted someone who understood the culture as well as looked the part. The movie was shot over a couple of days in February of last year, fortuitously just before the world was plunged into lock down. Over the next couple of weeks, there was a lot of editing to do as well as several screenings, so it could be corrected and tweaked. It is an intense and involved project that Nourah found exciting and exhilarating.

When she was done, her professors insisted that she submit her short movie to different festivals. At first she was hesitant, then decided to do it anyway. But then the awards started rolling in. She is still surprised by how well Courage has been received but the accolade closest to her heart is the “Best Women’s Issue Short” from the Dubai Indie Film Festival. Nourah values being recognized and appreciated by the people who would understand the most what she was trying to depict in her film.

Nourah has also produced a couple of films and music videos at school and out of school and finds it just as engrossing. Juggling several balls at once is something that she seems to enjoy and excel at. “I’ve been interested in producing because, [you have] more connections and you discover new locations and can negotiate which according to my friends I’m very good at,” she explained.

Nourah would love to expand her short film into a full feature. With the longer runtime, she could fully explore topics that are often ignored by mainstream media. She would love to follow one woman’s journey from her country of origin in the Middle East to settling into student life stateside. The film would be shot in multiple countries and show the dualities of culture, expectations and human connection.

The Doha Film Institute in Qatar commissioned a study which found that 26% of independent Arab filmmakers are women, and that number has been steadily rising. Female directors bring something different to the screen. They have shown wider range, depth of sensitivity as well as an openness to different experiences. They tackle topics that men might not even notice and are ok with raw and uncomfortable emotion. Just consider Lebanese Nadine Labaki, Saudi Haifa Al Mansour or Tunisian Moufida Tlatli.

This is the right time for Nourah and her generation to be making movies for us. We are ready to start consuming media that has been created by a more diverse and representative cast and crew that understands that the audience is ready for a new kind of film. And we’re sure that they are ready to start making movie magic for us.

UP CLOSE & PERSONAL QUESTIONNAIRE

What do you most value about your friends?
Their honesty.
Which living person do you most admire?
My mother.
What is your idea of perfect happiness?
There really is no such thing as perfection. Life always has its ups and downs, and that’s what makes it exciting.
What is your greatest extravagance?
I’m not really an extravagant person, but if I were to name one thing, it would be a good shopping spree once in a while.
What is your most treasured possession?
My trophies.
What is your greatest fear?
The future and what it may hold.
What is your most marked characteristic?
I stand up for others whenever the situation calls for it.
Which talent would you most like to have?
I’m proud of my filmmaking talent, so far.
What is one trait you have that you are most grateful for?
I have a great sense of responsibility to a fault.
What is the human trait you most dislike about others?
I really dislike judgmental people.
What is it that you most dislike?
Dishonesty and disrespect.
Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
Don’t make it a big deal or don’t exaggerate.
What are your favorite words to live by?
Get your act together.
Where would you most like to live?
Los Angeles.
If you could have any job, what would it be?
Film/TV Producer.
What would you consider your greatest achievement?
Being awarded “Best Student Director” for my movie “Courage”. Graduating from University with Bachelors in Filmmaking as well.
What do you hope for in the future?
To walk down the red carpet one day.

Follow @courage_film on Instagram to find out more about Nourah’s movie and stay up to date with her news.