Movies You Made: “Bubble”
For several months, I’ve been tagging a bunch of emails from filmmakers who have contacted me about their film projects, so I figured we should feature them this May. If you have a movie, either short-form or long, with which you were involved — writer, actor, director — please either email me or post details in comments. Happy to promote them on GITS.
Today we feature the award-winning short film Bubble from filmmaker Faisal Hashmi. Background from Faisal:
Hi Scott,
Let me start the email with the expected but no less true fact that I’ve been a huge fan of GITS since 2007 when I discovered my love for screenwriting and can’t thank you enough for such a resource.
I’m from Dubai, United Arab Emirates — a city or country not usually associated with filmmaking. And with good reason — there isn’t any film industry here to speak of. Yes, there’s a lot of commercial advertisement production happening and MI4 did end up shooting here, but that’s it. No support, no resources for filmmakers. There is a movement that has begun to change this, and I’ve been a part of it as well. I’m an independent filmmaker who was born and brought up here, and every film I’ve made so far has been the result of run-and-gun no-budget shooting. But I’ve done well for myself, and it’s now a career for me.
The short film I’d like to share with you is Bubble, a dramatic short film that I shot here in Dubai towards the end of 2011. It’s nothing like my other work which is very genre-specific, and this was a passion project with an abstract idea to explore. It was shot for exactly zero dollars, with a crew of me and my brother and actors who worked for nothing with locations that we didn’t have permits to shoot at. After the film’s release though, a lot of good things happened and many people were surprised to see a film like that come out of Dubai without any support from the government. It played a couple of film festivals worldwide, and then won Best Film at the Eye to Heart Film Competition organised by the American Islamic Congress and as a result, the film has played Human Rights Film Festivals in countries like Egypt, Tunisia and Yemen with more to come. It has gained a life of its own online as well, and has got me a lot of branded content work that has sustained my career.
A driven candidate moments before the most important point of his career. A desperate thug moments before the most dangerous decision of his life. An abstract and compelling short film about finding peace in regret.
‘Bubble’ is a no-budget independent short film directed by Faisal Hashmi under his banner Hashmic House Films. Shot in Dubai and Sharjah, it was shot in 5 days using a Canon 5D Mark II/Canon 600D and a crew of 1. If you liked the film, all I can ask you is to spread it around however possible.
Written, Directed & Edited by — Faisal Hashmi
Starring — Adnan Khan, Smriti Gulati, Sahil Gupta, Christus Cleetus
Music- Matthew Head
Hashmic House Films
Vimeo
Thank you for such a great resource. I have so many ideas and scripts that I’ve developed, and hopefully one day I’ll break out of Dubai and venture to Hollywood with enough good work under my belt that the right people notice :)
Thanks, Faisal, and good luck with your filmmaking ventures.
Again if you have a film project you have been involved with and would like me to promote it on GITS, and I can embed it, email me or post details in comments.
May is Movies You Made month. Let’s celebrate your cinematic creativity!
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