The Saudi Film Nights premiered at Mumbai’s prestigious NFDC and attended by many
aspiring Bollywood artistes and Saudi commissioners. A short film The Edge and a feature
Fever Dreams were screened followed by a conversation with producer and actor of Fever
Dreams Sohyab Godus and Rand Agosaibi, actress of the The Edge.
Jury member and filmmaker Farhad Samji is the chief guest of the evening and expresses that
the diversity in Indian and Saudi culture needs to be celebrated and this festival is the first
step in that direction.
Godus shared that the conflict was not so much with the character Abdul Samad he portrayed
because it was easy to identify with him but the real conflict was between the producer and
the actor and how to balance the choices without compromising on the quality. He said that
when it was time for him to face the camera he functioned from the heart and when he had to
make choices as a producer, he thought from his head.
Rand Algosaibi said that a short film demands the same focus and energy as a feature
demands in fact the challenges are greater because one has to project the character in a
limited time and what nobody realizes is that many hours of shooting go into making just a
five-minute film.