‘Yomeddine’ Director Abu Bakr Shawky Completes Saudi-Set Big-Budget Followup ‘Hajjan’ – First Look (EXCLUSIVE)
variety.comNick Vivarelli International Correspondent Egyptian director Abu Bakr Shawky, whose first feature “Yomeddine” had the rare distinction of making the competition cut for Cannes, has completed his followup, the Saudi-set travel movie “Hajjan” which is expected to soon surface on the festival circuit.
Somewhat similarly to “Yomeddine,” which made a splash in 2018, the hotly anticipated “Hajjan” involves a journey across the desert, this time embarked upon by a boy and his camel.
The big-budget film, which was shot mostly in the sprawling area situated along Saudi’s Red Sea coast in Tabuk – in the northwest of the kingdom – is about a young boy named Matar who, after the death of his brother on the camel race track, tries to avenge his death.
To do so he becomes a camel jockey, only to find himself entangled in a battle for his own freedom. “At its heart, ‘Hajjan”is an adventure [film] that captures the deep connection between a young rider and his renegade camel,” said Shawky in his director’s statement.
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