‘Yomeddine’ Director Abu Bakr Shawky on His Camel Racing Epic ‘Hajjan’: ‘We’re Trying to Make a Desert Story From Our Perspective’

variety.com:

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Egyptian-Austrian director Abu Bakr Shawky, who in 2018 made a splash when his first feature “Yomeddine” had the rare distinction of making the competition cut for Cannes, is back on the festival circuit with Saudi-set adventure movie “Hajjan.” Shawky’s big-budget epic follow-up, which launched from Toronto’s Discovery section, is now premiering regionally at Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Festival in Jeddah, where it screened Monday to roaring applause as an out-of-competition gala.

Somewhat similarly to “Yomeddine” – which involved the desert voyage of a leper, a donkey and a child – “Hajjan” also involves a journey across the desert.

This time, it’s embarked upon by a young orphan boy and his beloved camel. The beautifully shot film — produced by the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture, known as Ithra, and Egypt’s Mohamed Hefzy via his Film Clinic shingle — was made mostly in the sprawling area situated along Saudi’s Red Sea coast in Tabuk, in the northwest of the kingdom. “Hajjan” 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. Variety spoke to the director about working on a bigger canvas with his sophomore film. You’ve gone from making a movie involving a leper, a boy and a donkey to making one about a boy and his camel.