Although essentially completely unknown in the West, Bahraini singer Khaled Al-Sheikh is one of the most famous musicians in the Middle East, particularly through his collaborations with many famous artists from the region. His name is synonymous with musical innovation, and his prowess have brought him numerous awards, but, at the same time, his political opinions and the time he retired, resulted in his audience being divided.
Khaled Al-Sheikh: Between The Thorns Of Art And Politics is screening at Red Sea Film Festival
“Between the Thorns of Art and Politics” traces his creative and public journey, from his beginnings as a student in Kuwait University, where he started out studying economics and political sciences, to the Conservatory in Egypt after he dropped out to study music, to his years in the spotlight. At the same time, a large part of the documentary focuses on his two daughters, one who is an actress and presenter, and one who currently works with him as a singer, who shed more light on him, particularly as a father and family man, apart from musician.
Truth be told, at 42 minutes, Kutbi does not manage to shed much light to the political aspect of the persona, with the issues he faced due to it, essentially just being briefly mentioned. On the other hand, he manages to showcase the father, but even more so, the musician, in all their glory. To achieve this, he has included interviews with a number of people (whose names were not translated unfortunately) including fellow musicians, students, various collaborators, music label owners and retailers, all of which highlight something that is actually more of a phenomenon than just an individual.
Check also this interview
Apart from that, it is also interesting to see how Al-Sheikh's charisma seems to have been passed down to his daughters (the two that feature in the film) both of which, despite their evident differences, are also captivating to watch.
Where the documentary truly thrives, however, is its overall presentation. Apart from the music which, fittingly, and quite entertainingly, accompanies the aforementioned aspects of the film, it is actually the rather fast pace that makes the movie stand out. In that fashion, Kutbi's work in the editing emerges as the film's biggest trait, with the succession of the different elements and the pace, which actually matches the music, resulting in a frantic pace that retains interest from the beginning to the end of the movie.
Even for people like me, who did not know of Al-Sheikh before, “Khaled Al-Sheikh: Between The Thorns Of Art And Politics” emerges as a rather entertaining documentary, that manages to highlight the majority of the crucial characteristics of the man, as much as entertain throughout its duration.
