Dalma is a very small Emirati island located in the Persian Gulf, approximately 42 kilometers off the coast of Abu Dhabi. It is in this picturesque setting that Humaid Alsuwaidi chose to place a story about a woman fighting against the norm, and essentially against all odds.
Dalma is screening at Red Sea Film Festival
The aforementioned woman is Dana, who ho moves to Dalma island upon inheriting a decrepit house from her recently deceased father. Dana gets the house renovated and starts renting it out to tourists. An innocuous lunch at the only restaurant she finds in the area ends up with the previous owner, Fouad, losing his establishment, and her eventually taking hold of it, turning it into a fashionable cafe. Her action, however, makes her an enemy to a number of people in the island, while Ghaith, a doctor who refuses to leave Dalma, despite the many opportunities on the mainland, soon starts playing a crucial role in the story, also one of collision.
Humaid Alsuwaidi revolves his script around Dana, a hard, determined woman who is willing to succeed in the island, in a way that goes completely against the norms there, to the point that she becomes the enemy of almost everybody. As such, and in rather realistic fashion, Alsuwaidi presents her as a woman filled with capabilities but also faults, with her strong headedness in particular and unwillingness to take even a step back making her both likable and unlikeable at the same time (on occasion if you prefer) .
Through her, however, the filmmaker definitely succeeds on making a comment about patriarchy in the UAE, and also to highlight the issues all small communities are tormented by, with the distrust of strangers and their unwillingness to change their routines and ways essentially being a type of institutionalization.
In general, it is easy to say that the movie's biggest trait is its characters, with Alsuwaidi's writing thriving in that regard. Fouad for example, and the way he manages to adapt to the newcomer, only to find his efforts failing once more is quite interesting, while Ghaith, and his multilayered persona and particularly the way he turns from a doctor to something completely different, is equally intriguing with the protagonist.
This aspect also benefits the most by the acting. Hira Mahmood in the role of Dana is a true powerhouse presenting all the different aspects of her character, and particularly her will to fight, in the most impressive fashion. Rashed Hasan presents Ghaith's downward spiral convincingly, while Osman Aboubakr as Fouad is quite good in the role of one of the story's catalysts. Furthermore, the interaction of the three highlight their excellent chemistry, with the one-on-ones among them being among the highlights of the movie.
Kanat Rymtayev's cinematography captures the beauties of the island in impressive fashion, as much as the cafe as a setting that is both suffocating and a type of sanctuary, depending on the occasion. Alsuwaidi's own editing results in a mid-tempo that works well for the story and the overall aesthetics of the film.
In the end, however, the finale of the movie can be easily misunderstood as a crime-and-punishment comment that will very hardly resonate in this day and era. Apart from that, which is actually not what the director wanted to say, there is nothing wrong with “Dalma” which emerges as a very easy to watch film that also manages to make a number of comments, and would only need some more funds that would result in a better production. Alsuwaidi definitely seems like someone worth following in his future endeavors.
