Amin Abbas Dubai

‘The Heart of Them’ is the first Emirati animated feature that is directed and produced by award winning Emirati filmmaker Mohammad Ahmed Fikree.

Fikree is most well-known for Girl & It (2013) and the Heart of Them. He is also known for creating most of his animated films as a one-man show, including composing original scores.

The Emirati filmmaker told Arab News Japan his upcoming feature began production in September 2013, right after ‘Girl & It.’

‘The Heart of Them’ is a story about two sisters who were “the last remaining humans on a long and arduous journey to reach the last standing sanctuary shielded from the tyranny of titans known as the ‘Stalkers,’ in order to reverse the destruction of the world caused by their ancestors.”

Fikree said the movie was about humans’ misuse of technology and how they harm each other and other living things such as animals of land and sea.

“It was meant to be a short-animated film, but after finishing a few drafts and storyboards, it wasn’t enough, story-wise. So, I had to extend the story with proper backgrounds and backstories with new characters. I unintentionally turned this into an animated feature, which at that time and until now makes it the UAE’s first animated feature-length by an Emirati animator,” he said.

“In 2015 to 2016, amazing cast like D.C. Douglas (Albert Wesker from Resident Evil 5), Guy Cihi (James Sunderland from Silent Hill 2) and Adam Harrington (Bigby from The Wolf Among Us) recorded their lines. I also got amazing Emirati cast such as Meera Al Midfa, Amal Al Agroobi and first-time voice actress Aisha Mohammed to do their part,” he added.

Fikree said he then went on to the animation part of the process, which took some time as he was trying to find the “right art style.”

“After so many experiments with trails and errors, I’ve found the perfect style in 2018 and that is when I actually started the animation production,” he said.

Fikree said he is unsure of when the movie will be released, however, his current plan is to have at least 90 percent of the animated film done by November of this year.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvga9PzT2pw&feature=youtu.be

“Now with the pandemic going on around the world right now, I’m not sure if I would like to have The Heart of Them go through Film Festivals in 2021 to 2022,” he added.

Fikree said his journey in film making started in 2006, when he went to the cinema and watched a movie called ‘The Prestige,’ written and directed by Christopher Nolan.

“When the credit rolled, the movie surprised me and inspired me to become a filmmaker / film director. I didn’t know who Christopher Nolan was at the beginning, but a friend told me that he also directed Batman Begins,” he explained.

He said he also watched its sequel ‘The Dark Knight,’ in 2008. “I can’t remember how many times I went to cinemas to watch the movie, maybe seven or eight times,” Fikree said. “That is when I became a fan of Nolan’s work.”

Fikree told Arab News Japan the his last animation film, ‘Girl & It,’ was about a king’s son going out on a hunt for a mythical beast far away in order to prove himself worthy of being the next king until he meets a girl who lives with the beast.

“Making the film more interesting and less cliché was difficult but I’ve somehow achieved that. I’m proud of the result, though I’m still upset about 15-minutes cut due to the deadline,” he explained. “It did receive awards from Dubai International Film Festival 2013 and Abu Dhabi Film Festival 2014.”

Speaking of his inspiration of Japanese anime, Fikree said: “My favorite anime movies are Perfect Blue, Paprika, Akira and Princess Mononoke. My favorite anime series is Gungrave. I never really grew up with anime, but mostly with western animations like from Disney, Dreamworks, Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon.”