Spotlight

Omar Al-Zidjali’s Docuseries Encourages Viewers to Chase their Passions

The young Omani filmmaker uncovers why local creatives do what they do.

By Sekka

Omani artist Mays Almoosawi is the star Omani filmmaker Omar Al-Zidjali’s docuseries. Image by Tariq Al Hajri.

Omani filmmaker Omar Al-Zidjali’s journey into creating his latest docuseries began when he directed a short documentary film about an Omani skateboarder called Haytham Al Wahaibi. ‘It was a way for me to film and edit a video exactly how I wanted to. So, I decided to create four more videos,’ says the 30 year old.

Al-Zidjali worked on four short documentary films featuring different personalities from Oman such as the Sultanate’s only female high jumper Aliya Al Mughairy. The films explore the passion that drives various young Omanis to do what they do.

Click to watch Omar Al-Zidjali’s episode with Mays Almoosawi. Video courtesy of Omar Al-Zidjali.

‘I want these videos to encourage other people to chase their passion and dreams, be they football, art, photography, or writing,’ explains Al-Zidjali.

In Al-Zidjali’s videos, which he shares on social media, the subject does the storytelling, and what distinguishes his videos is how they’re filmed in vast spaces in Oman. In this video, he explores the story of young Omani artist Mays Almoosawi, whose work has previously been featured in Sekka.

‘I find vast spaces quite intimidating, and I think the feeling of intimidation reflects strongly on everyone who is trying to achieve something. We all have these obstacles and challenges that we need to face in life while trying to pursue our passion, and that’s the reason why I chose the location for Mays’s video. She’s this tiny person in this huge landscape. There’s something so beautiful but scary about it. It’s an interesting juxtaposition,’ he explains.

Omar Al-Zidjali filming Mays Almoosawi in the vastness of nature. Image by Tariq Al Hajri.

The filmmaker is in the process of producing the second season of his documentary series. ‘The format and the length will remain the same. It’s not broken at the moment so there’s no need to fix anything,’ he says. ‘I plan on creating these as long as there are enough people who want their stories told. I might also start thinking of a name for the series as I just realised I never came up with one. A possible option is “Why I?”.’

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