Published on : 29/12/2020 – 09:56
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Sanaa (AFP)
A theater hall sold out in a Yemen at war for six years thanks to a play that gives pride of place to humor, allowing dozens of residents of the capital Sana’a to laugh and have a good time.
Men, women and children converged on the cultural center of the capital to attend three performances in December of “Yemeni Film”, a comic play on the difficulties of local artists in the current context.
It tells the story of young people wishing to make a film. But they face many obstacles, starting with violence, airstrikes, lack of funding and lack of experienced actors.
To avoid offending political sensibilities and any reprisals in a city in the hands of the Houthi rebels, its authors have used the artifice of comedy to depict their ordeal.
And at the same time they offered a rare moment of relaxation in this country in the grip of what the United Nations has qualified as the worst ongoing humanitarian crisis in the world, because of the conflict that has raged since 2014. The situation has not is only getting worse with the coronavirus pandemic.
Despite these grim circumstances, the seats were all occupied. Dozens of spectators laughed, applauded, whistled wildly but without a protective mask against coronavirus or physical distancing.
“As artists in difficulty, we cannot provide food aid or stop the ongoing conflict,” Mohammed Khaled, director of the play, told AFP.
“All we can do is provide entertainment for people to get them out of their current slump and an artistic creation they can enjoy,” says the filmmaker.
Tens of thousands of people have been killed in Yemen since the military intervention of a Saudi-led coalition to support the government began in 2015 after the Houthi rebels took control of Sana’a the previous year. .
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Everything was affected by the conflict, lamented Mr. Khaled, adding that the art scene was no exception.
“This piece is about me, other artists and filmmakers like me who are struggling to develop a film industry,” he continues. “The biggest problem (…) is the lack of cinemas”.
The works of the directors “are produced and posted on the internet so there is no financial return, which compromises the ability to support the industry,” he adds.
Sana’a, whose old town is one of Yemen’s four UNESCO World Heritage sites, has been largely spared the violence of the war.
However, the Houthi authorities have imposed strict rules on dress, separation between men and women and entertainment.
Yemeni society has always been conservative, but it traditionally reserved space for personal freedom, musical culture and recreation.
Ahmed Helmy, one of the actors in the play, was optimistic despite the circumstances.
“Our infrastructure is destroyed,” he told AFP. “As actors and filmmakers, we sorely lack an appropriate environment for film and theater.”
For Ayach Soubai, a resident of Sana’a, these creations showcase Yemen’s beauty and talents and are a departure from the usual headlines about bombings, famine or epidemics.
“This is what we young people in the country are missing and we are trying to achieve this by using social media and following Yemeni content creators on YouTube and other platforms but it is not enough, ”he regrets.
Several films produced by Yemenis have attracted attention. “Karama Has No Walls”, a short documentary by Sara Ichaq on the protests in Sana’a in 2011, was nominated for an Oscar in 2014.
© 2020 AFP
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