Enthusiasm of Shaker Abel
the friend of shaker abel holds many titles and qualities, in addition to possessing talents and interests, but he is comfortable with describing him as ‘cinematic’.
out of his passion for cinema, in 2011 he produced the movie richard iii “an arab vip” a documentary film with a diverse idea of his production, co-directed by british tim langford, and he previously won the gold remi award, as it was shown during several film festivals.
the film was described as bold, embodying the arab reality and the extent of its immersion in chaos and the intensity of its contradictions. it also anticipated the events of the arab spring.
the artists were jassim al-nabhan, faisal al-amiri, and bashar abdullah from kuwait, and fayez qazq and amal omran from syria, and carole abboud, nicola daniel, and nadine juma’a from lebanon, and another actor from iraq. the 70-minute duration is interspersed with interviews and scenes from the play of international theater director suleiman al-bassam in addition to footage behind the scenes.
with a modest contribution from us, my friend shaker abel produced his second work ‘love on our intentions’, through which he tried to show something of kuwait’s ancient heritage and the struggle of our grandfathers to preserve the existence of this beautiful country and something that generations are proud of compared to our situation now.
in the film, director shaker tried to explain a side of kuwait’s history, and the reasons for our distinction in the region, through the policies, openness that we have always believed in since ancient times.
such policies were the basis of the progress and success of kuwaiti society, and how a few members of this society managed to challenge one of the strongest navies of the british empire and circumventing it, and how the kuwaiti society benefited from the multiple ethnicities, backgrounds, and skills of its children, thus it was a factor of strength rather than a factor of weakness.
the film was not produced for commercial reasons, but it received a beautiful response among those interested in cinematic art, especially in american cities and dubai.
the director and producer, abel was inspired by the idea of the movie ‘love on our intentions’ from a historical incident that occurred 110 years ago, and it required returning to the british navy military archive through a specialized historian to ascertain the truth of the incident, and the necessity to present documented work for future generations, and to show what the first people did and the risk they faced especially after sheikh mubarak al-sabah (the great) took over the reins of power, and his desire to place kuwait on the map of the region, and then his need for ammunition and weapons.
in 1910, shipmaster abbas bin nakhi managed to smuggle a weapons shipment to kuwait from muscat after a fierce pursuit by an english warship, deceiving its captain.
despite the historical importance of the film, it did not receive the attention it deserved from the official media, in particular, therefore, i kindly ask the new minister of information to make an attempt to re-broadcast it, and perhaps seek to include its subject in the school curriculum in the early stages.
