Dreams in the Desert

FESCH.TV INFORMIERT:

A short experimental piece about how the desert makes me feel. Having grown up in the Middle East there is a certain affinity I feel towards the desert and its character. Yet, regardless of how comfortable I feel here, spending time in the desert always seems to feel like wild dream.

We initially drove out to the Mleiha area from Dubai to look around and get away from the city, but we kept driving further and further from the road until we found ourselves near a rock structure protruding from the sand. We ended up filming this in an hour or two while exploring out there. We were and always have been attracted to the randomness of these places – seeing an oasis lodged between the dunes and the mountains, passing a cafeteria on the side of a road to nowhere, meeting a man herding his camels through the dunes. The desert feels random and unpredictable and I wanted this video to reflect that.

This film was inspired by the work of Wilfred Thesiger (Arabian Sands) and his incredible crossing the empty quarter (Rub‘ Al Khali). Also, the work of Jake Magee, T. E. Lawrence, Lawrence of Arabia (film), and my own childhood in Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

Filmed in the Mleiha area of the UAE with the help of Joe Palubiski.

Music: Gradual Requiem: Part 3 – Ingram Marshall
Spoken Word: Wilfred Thesiger from The Empty Quarter 1967

Shot on BMPCC4k