The Sharjah Art Foundation announced the winners of the short film production grant under the eighth season of the Sharjah Film Platform. This initiative aligns with the foundation's commitment to supporting contemporary cinematic practices that are open to research and experimentation, and providing a platform for new voices to offer critical insights intersecting with issues of history, identity, and social change. The list of winning projects includes three films: "We Return as Scraps" by the Anti-Archive collective, "Oxygen" by director Rajan Kathith, and "Myla in the Mountains" by director Nadim al-Karimi. Despite the differing geographical and narrative contexts of the works, they reveal a shared interest in exploring the complex relationship between the individual and the larger structure surrounding them, whether political, social, or familial. "We Return as Scraps" offers a collective cinematic experience that deconstructs the colonial archive and re-reads it from a contemporary perspective. It draws on materials preserved in the British National Archive concerning the "Malayan Emergency" (1948–1960), where the Anti-Archive collective seeks to reconstruct these documents through performative and imaginative practices that blend historical research with image-making. "Oxygen" takes a more intimate turn, starting from a simple daily event to uncover deep psychological and emotional layers. During a journey to repair a vital medical device, the complex relationship between a father and son unfolds in a context that expresses an unspoken gap between two generations living under the pressure of economic and social conditions. "Myla in the Mountains" transports the viewer to the visually rich space of the Hunza Valley, where the lush nature intersects with a turbulent social reality. The story centers on the relationship between the child Numan and his dog "Myla," a bond that transcends its emotional dimension to become a gateway to a broader reading of the local community's structure.
