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00:00Let me tell you something, it's not easy for a female director, it's not easy for a male director.
00:04For me, it's being a professional and working extremely hard and the glass will crack at some point.
00:10If it's not now, it's later.
00:12But having the spirit of perseverance after years and years and not giving up
00:18I think is one of the key things to make it in this industry.
00:21It's not for the faint of heart, I always say that.
00:26Good evening, this is Manjusha Radhakrishnan from Gulf News.
00:28I'm the entertainment editor.
00:30It's a very proud moment for lovers of UAE cinema actually.
00:36We have our very own cultural pride actually, Naila Alkhaja, Emirati filmmaker
00:42who's come with her movie called Three.
00:45It's a supernatural thriller and apparently it will put UAE in the global map as well.
00:50Is that correct?
00:51Hopefully, yes.
00:52Yes, I'm getting a lot of inquiries from different territories, North America, Asia.
00:58Hopefully, once we roll out in the GCC in Cairo, we will roll out in other countries.
01:02So, this is really a very exciting period.
01:04Of course, and it's very fascinating because you are up against Goliath, like fighter.
01:10There's Oppenheimer, I'm told, which is re-releasing because of the Oscar buzz it has created.
01:14Do you feel like the underdog, Naila?
01:16Of course, I am. Absolutely, 120%.
01:19This is why please promote and support my film.
01:22Although we do have Jefferson Hall, who is an Oppenheimer, who plays Dr. Hawley in my film.
01:26So, that's a very super cool connection there.
01:28He was also in Halloween and House of the Dragon.
01:30So, the film is literally about how far a mother would go to save her son against all adversities.
01:35And it's about exorcism in Islam, but more than that, it's about mental health, taboo topics.
01:43But really packaged in a way that's respectful, but also very eerie and can make you think twice.
01:49I think the ending will surprise you.
01:51But of course, we don't want to give that away because that will kill the film.
01:54Of course, of course. And don't give the farm away, of course.
01:56But why did you choose a supernatural thriller?
01:58Because that's one where you have to be so good.
02:01It can't be about jump scares because people have seen that.
02:04So, how is this going to be different?
02:06So, it is very psychological.
02:08It's different in the sense that you don't know when the dread will come or end.
02:13You don't know what's going to happen to the characters.
02:15The characters shift dramatically because of whatever happens to them.
02:20With my style of filmmaking, it's always a slow burn and then it goes into a massive crescendo with a big reveal.
02:27So, it's that type. And I hope people enjoy the ride.
02:30The casting is so fascinating.
02:32I feel it's got a mix of both Western talents and Emirati talents as well.
02:37How did you go about the casting, Naila?
02:39Well, first of all, it is a cross-cultural horror film.
02:44People call it that as well.
02:45So, it's very interesting because I had to find a cast who can speak fluent English.
02:50And also, obviously, maybe not the other way around.
02:53But it was a big challenge for me because I had to find the main character, who is Saoul Zarouni,
02:59who was just 13 at that time, to really embody so many different personalities in the film
03:05and have these different nuances look striking but also very believable.
03:11So, he, for me, carried that and it was such a difficult role to play.
03:15A lot of people don't know this, like behind the scenes, trivia stuff.
03:18We had two body doubles for him because it was exhausting doing all these nightmarish scenes.
03:24Right. Of course, in J-School, we were taught never to write a story about pets or about kids.
03:30And that's all I do. Pets and kids in all my films.
03:34Why is that?
03:35I never learn, that's why.
03:36It's fascinating. So, do you love challenges, generally?
03:39It's like, you know, let me go where most filmmakers would dread to go, work with young talent.
03:44First of all, I think I'm in love with phobia.
03:46And the thing is, when I did the film, the horror of testing daily 200 plus crew PCR test
03:52was more scary than making a horror.
03:54Because if one actor, especially in the A-Zone, we had SAG actors,
03:58if that person fell through, we shut down for 10 days and the whole production would have been in the water.
04:04So, carrying that on my shoulder and just hoping and praying to God that we are safe
04:09was probably the biggest miracle that happened to the film.
04:11So, I'm just really blessed to have amazing producers, cast and crew who, you know, carried it through till the end.
04:18Right. And Naila Alkhaja, you are like a homegrown talent.
04:21We have seen you since the diff days.
04:23And I remember. Do you feel like as a female director, it's easy now to, you know, to break ground?
04:28Let me tell you something. It's not easy for a female director, it's not easy for a male director.
04:32For me, it's being a professional and working extremely hard and the glass will crack at some point.
04:38If it's not now, it's later.
04:40But having the spirit of perseverance after years and years and not giving up,
04:46I think is one of the key things to make it in this industry.
04:49It's not for the faint of heart, I always say that.
04:51Really. And 3 is a theatrical release, which is a big deal.
04:54It's a big deal.
04:55Especially in this age of OTT where there's so much of content everywhere.
04:59Correct. And not just that, a lot of independent films don't even get theatrical, it's rare.
05:04So to get a 9 country release, like theatrical release, it's a big deal.
05:08So I'm hoping that, and I won't be satisfied because I would like to, you know, open more territories
05:14and really introduce Emirati cinema outside of the UAE.
05:18Right. Of course. And I love that. Are you shattering stereotypes with this film as well?
05:22I remember talking to like an Egyptian director this morning and a Lebanese one
05:26who said there are so many stereotypes about Arabs.
05:28Yes. Would this movie shatter them?
05:30Yes, it would shatter stereotypes, it would show some really amazing performances by young and older Arabs.
05:36Mariel Halyan did fantastic as the Mullah.
05:39We have some really, really fantastic performances.
05:42There's also like Noura Al-Abid and, what's her name? Sorry, I'm like under the spotlight right now.
05:49Noura Al-Abid and Fatin Ahmed who performed as a local, although her origin isn't,
05:56she like nailed the accent.
05:58Oh, that's brilliant.
05:59Yeah, and that was not easy. So hats off for that.
06:02Brilliant. And before we let you go, you need to tell us which is your favourite Hollywood scary pic.
06:08Do you have the ring, anything? Or where do you take your inspiration from?
06:13Like, do you go home and just watch these horror films?
06:16Yeah, I think because I grew up watching lots of like Roman Polanski,
06:18I know he's controversial, but not from a personal standpoint, but from an artistic point of view,
06:22like I really like Rosemary's Baby. I thought the theme, the song itself gives me like shivers, you know.
06:27And then I also enjoy more kind of calmer things, like calmer horror that really like hits very hard with the nerves.
06:35But I would say like a very, very big collection of horror films and psycho films that I really enjoy watching.
06:43So if you look at my like earlier books, like from Dean Kunz to, you know, Stephen King,
06:48that's like literally my library at home.
06:50So there's a lot of inspiration being drawn from all these different voices.
06:53And of course, people ask me like for my next film, like Bob, what's the inspiration?
06:58I would say like Pan's Labyrinth, the original.
07:00The original? That's brilliant. So is there going to be a four and a five after three? What is it?
07:04No, it's three, two, one.
07:06Really?
07:07You go prequels, right? You go back to the origin story, where the devil came from, right?
07:11Wow, I can't wait.
07:12We'll see. We'll see.
07:13No, but I'm so, I'm really ready to be scared. And guys, please do, this is our film.
07:17It's like an Emirati film that's going to release in the UAE cinema. So show us your love.
07:21And please, I want to make this super clear.
07:23The biggest population that actually loved the film were the Asians.
07:26So thank you so much. And experts.
07:29Basically what I'm trying to say is that it's not just for Arabs.
07:31It's a cross-cultural film and it's really made for everyone.
07:34You'll hear a lot of English, a lot of Arabic.
07:36It's properly subtitled. It's very easy to follow.
07:38And I really hope you enjoy it. Enjoy three.