‘Siwar’ Director Osama Alkhurayji on Juxtaposing Saudi and Turkish Cultures Within the AlUla-Shot Drama

Nick Vivarelli

Saudi director and producer Osama Alkhurayji’s debut feature film “Siwar” recently wrapped principal photography in AlUla, the swathe of northwest Saudi Arabia comprising ancient artifacts, a lush oasis and sandstone canyons that’s becoming a burgeoning local film production hub.

“Siwar” involves two families – one Turkish, the other Saudi – whose fates become entangled due to a revelation about their newborns. In the film, AlUla stands in for Najran, the city in southwestern Saudi Arabia near the Yemen border. The drama delves into the dynamics of how the lives of Yaner, a Turkish father played by Serkan Genç (“The Game-Hiyleger Axmaqlar”), and Hamad, a Saudi father played by Fhaid Bin Mohammed, intersect after their sons are swapped at birth.

More from Variety

“Siwar” is the latest Saudi film to shoot in AlUla, following Netflix drama “The Matchmaker” and Saudi auteur Tawfik Alzaidi’s debut feature “Norah” that – after premiering locally in December at the Red Sea International Film Festival in Jeddah – will soon launch internationally from Cannes’ Un Certain Regard section.

“Siwar” is being produced by Omar Said, whose credits in the region include the groundbreaking Netflix Saudi original movie “Naga.”

Alkhurayji, who is also a producer on “Siwar” through his Riyadh-based Hakawati Entertainment shingle, spoke to Variety about what drew him to debut with a drama centered on cultural crossover between Saudi and Turkey.

What are the basic elements of the “Siwar” story?

It’s a story about two families — one from Saudi, one from Turkey — who happen to be involved in an incident and they try to adapt to that event. Basically, their two kids were swapped at birth and wind up in different places. It’s about how they get involved with these different environments and how they accept the big change that happened in their life. I would say one of the main questions the movie tries to answer is: what is identity? Is it a biological thing, or something that you grow up with?

How did “Siwar” germinate for you? 

It’s based on a true story that surfaced around 2012 when I was studying filmmaking in the U.S. I immediately thought it was a great story for a film, so I hired a writer named Rashid Al-Yani, who is a cousin of the Saudi guy that was involved. He knows the story from the inside. We wrote it together.

As I understand it, the movie was shot in Istanbul and AlUla. Talk to me about the shoot.

Yeah we shot one week in Istanbul and the rest in AlUla where, thanks to the current governmental push to stimulate moviemaking, I got a lot of support. Since the film is based on a true story, it needs to be very authentic all the way around. AlUla is standing in for Najran, which is where the story happened. I would have filmed it there but, to be honest, the city wasn’t ready for a production like this and AlUla has lot of similarities with Najran, so it wasn’t hard to make it very authentic. Authenticity is key for this film.

How complex has it been to juxtapose Turkish and Saudi cultures?

Well, they are two different cultures but there are some similarities, of course. We share the same religion, for one. This is one of the elements I try to play with in the movie. The Turkish family is from Antakya, which is a small city on the border with Syria. And people there are more conservative than other places in Turkey. The same is true of Najran, which is a small city on the border with Yemen with an extremely conservative culture. So there are some similarities. But there are plenty of cultural differences in so many other ways.

Tell me more about the cultural contrast in the film.

I would say, more in particular, that we notice it with the characters themselves. Especially with the two kids. I don’t want to spoil too much, but the Najranic culture is more of a Bedouin culture [than the Turkish culture]. They encourage their kids from a very early age to act like adults. Kids need to know how to deal with horses — how to ride them, for example. They need to know how to contend with nature. So you see something that’s very unique, very rare in kids nowadays, and it’s not the case with both kids. With the kid who played Ali, one of the two main characters, I was very surprised that during almost a month when he stayed with us I never saw him holding cell phone. Or playing a video game. He lives in a different world.

Once he was upset and I tried to calm him down by telling him, “Ali, take my phone, go play.” He said, “No, I don’t play with phones; I don’t play games.” So that helped me, even as a director. Most of our Najrani characters are not professional actors. They are real people from Najran who I brought to make this movie. I trained them. Some of them they, including Ali, have been training for almost a year. I tried to find people who feel like the characters I want to put on screen in this movie. To sum it all up, there are lots of similarities within the two cultures but also lots of contrast. And I would say that’s one of the main elements that I try to play with in this movie.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Best of Variety

Sign up for Variety’s Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Advertisement