I'm honestly short on descriptive words about this. Being his sister, I know that everything coming out of me is going to be absolutely subjective and rambling-ish. Nevertheless, in sharing this with you, I hope that we share the pride in him as Saudis and Khalijis, Indonesians and multi-cultured, artists and bloggers and everything else that keeps us on common grounds.
[Scroll down for translations. The translation weren't done by a sworn translator, so irresponsible, dialectic misdemeanor can be expected.]
Anggi(Min 0:34):
The message behind "Badri?" is audacity. Audacity can be expressed in swimming in open seas, or to show up on TV. The film "Badri?" expresses that audacity in a love story, about a guy – named Basem - who has feelings for his friend – Maria – who is about to leave the country in the following day.
Interviewer: Where's the audacity in that?
Anggi: That Basem eventually musters the audacity to express his feelings for Maria.
Interviewer: Was there audacity in the production itself? You shot in Jeddah, right? Isn't it considered audacious to shoot a love story in a Saudi society?
Anggi: It's not common to have a movie shot in Saudi, much less a romantic movie. When I wrote the story, I wanted it to be different from the love stories in common Saudi societies, as well as general Arab Soap. So, yeah, the movie and the idea were quiet novel in Saudi.
Interviewer: I love the idea behind "Badri?". I'd like to know, though, why did you call it "Badri?"
Anggi: It's a word used by one of the characters in the movie when Basem told him that he's got feelings for Maria.
[Hning's Note: When word "badri" literally means: too soon. And is usually said in sarcasm when something is done (nearly) too late.]
Interviewer: Have you ever had any other experience in movie making, particularly in the romance genre?
Anggi: I made a drama-action movie called "Stick With It", which was about four young men, each one of them had their ambitions. The movie's length was 30 minutes, and it was screened in the American International School in Jeddah. And before that, I had already made five to six other movies that weren't publicly screened, because I didn't think that those had the quality for that kind of viewing.
Interviewer: And they were all short films? Aren't you considering to make feature films?
Anggi: We don't have cinemas Saudi. In order to make a feature film, you are supposed to have movie theatres so that the money you invest in them returns. The only way a movie can make returns is by screening it in the movie theatre, which is not available in Saudi.
Interviewer: Where lays the problem here, really?
Anggi: (Rolls his eyes) That I don't have the audacity to promise returns to any investor when there aren't any movies theatres to start with.
Interviewer, switches to the other movie maker, whose name turns out to be Muhammad Sindi: Do you agree with him?
Muhammad Sindi: Blablablabla…(can't be bothered to translate that right now, sorry, M.Sindi).
Interviewer: Currently, we see a lot of interest in the Saudi movie industry. Do you think you're going to be more involved in these events?
Anggi: Inshallah. Movie making is my passion, and my goal is to make a living based on this passion, so yeah, you'll be seeing a lot of me in the future.
Interviewers wrap up about how happy they were to have the guys with them.
Comments or words of encouragement else directed to Anggi Makki can be sent to his email. If you want to join his fandom and receive updates on his theatrical performance, check out his production house's group on Facebook: Jeddah Movie Makers.
