Filming A Mini-Documentary

A few weeks ago, I decided to make a list of things I wanted to achieve/do in the next five years, by the year 2024. With eagerness, I listed the first ten things I could think of and then hung up the list on the wall before my desk, such that it was in my direct field of view whenever I sat there (which is most of the time).

The next thing I know is I’m in the infamous bathrooms of [REDACTED] International School and feeling my phone vibrate in the pocket of my school skirt. I had received an Instagram DM from Nada, a freshman at AUS and an alum of the high school I’m currently attending. I knew Nada, but only scarcely; she was one year my senior at school, we were aware of each other’s lives, followed each other on Instagram, but there wasn’t anything beyond that.

Nada had texted me to ask if I wanted to get interviewed about Unootha for a film project she had. I, of course, could not believe it. I quickly dried my hands and left the bathroom, fervently typing a, “Yes! Absolutely!” back.

(Number three on the sacred list of major things I wanted to achieve in the next five years just happened to be “Get invited to an official interview or podcast”.)

A few days later, and I was at the MCM Studio at AUS, seated on a director’s chair, bright lights positioned over me, and a camera blinking red right before where I was seated. Three figures stood behind the camera—Nada, Meera, and Salama—smiles on their lips as I nervously answered their questions.

The interview lasted for about two hours, and I could slowly feel a sense of solace encapsulate me. While I found myself stumbling over my words and often times retracting my statements before I even get halfway through them, I was also smiling and laughing as I recounted anecdotes from art fairs and workshops. I found myself reflecting on the years when Unootha was still at its genesis, when it only existed as a thought in my mind, and then reflecting on the past year and a half of Unootha as a tangible entity, now existing beyond the limits of my imagination.

Unootha is nowhere near where I aim for it to be. We’re still learning how to navigate this space, still learning how to become the most impactful digital publication in the universe. But I know we’re going to get there. As I sat in front of the camera, the faces of women who believed so deeply in what we were doing standing behind it, I knew that Unootha was going to be great, that it was going to change the world (no matter how big or small the impact), one issue at a time.

— Fatima Al-Jarman

(A BIG BIG BIG thank you to Nada, Salama, Meera and Dalal, the team behind the little documentary. You made me feel so comfortable and safe as I answered all of your questions. Thank you for being patient even when I kept fucking up my words.)