“Bila Abwab” Represents Kuwait at the Dhofar International Film Festival

Mufreh Al-Shamri

The Dhofar Governorate in the Sultanate of Oman is preparing to host the second edition of the Dhofar International Film Festival, scheduled to take place from September 6 to 9. The festival will feature broad international cinematic participation, with Kuwait represented by the documentary film “No Doors” directed by Latifa Al-Qatami, which is entered in the international documentary competition.

The participation of “No Doors” comes in an edition marked by a notable presence of cinematic experiences from 16 countries, including Oman, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Iraq, Palestine, Egypt, Morocco, Libya, Iran, South Korea, England, Spain, Russia, and Portugal.

The festival’s official competitions include 32 films selected from 133 submissions. The international documentary competition features six films, alongside eight films in the Omani documentary competition. Additionally, the opening ceremony will honor Haya Abdul Salam, Bushra, Hilal Al-Amiri, Abdullah Al-Sabbah, and Salim Al-Amiri in this new edition of the festival.

At first glance, “No Doors” ventures into a seemingly simple humanitarian setting, yet it raises questions concerning security, contentment, and happiness. Director Latifa Al-Qatami brought her camera to Uganda to document the lives of a group of people living in homes that lack even the most basic elements of privacy and security—homes without doors.

The film does not stop at documenting difficult living conditions or presenting a direct image of poverty; rather, it goes further by attempting to approach the characters’ lives and observing their ability to persevere and maintain their smiles despite the harshness of their surroundings. This highlights the paradox at the heart of the film: while the homes may lack doors, their inhabitants do not necessarily lack hope. This gives the title a meaning that transcends the description of a place, connecting more deeply to humanity and the way people cope with life.

Director Latifa Al-Qatami relies on daily details to construct the documentary imagery, ensuring that the setting does not become merely a backdrop for events but becomes an integral part of the narrative. The homes, the way of life, and the people’s relationship with their environment gradually reveal a different concept of security, well-being, and happiness, far removed from the standards viewers are accustomed to. She does not present the characters from a position of judgment or by comparing their lives to those of others; instead, she allows the scenes their own space, giving the audience the opportunity to discover the contradiction between the difficulty of the circumstances and the human capacity to smile and persevere.

The experience of “No Doors” also embodies another dimension: the choice of a subject outside the Kuwaiti environment and addressing it from a human perspective that transcends geography. Here, the Kuwaiti camera does not merely record a distant place; it seeks the shared human elements in the details of daily life, presenting concepts such as home, security, need, and contentment to the viewer in a different light. The film premiered at the American University in Cairo International Film Festival in Kuwait in 2025.