Amal Al-Agroobi
I’ll admit it, there is a special place in my heart for women who can discuss a concept calmly, can explain their views without getting incensed if others don’t see it as they do, and are able themselves to understand both sides of an argument.
Filmmaker and producer Amal Al-Agroobi is one such woman and she makes me proud to share my gender with her.
I’ve had the chance to interview Al-Agroobi several times, the first of those during the Dubai International Film Festival in 2012 when her short film ’Half Emirati’ was in competition there. The neuroscientist turned movie director and producer explained her own hyphenated heritage — Al-Agroobi’s mom is Syrian while her father hails from Sharjah in the UAE — and so added an extra layer of understanding to an already wonderful project. Probably one of my favorites from that super packed year.
Now she’s crowdfunding her latest ‘Doris Domestic’ on Indiegogo, a narrative feature which, once made, will manage to introduce the audience to a new kind of leading lady, a Filipino maid working in the UAE, but will also turn upside down all our preconceptions. Because Doris is no ordinary housekeeper, and her host family is not the kind of household living in the Region that we often see in the headlines.
Just yesterday, this new study by the HRW was all over the media. And yet Al-Agroobi’s own stories of growing up with household staff have little to share with these findings. Again, looking at the situation from both viewpoints, and realizing that seldom life is lived in black and white — rather most often in multiple shades of grey — ‘Doris Domestic’ sets about telling an entertaining story but also dispelling some stereotypes. We can all agree that working is always a contract between two sides. And both sides have usually something to gain and something to lose. It’s up to us to be fair in our perception and allow two sides of a human equation to point us to the much needed truth at the end.
I caught up with Amal Al-Agroobi about her latest project and her interview reminded me why I believe that filmmakers are the prophets of our time.
‘Doris Domestic’ is crowdfunding until the 5th of December. Check out the film’s page on Indiegogo.
This being your first narrative feature film, after some amazing shorts and docs, what made you choose this particular theme and subject to feature in it?
Amal Al Agroobi: As with all of my films, social issues and human interest stories are close to my heart. I love learning about different people and how they interact within an environment and what they go through. Arab society in particular only tends to show a certain side of things. Many people think that this film is about your typical family abusing a maid, but it’s a very character driven story and goes into depth about human personality, the theme of jealousy is particularly strong and what a person would do in order to provide for their family. Likewise, we understand what it’s like for a family to have a stranger in their home and all the complications that come with it. The families also have a need to protect their children and household. So you really do see both sides of the coin.
It’s a story that interests me so I hope other people will find it interesting too. In fact, I invite them to see a different perspective on what they see and hear about in the media every day.
From knowing you in person, I have come to realize that your insight is about seeing both sides of a coin, avoiding to view life in black and white, rather preferring shades of grey. So ’Doris Domestic’ is no different, since in the Arab world we often hear of domestics being abused, but never the other way around. Are you afraid of ruffling feathers?
Al-Agroobi: From knowing me in person, you know exactly what I’m about – you hit the nail on the head! I’m not afraid of ruffling feathers because I tell my truth in my films. This is the way I see things and it’s from my perspective so I won’t make any apologies. If people can’t accept that this story could exist or if they don’t want to see other opinions, then take your feathers and ruffle them in your own corner. In a way, I’m an activist, I’ll fight for social injustice, I’ll be blunt.
I met the director Guillermo del Toro at the London Film Festival this year. He told everybody “all films are portraiture, and all films are political,” and it’s true. These films are a reflection of yourself. There’s a bit of you in every film you make. And you wonder why filmmakers get offended when people don’t like their films or don’t understand their films, it’s one hundred percent personal.
Perhaps because I started in documentaries and come from a documentary background, I can sit there and listen to someones story for hours and go off and do a presentation about them and give somebody a fair idea of their character. The reality is that it is difficult for Arab families to have maids because they go through so much. They pay a very hefty deposit and cover all health check and Visa charges when they visit an agent to fly and made in from a different country. If the maid runs away or if she decides she doesn’t want to work or if she gets too emotional or lonely and doesn’t want to stay, the family don’t get their money back. A lot of people don’t know that and that’s just the financial side of things. So you’re dropping a couple of thousand dollars, only to lose it. And the funny part is that if you’re maid runs away and is later found, you have to cover the cost of her tickets to fly back. So you’re paying for a service, and you’re not even getting that service.
There’s a lot that people don’t see and hear about because the media is so intent on focusing on the abuse of the rich, Arabian, luxury-living families and their violence against the poor, helpless, kind-hearted maid. While I appreciate that these stereotypes exist, this is not the only reality.
Amal Al-Agroobi on set
How will you film this, where and what is your intended shoot date? And you cast?
Al-Agroobi: I’m hoping to shoot this quite soon actually. My vision is strong and I definitely know what I want from this film, emotionally and aesthetically. A crowdfunding campaign will help us get there towards our goal, and then we can start to approach investors with some credibility, to show that there is support for the story. I’d love to shoot it before the summer.
Initially, I wrote the script for ‘Doris Domestic’ with Cate Blanchett in mind. She was visiting Dubai at the time and reading scripts for the Dubai film Festival. I thought to myself if there was something she had to know about and see that was different, this would be it. I started working on the project then. I thought this would be a great story that she would want to be a part of so I wrote the role of the housewife, as being a foreigner living in the Arab world and having a maid. A lot of the real-life stories that come out of the Middle East where families and children are abused, are not always Arab. Audiences need to know this. In the end, I never had the chance to pass my script on to her; but I still have ambitions in terms of who I want to cast in the role of Cate.
It will take a very strong woman to play this role because, western women who have moved to Arabia and are suddenly part of our society, feel out of place already. They have their own demons that they have to deal with but also, Arab society is very societal so there’s an element of acting like everybody else just needs to fit in and feeling adequate. Somebody I would love to work with and who I see carrying this role is Carey Mulligan. Not only is she a brilliant actress, but extremely supportive of both women and independent cinema.
Nevertheless, the majority of the cast are either Arab or Filipino. I think this is a great opportunity to bring people together, and I’m not sure where we will cast yet, but you never know when and where you are going to find the right person for the role.
Another thing about my films as I always try to make them as international as I can, because I come from an international background. I really do believe that filmmaking is a collaborative process and I try to be as collaborative as I can when making them. Hence why I launched the crowdfunding campaign too. When I was just starting in the film business I would do anything to be a part of other people’s projects. If somebody told me I could work on set for a day or if I could act in the film, I would do it for free. I know there are many people out there who are ambitious about being producers and getting their foot in the film industry. This is a great way to learn and also a great way of being supportive if cinema is really what you love and if these are the kind of stories that you want to see being told.
Do you think we are too politically correct these days? How do you try to change that through cinema?
Al-Agroobi: Nina, you’re a psychic. I actually had a full length discussion with some colleagues about this yesterday. We were talking about how all this political correctness has led to pandemonium across the world. Everyone is trying to be sensitive to other people‘s feelings, but instead of doing that, they’re being quite aggressive and forcing their agenda on to people around them. I always say that everyone is entitled to their own opinion and way of life. You don’t have to agree with it, you don’t have to like it, but you do have to respect it.
It’s important that everybody share their opinions openly and only then can we start to have discussions and conversations. People tend to like other people who agree with them, but we have to learn that not everybody agrees with us. I mean, that’s the definition of a filmmaker in itself. Some people will like your work and some people hate your work and some will feel neutral about it. This is all based on their own personal experiences and opinions and the life they’ve lived. If they see something in your work that they can relate to or that they appreciate, they will most likely like it. But if they see something that goes against their own perspective, and they are very close minded about it, then obviously they will try to fight it and argue against it and be judge mental. It’s human nature. And unfortunately, our world is moving more towards a closed-minded approach because they’ve been boxed up for so long that now they prefer to be in communities of their own and will aggressively fight to defend that. At least with cinema, we have a voice. I know I have a voice and I have a lot to say. I want to share stories about things that people don’t hear about, especially within the Arab community, because we are not a society that tends to talk about things. It’s better to brush something under the rug then to confront it head on. We’ve always been like that, but it’s always art and culture and cinema that makes us change. So perhaps the change has begun now that filmmakers are given voice and can go to platforms like Indiegogo or Kickstarter and ask people to support their visions.
I love the fact that Doris is a rogue agent of sorts. She ends up being the “bad guy” in the film. How did you come up with this kind of storyline?
Al-Agroobi: I basically just told the truth. I grew up with maids in my house and I know everybody else who has too.
You develop such close relations with them, they grew up with you, you share secrets with them and you build a bond with them. But during the hard times is when you get in trouble or when things go wrong, sometimes you turn to them as if they are your parents, and they’re not. At the end of the day they’re there because they have a family to support and they’re trying to make money.
Doris has been with the family for many years and as a result she has grown quite apathetic in her job. She asks for additional time off or bonus salary or sometimes she just slacks. Just like in any other company, your CEO would have a word with you at this point and would tell you that you need to step up your game if you want to stay within the company. So this is what Doris‘s boss does. Eventually, she decides to hire a new employee and Doris, because of her own emotions and issues, can’t deal with this. It’s not about being a maid, it’s about being a human being and feeling powerless to say and do anything and the eventual frustration that leads you to vent.
And finally, can you talk a bit about the idea of jealousy and envy which seems to be a central theme to the story?
Al-Agroobi: I always like to think of jealousy as a sickness. It’s something that you can’t control. Once it gets a hold of you, it’s very difficult to shake off or get out of your system and you drive yourself insane with this sick feeling.
It’s so much easier to fight someone, then to wish them well and let them on their way. People can feel like there’s not enough for everyone so they want to be the one to have it, or get it and they need to be selfish about it.
With Doris, her insecurity stems from the fact that she feels like she’s not good enough. It’s completely understandable as she lives in a house and has not really left that house for many many years. She has spent the greater proportion of her life serving a family, and not achieving anything of her own. If somebody arrives and they threaten to take that away from her, she will fight tooth and nail to protect it. But eventually, there’s a twist, and Doris‘s goal deviates into something much darker. Without revealing too much, I’m keen to see how audiences will feel the film.