Scales Film

Scales (Sayyidat al-Bahr) is a Saudi cinematic film categorized under mythology and fantasy films. It premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2019 and has been screened in several international festivals, earning several awards. Saudi Film Commission selected the film to officially represent the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia at the Oscars 2022 for Best International Feature Film category.

The plot of Scales Film revolves around a strong-willed girl named 'Hayat,' who lives in a small, poor village whose people practice fishing. The village is governed by unfair traditions that discriminate against women. Every family is compelled to offer their daughters as sacrifices to the sea creatures that inhabit the nearby waters. In return, the village men hunt these sea creatures.

Scales Film events start with the appearance of 'Muthanna,' Hayat's father, played by actor Yaqoub al-Farhan, on a full moon night standing on the beach holding his young daughter. Surrounding him are the village men, carrying torches, as they await the moment he casts his daughter into the sea to fulfill an ancient tradition where each family must sacrifice their female children, offering them to the mysterious creatures of the sea to appease them. As the father approaches the sea, his heart softens for his daughter, and he cannot cast her. He suddenly changes his mind, deciding to save her, which infuriates the villagers. They believe her escape from drowning will bring them bad luck, and so 'Hayat' becomes a curse for the villagers. She lives a life of rejection but refuses to succumb to her fate, fighting to make a place for herself within the community.

Scales is the first feature film by the Saudi director Shahad Ameen, starring Ashraf Barhom, Yaqoub al-Farhan, Fatima al-Taie, Haifa al-Agha, Hafsa Faisal, Abdulaziz Shatian, and Basima Hajjar. It is a Saudi-Emirati-Iraqi production entirely shot in black and white and has a runtime of seventy-five minutes. The film production took over six years.

The film delves into contemporary issues and themes that are dramatized between myth and fantasy. The symbolism invites the audience to contemplate the realities of life, seeking to express the conditions, struggles, and suffering of women within society. The film belongs to both poetic cinema and magical realism. It narrates a fictional story while abstracting it from reality by leaving the location unspecified and setting the time in the recent past, before the advancement of fishing vessels and equipment. The film is presented in an unconventional context, freed from the constraints of a typical narrative structure.

- The film was awarded the Verona Film Club Award for 'Most Innovative Film' at the Venice Film Festival 2019.

- It won the Bronze 'Tanit' at the Carthage Film Festival in 2019.

- 'Sutherland Trophy' in the Best First Feature category at the BFI London Film Festival 2019.

- Best Director Award and Critics' Award at the Rabat International Author Film Festival 2019.

- 'Silver Screen Award' for Best Asian Feature Film at the Singapore International Film Festival.

- Best Film Award in the Falcon GCC category at the third edition of al-Ain Film Festival.

The film was screened at the Cairo International Film Festival, the Sudan Independent Film Festival, and the South by Southwest Film Festival in Texas, USA, in 2019. It was also screened at the thirty-third edition of the Carthage Film Festival in Tunisia and out of competition at the Venice Film Festival in the 'International Critics Week' competition in 2019.