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Saudi Seeks to Bridge Gap Between Cultures

DUBAI — Independent, self-trained documentary maker from Saudi Arabia, Mohammed Sendi strongly believes in ‘Responsible Journalism’ and the need to portray raw human emotions through his documentaries.

A student of Valparaiso University, Indiana, US Sendi’s 45-minute documentary feature ‘Valley of Paradise,’ which was screened at the Gulf Film Festival on Saturday, takes a fresh perspective on how Arab students in the US help change the image of Islam post the 9/11 attacks in New York.

Growing up in Turkey, Morocco and Saudi Arabia, Sendi developed a love for watching documentaries and learning more about the world. Sendi drew up on his experiences through an interfaith dialogue at his University to produce his own documentary.

“The documentary was a part of a class project,” said Sendi. With only a vague idea of what is it that he wanted to do in life, Sendi took his camera to a barbecue for a group of international and American students hosted by Dr David Weber, a lecturer in theology in Valparaiso University.

“That experience was great,” Sendi said. “Students were talking to each other about culture, politics, food and other things in an informal environment and really getting a much better understanding of one another”

Mohammed’s documentary explores the perception of Americans about Arabs. There is a scene in the documentary, where an American student is asked by the filmmaker what he knows about Saudi Arabia. He shrugs and responds: “They have a lot of oil I guess, and it must be different you know.”

“When 9/11 happened I was just walking to my class room at the University,” said Sendi. “When I found out what happened, I freaked out. I got back 
to my dorm, and told my roommates that we needed to get out of there. I thought my American friends were never going to talk to me again. But, 
the University was very protective of Arab students. Over night, instead of the reaction of outrage that I had expected, the students were very understanding,” said Sendi.

“Valparaiso is a small town; you 
have the chance to get more personal with students and the other people in the town,” added Sendi. The events after 9/11 opened more doors of understanding of Americans about the Middle East.

He said that as bad as the war in Iraq and Afghanistan are, Americans began to ask more questions about Muslims. “There is always going to be a misconception, which is quite natural because of the lack of education of Americans about Arab culture. The event made the Americans ask more questions. Questions were raised, and there was a need for people to understand each other,” added Sendi.

dhanusha@khaleejtimes.com

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