Films tell human stories: Nayla Al Khaja

Dubai - Speaking about the power of films, Al Khaja said it is important to counter the Arab stereotypes in Hollywood.

Films tell powerful human stories and the UAE needs to use the medium to change perspectives abroad and promote tolerance, Emirati filmmaker Nayla Al Khaja said on Monday.
Speaking about the power of films, Al Khaja said it is important to counter the Arab stereotypes in Hollywood. She said it was shocking for her to find how Hollywood portrays Arabs. "They labelled us under three B's: Billionaires, belly dancers and bombers.
"It is our job to counter that narrative and create content to show the other different colours of the palates of who we are, to portray complex human stories and it is those stories that will reside in our hearts. And I believe, with this narrative, we can create tolerance."
She said the vision is to "export our content to the region and to the rest of the world, so that our culture and our stories get spread. And tolerance also gets spread".
anjana@khaleejtimes.com

• UAE