Dubai: Meet the child filmmakers who won Dh1 million Global Village scholarship awards

They say that children are the future — and when the children themselves are aware of that and are already geared up to make a difference in the world, it’s a sign that tomorrow is in good hands.

Sana Sajin and Mark Mitryakov are two children who captured their vision for tomorrow on film and are well on their way to achieving that vision.

Sana, 13, and Mark, 9, were both awarded scholarships worth over Dh1 million for the remainder of their school years, as they were crowned winners of the Bloom World Academy’s Young Directors Award competition at the final gala red carpet awards held at Global Village on Tuesday.

Global Village's Young Directors Award competition, conducted in partnership with Bloom World Academy (BWA), invited children between the ages of five and 14 to create a short video based on the theme “My more wonderful world”.

Impacting the lives of others

In her film, Sana’s initiative to make life better is to help the cleaning and maintenance crews in apartment blocks and other buildings by having doormats at the entrances of the buildings, so that people who enter can wipe their feet first. In her short, four-minute film, she may have tackled a small problem, but it is one that impacts the lives of others.

“It’s my biggest dream to be a filmmaker. I want to make simple, short movies like this one — movies that make an impact,” said Sana, an only child who hails from Kerala, India, and who won in the Senior category.

“These days you can see the film industry making many blockbusters, but some people want movies where they can feel something that is heart-touching,” she said, adding that the last scene of her winning film, where the cleaner is smiling, is her way to touch people’s hearts.

The idea of the film came from an observation at a restaurant, where she noticed the cleaners at work. "It’s something that we see every day but not many people notice it. I want this to be noticed. Everyone matters — this is my message,” she said.

Her challenge was learning how to make a film. “I’m not a fully-polished director so I had to learn scriptwriting and rewriting and how to come up with a shot list. I really like the fact that I learnt the process,” she said.

Seeking balance in life

Mark won in the Junior category. The precocious young boy from Kazakhstan already knows nearly seven programming languages. In his film, he encourages viewers to seek a healthy balance in life.

“I saw that everyone right now is mostly in the digital world. It’s not good to do too much of one thing, so I wanted to send a message that finding a balance is important,” he said.

Describing his film, Mark said: “There are plenty of happy people here (in the UAE). There’s even a Ministry of Happiness, but I wonder: What do people really need in order to be happy?"

A "healthy balance in life" was the answer he proposed. “My parents and I talk a lot about the future and what it will hold for us… I spend a lot of time on the computer, but my parents have told me it’s important to have a healthy balance in life,” he said.

Mark added that he often sees empty playgrounds because kids have opted for digital playgrounds instead. “I think this is a global problem. We lost interest in the real world — the sounds of waves and chirping birds, the smells and colours of flowers. I want to pass this message to the world and tell them how important it is to have a healthy balance in life to stay happy,” he said.

Mark has a YouTube channel which he uses to teach others the programming languages he is proficient in because he "wanted to spread my knowledge to everyone”. In the future, he wants to be a creator of games in the metaverse.

His final advice in his film was: “Embrace life, dare to be different — and, most importantly, bring that healthy balance to life!”

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