‘Yomeddine’ Director Abu Bakr Shawky Completes Saudi-Set Big-Budget Followup ‘Hajjan’ – First Look (EXCLUSIVE)

variety.com:

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Egyptian director Abu Bakr Shawky, whose first feature “Yomeddine” had the rare distinction of making the competition cut for Cannes, has completed his followup, the Saudi-set travel movie “Hajjan” which is expected to soon surface on the festival circuit.

Somewhat similarly to “Yomeddine,” which made a splash in 2018, the hotly anticipated “Hajjan” involves a journey across the desert, this time embarked upon by a boy and his camel.

The big-budget film, which was shot mostly in the sprawling area situated along Saudi’s Red Sea coast in Tabuk – in the northwest of the kingdom – is about a young boy named Matar who, after the death of his brother on the camel race track, tries to avenge his death.

To do so he becomes a camel jockey, only to find himself entangled in a battle for his own freedom. “At its heart, ‘Hajjan”is an adventure [film] that captures the deep connection between a young rider and his renegade camel,” said Shawky in his director’s statement.