Al-Mufakir, the controversial new movie about the Emir of the Caliphate's vassal state of New Basra, is an amazing piece of writing, acting, and directing. It is a tremendous film. It's not a biopic - it's something else. Al-Mufakir is a retelling of myth, an attempt to harness the power of Saqqaf's loss following the death of his first wife and redemption within the circles of both the Caliphate's financial society and the upper echelons of its political elite, to explore a story about a character who has achieved in single years significantly more than many Fringe-dwellers achieve in their own lives. INTERVIEWER Did you see the film as capturing your persona well? SAQQAF [Pause] They did a very good job. INTERVIEWER Do you object to the portrayal of anything within the film? SAQQAF I find that some of the rawer details only serve to fuel the verisimilitude of the piece. Without these vignettes of emotion and hardship, the biopic would be neither poignant nor worthwhile watching. INTERVIEWER Do you see the brief Haven scene - running at only 12 minutes - entirely necessary to the story? SAQQAF It serves as exposition for my growth in politics, sadiq. Without the Keatsian vale of political soul-making that Haven served as, the jump in political status would be unfounded. INTERVIEWER But your prowess in both the political sense and the board-room had been long established prior to this. Do you have any inspirations? SAQQAF Arafat and Monir Farmanfarmaian. Al-Kindi and Mohamed Alabbar. Countless figures of inspiration. INTERVIEWER You said Farmanfarmaian, correct? How would an artist inspire your forays into the political world? SAQQAF [Pause] Greatly. INTERVIEWER Some of the Ummah disagree with the portrayal of the Havenites as being too base and uninspired, their low-brow humour and low attention spans being unsuited for political office. Is this accurate, or just derived from the director's brevity? SAQQAF The director captured the Haven government well, a perfect facsimile of incompetence. There is a gentle hand that has to be taken with portrayals such as these, as to maintain believability whilst also sustaining realism. The director may have been more heavy-handed with the latter, but it doesn't detract from the film, yes? INTERVIEWER Of course. Thank-you for your time, Emir. SAQQAF My pleasure, sadiq. // There is a space for comments below the article. //
