10 May 2021 www.bahrainthismonth.com Ready for the Big Screen! Farah Baig has a chat with Danny Sokov, the filmmaker behind the short film Dajjal which was filmed in Bahrain. The Kingdom of Bahrain has long been home to a myriad of creatives, each a master of their own craft - be it literature, art, music or filmmaking. However, we believe it takes a stroke of genius and an even more generous helping of creativity to etch a name out for yourself in the film industry. We had a sit down with the prolific filmmaker Danny Sokov, who not only wrote the script for the recentlycompleted shortfilm Dajjal, but acted in and directed it too. You’ve been a filmmaker for 10 years now. Could you tell us a little bit about what attracted you to the film industry? My love for all things film stretches way back to when we first moved to Bahrain in the early 90s. I tend to say that TV was basically my third parent. I learned English thanks to Disney movies, Cartoon Network and MTV. I studied at the British School, during which time a lot of my expat friends from the UK introduced me to shows like Blackadder, Monty Python, The Young Ones, A Bit of Fry and Laurie, the early Graham Linehan works – all of which still highly influence my writing and humour. The first film that really ignited my desire to be a filmmaker was Terry Gilliam’s The Fisher King. I’ve watched it at least 20 times and even wrote essays about it during my university courses. That’s quite interesting. What led you to take up a role in the industry? For a long time I wanted to act, but I had a very trusted mentor advise me to learn what happens behind the camera first. Once I had a taste of film editing, there was really no going back. I first started with editing together these little music videos, where I’d cut scenes out of different films and structure them over a song, making the images convey the lyrics. Then I started doing that with footage I’d capture myself, and it all grew from there. Even now, though I can handle any role in filmmaking, I consider myself an editor above all, and a screenwriter second. Those were the two areas in which I specialised in university. Tell us more about your experience in university. I did Film Studies at the university of Kent in Canterbury, under the tutelage of some incredible filmmakers and mentors. My second year was especially formative thanks to my practical Documentary course under New York avant-garde director Margaret Salmon, as well as my Screenwriting course under BAFTAnominated director Clio Barnard. She also gave me my first on-set experience during the production of her second BAFTA nominated film, The Selfish Giant. What’s your experience in Bahrain’s media been like so far? After a five-year stint in London, I came back to Bahrain in 2017 and, in a way, had to start all over again; so, I rebranded and went into corporate and advertising. Adverts, promos, event coverage, documentaries… – I’ve handled a whole variety of projects for clients in a range of sectors. There was a great niche here for what I could offer. I also took up teaching and ran several filmmaking workshops in collaboration with ProSky. interview
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