crawling into myself (2025)
Directed by Hamad AlFayhani
Production: Basel Owies/Doha Film Institute (Qatar)
Bader, a young man grappling with a rare illness that erases his facial features, retreats from the world when treatments fail. In a bid to help him maintain a semblance of normalcy, his mother crafts hyper-realistic masks. However, feeling increasingly alienated, Bader chooses seclusion, barricading himself in his room. As the outside world fades, his environment begins its own eerie transformation. Amidst his isolation, Bader forms an unlikely bond with a beetle—the sole witness to his inward journey and the stark realities of his condition. Through Bader's transformation, the film explores the profound impacts of illness and the unsettling peace found in surrendering to the uncontrollable forces shaping our existence.