UAE Ambassador to S. Korea Abdulla Saif Alnuaimi poses for camera while he is attending the screening of Sayyedat Al Bahr movie at Ewha Womans University in Seoul on July 20, 2020.

His Excellency Abdulla Saif Alnuaimi, the Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates to the Republic of Korea, attended the screening of Sayyedat Al Bahr movie, at the Arthouse Momo Theater of Ewha Womans University on Monday, July 20, 2020.

Sayyedat Al Bahr, also translates to Scales, is a joint art work made through the collaboration between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. It is screened as part of the ninth Arab Film Festival in the Republic of Korea, hosted by the Korea Arab Society and sponsored by the Arab diplomatic corps in Seoul together with some other Korean entities. The focus of the festival for 2020 is the Arab women film-making.

The UAE ambassador was welcomed by the audience including Korea Arab Society officials as well as staff and students from the Ewha Women University, a prestigious female-only university in the country. Asked upon his arrival at the entrance of the theatre, HE Abdulla Saif Alnuaimi said that "the screening of the movie to Korean audience comes in implementation of the UAE Ministry of foreign Affairs and International Cooperation’s initiative aims at introducing the UAE's efforts in the area of promoting gender equality and women's empowerment to the people in the friendly Republic of Korea. The initiative is part of MOFAIC's public diplomacy in the area of culture."

UAE Ambassador to S. Korea Abdulla Saif Alnuaimi (2nd from right) poses for camera with other participants while he is attending the screening of Sayyedat Al Bahr movie at Ewha Womans University in Seoul on July 20, 2020. At left is Adam Abdelhameed, press officer of the UAE Embassy in Seoul.

The movie is produced by the Image Nation Abu Dhabi and directed by Shahad Ameen, a Saudi female director. Set in a dystopian landscape, Sayyedat Al Bahr is a story of a young strong-willed girl, Hayat, who lives in a poor fishing village governed by a dark tradition in which every family must give one daughter to the sea creatures that inhabit the waters nearby. In turn, the sea creatures are hunted by the men of the village. Saved from this fate by her father, Hayat is considered a curse on the village and grows up an outcast.

Nevertheless, she does not surrender to this fate and fights for a place within her village. After her mother gives birth to a baby boy, Hayat must accept the brutal custom of giving her to the sea creatures or finding the way to escape.

The UAE and ROK signed an MOU proclaiming 2020 as the Year of Cultural Dialogue with the aim of promoting cultural exchanges between the two countries in line with the two sides' celebration of the 40th anniversary of the establishment of their diplomatic relations. The event is expanded through 2021 due to Covid-19.

The 9th Arab Film Festival