Sameeha bint Saeed Alavi has been named the recipient of this year’s Arabic feature film production grant at the closing ceremony of the fifth edition of the Sharjah Film Platform (SFP5) on Sunday.His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah presented this honour to her at the closing ceremony of the activities of the fifth edition of the Sharjah Film Platform.

The winner was selected from the eight finalists who went through intense Script Lab and Pitch Coaching sessions. The scriptwriting competition winner will receive a sum of Dh200,000 towards the production of the Arabic language feature film.Participants of the scriptwriting competition were  required to submit full-length screenplay in Arabic with a minimum of 75 pages, with 80 per cent of the film to be shot in Sharjah.
A first-time writer of full length feature script, Sameeha tapped on her memories of growing up in Sharjah to spin out a narrative tale about the coming-of-age story of a 12-year-old boy coming to live in the city.

Sameeha Said Alavi is a journalist-turned-filmmaker whose interest navigates between the multilayer fabrics of life, both social and political.Her first short film as a scriptwriter, You-turn, grabbed attention during the UN climate conference in Doha. She also won accolades from Doha Film Institute for her first directorial venture, Habitude.

Sameeha is now completing her first feature documentary, Tales from the Nile, which focuses on the enigmatic real-life stories from Uganda. A regular at film appreciation sessions and workshops, Sameeha is a commerce and political science graduate who has worked with major news organisations in the Middle East.

Born in the UAE in the 1980s, she reflects her filmmaking aspiration to Arabic-dubbed TV animations and series of her times.