A young boy is fleeing war after his father is killed. All alone in the world, he finds a treasure map that will change his life — and give him the chance to heal from trauma.
The plot of “Saleem” — Jordan’s first feature-length animation — is a universal story of the horrors so many children around the world face today, its producers say.
Screening out of competition in the Families and Children section of the 3rd edition of the Red Sea Film Festival in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, it is a tale of hope and light in a world where darkness destroys the spirit of too many children.
“Saleem’s story is one of a journey of healing and self-discovery after trauma,” the director, Cynthia Madanat Sharaiha, told PvNew in Jeddah.
She and her husband, executive producer Shadi Sharaiha, spent four years working with an international team of animators and consultants to create a story that weaves genuine means of treating psychological trauma into a story that at face value is one of adventure, challenge and ultimate healing.
“The film highlights mental health issues for children, and we have also woven therapy modalities into the story,” the director said.
“It is the story of millions of children around the world and in our region as well,” she added. “Usually when we tell those stories we focus on what happened. We wanted to tell a different kind of story that brings in hope and focuses on the resilience and strength that can be generated within children if they have the right support.”
Writing the story involved “huge research” into mental health and precisely how trauma affects a child’s emotions, and body. The film also touches upon bullying and hints at physical and sexual abuse, and other emotional and psychological issues that can affect children.
The film took four years to complete with a team of animators that included ex-Disney animators Tom Bancroft and Rob Corley, and also employed Chicago-based child psychologist and specialist in refugee trauma, Issam Smeir.
One of the team, Jonathan Reaux, was so impressed by the project that he moved his family to Amman and is now head of animation at the Sharaiha’s studio, Digitales Media.
“The beauty of working with a team that included local employees and freelancers from around the world, was the exchange of idea and respect between teams we saw,” Shadi Sharaiha said. “When I was thanking them, one member said he was not doing it for us, but for his children — as a legacy for his children.”
The film has been translated into English, with Latin American Spanish and Ukrainian versions in the pipeline. Following a world premiere earlier this year at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in France, the film has been picked up for Arab-speaking territories by Dubai’s Front Row Filmed Entertainment.
The film promises to launch Jordan as a regional animation hub.
“I really expect in the coming few years that the Jordanian animation industry will boom, not just because of our project,” Cynthia Madanat Sharaiha said. “We see the talents, zeal and passion here to tell stories through animation.”
In an educational spin-off, the producers have created a 10-part curriculum about mental health issues for children, “Amal for Children” (Hope for Children), that uses therapeutic approaches proven to reduce the intensity and frequency of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorders in children.
Digitales Media also runs a YouTube channel “Our Family Life,” which has 2.2 million subscribers and has notched up more than 1 billion views for episodes that tackle sensitive issues. An episode on sexual abuse got more than 20 million views and went viral within a day, Cynthia Madanat Sharaiha said.
