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works have been exhibited in museums and galleries, and cles are undertaking a pilgrimage to the same place: the land
are all of a similar spirit: static compositions displaying vivid beyond the dunes. It’s the traditional land of the Bedouin,
LPDJHV RIWHQ RI WKH DOLHQ ODQGVFDSHV RI (DUWK +LV ĺUVW who’ve been practising falconry for millennia. For most of that
(K "@ON FR GLUHFWHG ZLWK 3LHWUR 6DYRUHOOL LV VHW LQ WKH time, it’s been a practical skill: falcons trained to hunt birds
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character standing atop the quarry – shirtless, skin leathery, wealthy elite. 7KLV PLUURUV 4DWDUpV RZQ JURZWK WKLV WLQ\ EDU
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hair – guiding the excavators with hand signals like a maestro from poverty and obscurity to prosperity and power, becom
conducting a symphony. /H@SS@ENQL@ +TM@ (2011) dwells with LQJ WKH ZRUOGpV ZHDOWKLHVW FRXQWU\ )RU WKH QRXYHDX ULFKH DV
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pearing, for all the (out of this) world, as if on a space shuttle. DQ DFW RI VWDWXV VLJQDOOLQJ DUULYLQJ LQ WKH GHVHUW LQ ZKDWHYHU
#@ 5HMBH (2012) takes us to an unexpected alien landscape: EOLQJHG RXW YHKLFOH WKH\ FKRRVH HFKRLQJ WKH RVWHQWDWLRXV
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gadgets employed in surgeries. 2@M 2HQN (2014) is a portrait $QFDUDQLpV VKRUW ĺOPV ZHUH oDERXW WKH ODERXU RI ZRUNp EXW
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architecture unmoored from sporting narrative. And 2Ĕ@MBD where. They set up camp in the dunes, where there’s coffee to
(2014) is literally titled, Ancarani’s stilled camera communing be taken, conversations to be had (‘I prefer falconry to camel
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The camera in Ancarani’s practice is, cacy), FIFA videogames to be played
indeed, his. There’s no billed cinematog RQ ODUJH ĻDW VFUHHQ 79V IXQQ\ PRELOH
The presence of
rapher in 3GD "G@KKDMFD’s credits (though such technological phone videos to be made, engines to
ĺOPLQJ GXWLHV ZHUH LQ IDFW VKDUHG E\ blessings foregrounds be revved. Ancarani captures these
$QFDUDQL /XFD 1HUYHJQD DQG -RQDWKDQ the theme of tradition scenes with meticulous framing, and

5LFTXHERXUJ $OO KLV ĺOPV DUH ZRUNV RI meeting modernity with composition that seems at once
visual wonder, but especially this one, …In The Challenge, painterly and architectural (a tableau
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seemingly contradictory
has earned comparisons to the documen nexus between stern of a blank white wall dotted only by
taries – +DUH@SG@M /XFLHQ &DVWDLQJ 7D\ORU religious devotion, DLU FRQGLWLRQLQJ XQLWV LV VWULNLQJ LQ
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ancient Bedouin
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3GD (QNM ,HMHRSQX -3 6QLDGHFNL t decadent capitalism. cal blessings foregrounds the theme
RI +DUYDUGpV 6HQVRU\ (WKQRJUDSK\ /DE 4 of tradition meeting modernity, the
,Q 3GD "G@KKDMFD, the director says, ‘view PHQ EULQJLQJ WKH VSRLOV RI 'RKD WR
LQJ LV ĻXLG DQG DFFHVVLEOHp the documentary an ‘experimental the dunes. In 3GD "G@KKDMFD, we are situated at the seemingly

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ĺOPp told with no enforced narrative, no exposition or explana contradictory nexus between stern religious devotion, ancient
tion, and even little incidental dialogue. Instead, it makes its Bedouin custom and fecund, decadent capitalism. One sheikh
case with glorious photography and evocative sound design. takes a phone call to participate in an auction for a peregrine
$QFDUDQL VHHNV RXW oVXEOLPH LPDJHVp WKDW ĺQG oFRQWUDGLFWLRQV falcon, which he watches via a TV feed. The bird is a beautiful
DQG SODFH WKHP LQ FRQĻLFW ZLWK RQH DQRWKHU FUHDWLQJ VKRUW specimen, ‘worth the money’ that it’s going for (‘good wings,
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credits – emblazoned in striking midnight blue, and listed in The result of the auction is attributed, by the men on screen,
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DQG IRUWK $V ZH ZDWFK RQ WKH RSHQLQJ RYHUWXUH E\ /RUHQ]R seven minutes, in situations ranging from the banal to the
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summons a mood of wonder and movement. This shot is ‘the *RGpV ZLOO WKH GLYLQH ORQJ LQYRNHG DFURVV WKH JOREH DV KDY
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wonder at avian majesty – and the grandeur and ambition of %XW LWpV KDUG WR LPDJLQH ZKDW WKH GLYLQH ZRXOG WKLQN RI GH
the architecture built to house them – but, ultimately, lament YRXW VHUYDQWV VWDJLQJ EXUQRXWV LQ WKH GHVHUW VHQGLQJ VDQG
ing wild creatures kept in a cage. Ļ\LQJ DV WKH\ JXQ WKHLU HQJLQHV DQG ĺVKWDLO ZLOGO\ XS DQG
From there, we move to the freedom of the open road, GRZQ WKH GXQHV
ZKHUH WKH FKHHWDK VHDWLQJ /DPERUJKLQL KXUWOHV DORQJ WKURXJK Ancarani’s approach does, however, hint at the divine, as
the desert like a rocket through space, and a motorcycle gang the documentary draws away from the material and towards
– in the familiar leather jackets, jeans and sunglasses of clas WKH LQHIIDEOH :KHUHDV PRVW ĺOPPDNHUV ZRXOG ZDQW WR JR LQWR
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