2017 Winners & Shortlists

Brief Explanation

We chronicle the true life story of the regions most renowned astronomer, Dr. Saleh Al Ojairi of Kuwait, through his 60 year journey from humble beginnings to becoming a master in the science of astronomy. His Story began as a child in the deserts of late 1920's Kuwait, where both the fear and mysteries of the night skies fuelled his thirst for knowledge about the world and its existence. This pursuit of knowledge took him far and wide, from Cairo universities after WWII to Switzerland in the 1980's, with the dream and ultimate goal of creating the largest planetarium in the region in Kuwait, which he finally did in 1986. And during this time he had forged a reputation as one of the most well read and respected scholars of his time. In Kuwaiti society today, the term "The word of Ojairi" is synonymous with the word of trust.

The 2 actors picked had to resemble our hero in real life, with the first actor (Aziz Alyakoob) playing a 10 year old version. But the second actor, who would play the character over a 4 decade timeline (Hussein Alhaddad), had an almost identical resemblance to the physical traits of Alojairi himself, from his face to his posture and body language through 3 stages of Alojairis life. Dr.Saleh himself commenting on the strikingly accurate resemblance the actor brought to the film for each stage.