Bahraini literary virtuoso Amin Saleh on the changing nature of his field

A versatile creative who has written short stories, novels, plays, films, TV programmes and translated much work into Arabic, this great Bahraini cultural icon is a jack-of-all-literary-trades – and a master of all, too.

Bahraini literary virtuoso Amin Saleh on the changing nature of his field

Abeer Younis

last update on 22 Dec 2023

Bahrain’s Amin Saleh can be described as a very versatile creative. A story-writer, playwright, translator, critic, and screenwriter, he has effortlessly worn multiple hats since he published his first short stories in 1973.

For Saleh, who studied English Literature at university before moving to France to learn about cinema, “the thread that connects all these different roles is me, myself, and my vision”.

His books include ‘North - To A House That Longs for The South,’ ‘O Springs, My Pockets Are Full of the Seasons,’ and ‘Water and Its Shadows.’

He has translated several books on the cinema industry into Arabic, including Giovanni Grazzini’s ‘Federico Fellini: Comments on Film,’ Andrei Tarkovsky’s ‘Sculpting in Time,’ and Paul Cronin’s ‘Herzog on Herzog.’

His was also a screenwriter on TV dramas such as ‘Chains of the Night’ and ‘Sea of Stories,’ while his film work includes ‘The Barrier’ and ‘The Cage.’

This impressive body of work has earned Saleh numerous accolades, including the Order of Efficiency First Class awarded to him by the King of Bahrain. Last October, he received the 2022-2023 Sultan Bin Ali Al Owais Cultural Award for the Short Story, Novel, and Drama categories.

Al-Majalla spoke to this mainstay of Bahraini culture 50 years after his name first began appearing on the shelves.

When you won the Sultan Bin Ali Al Owais Cultural Award, this was said to be “a victory for short stories.” We know that short stories were your very first literary endeavour. Can you tell us more about this?

When I began writing short stories in the early 1970s, they were prevalent in Arab literary circles across various genres, styles, and generations.

But come the ‘80s, after having published several short story collections and a novel, I felt that the narrative format no longer aligned with my artistic vision.

I sought a more open-ended approach that is neither defined nor framed, allowing for the fusion of different genres and artistic forms.

Why is the production of short stories in decline?

There is certainly some gravitation towards novels at the moment, which may be driven by the public’s interest in the genre or increased award recognition.

However, I do not believe that there is a decline in the production of short stories overall. The problem, in my opinion, lies in publishing.

In the past, cultural platforms, and the culture sections of newspapers were more interested in publishing short stories. Now, the publishing scope has shrunk and critics have lost interest in this creative literary form.

You were one of the first translators in Bahrain. What drove you towards translation?

I’m not one of the first, several others preceded me and worked hard to produce important translations.

Perhaps I am well-known because I specialise in the translation of books on filmography, a field that was nascent at the time in Arab cultural spheres.

In the past, cultural platforms and the culture sections of newspapers were more interested in publishing short stories. Now, the scope has shrunk, and critics have lost interest.

Back then, translation was mostly geared toward politics and novels, with little attention given to cinema. I felt compelled to fill this gap, despite not originally specialising in translation.

I was not particularly fond of it, either. I found it took too much time, effort, and energy that I could have spared or invested in working on other literary projects.

Yet, I felt I had to take that path, given the scarcity of Arabic content in films and the importance and necessity of making those books accessible to Arab readers.

When I would read a book on cinema, I would often think to myself: "I hope someone translates this book into Arabic, so that the Arab audience and filmmakers can benefit from it."

I waited for a translation - and it never came. That's when I decided to take it up.

I told myself: "Don't be selfish and keep this knowledge to yourself. You just need to translate this. It will be the last time." But it was never the last time. The books kept piling up!

What drove you to translate some books on cinema, such as 'Film as a Subversive Art' by Amos Vogel and 'The Cinema of Theo Angelopoulos'?

What motivates me to translate books on cinema is the importance of their rich content and the novelty of the visions on which they are based.

I'm interested in exploring uncharted territories in Arab literature, one of which is cinema. I like to introduce Arab readers to lesser-known cinemas, figures, and voices.

I'm interested in exploring uncharted territories in Arab literature, one of which is cinema.

That's why I was keen to explore Greek cinema with Angelopoulos or the Thai cinematic world with filmmaker Ming-liang Tsai.

When I worked on 'Film as a Subversive Art' and 'Sculpting in Time,' it was because the two books were - and still are, in my opinion - some of the most significant books in film criticism, theory, aesthetics, dimensions, and ambitions.

What sets your film and television scripts apart in your opinion?

My experience in writing cinematic scripts is neither extensive nor deep. It is relatively short. Therefore, I cannot say that it is distinct or talk about what distinguishes it.

We lack cinematic production in Bahrain. Bassam Al-Thawadi, a filmmaker friend of mine, has written many scripts and cinematic projects.

He has been pursuing production companies across the Gulf for years and still cannot find anyone willing to experiment or collaborate with him.

I wrote a script for a feature film and he spent years searching in vain for a producer for it until he finally reached Emirati filmmaker Nawaf Al Janahi, who in turn started chasing producers here and there. I don't know if he will have any luck or give up.

As for TV, there are producers but they avoid collaborating on different, deep, and beautiful scripts. This is what a great TV director and dear friend said to me when he read one of my scripts. Not surprisingly, he is still looking for a producer.

He told me: "Producers are looking for something easy and trivial that falls within the audience's comfort zone in terms of topics, ideas, and conflicts.

"It is even preferable for the script to be tailored to fit a certain TV star and put them as the focus at all times." So, the climate for TV dramas is currently very unhealthy.

How important is it for a screenwriter to come from a short story or novel writing background?

A screenwriter doesn't need to be either a short story writer or a novel writer. There is a big difference between the two, whether in the technique, language, or reception.

A friend told me that producers are looking for something easy and trivial that falls within the audience's comfort zone in terms of topics, ideas, and conflicts.

Of course, it would be useful for a story-writer or novelist to switch to screenplay, armed with knowledge on how to build characters, ideas, and good dialogue, but this is not a prerequisite, as screenplay is not a literary genre per se.

What limits your freedom while writing for cinema and TV?

When writing for the screen, a writer's freedom is often limited and restrained. You are not working alone and cannot write whatever you want, however you want.

It is a collective effort that forces you to cooperate with others to create a work of art.

Therefore, the writer must accept the modifications, changes, and additions required by other cinematic elements.

A writer's original script never makes it whole on the screen. Their freedom is limited even if they are the producer.

You may not care about censorship while writing, but when you move to the cinema and movie industry, you find yourself forced to comply with all kinds of censorship.

This could be from official authorities, producers, directors, actors, audiences, unions, and professionals. You end up navigating an endless maze of red lines.

You wrote 'The Barrier,' the first Bahraini feature film script. To what extent did the movie represent a shift in Bahraini cinema?

'The Barrier' didn't really represent a shift because Bahrain did not have a wealth of cinematic experiences in the first place.

Bahraini cinema only has individual attempts - mostly short films - produced every now and then on filmmakers' own personal initiatives.

You may not care about censorship while writing, but when you move to the cinema and movie industry, you find yourself forced to comply with all kinds of censorship.

A shift can only happen when the whole cinematic experience is advanced and rich in quantity and quality.

'The Barrier' was a serious, beautiful, and necessary attempt to make the first feature drama film. This was in 1990.

Since then, there have been only a few modest attempts. As I mentioned earlier, Bassam Al-Thawadi is still searching left and right for producers to finance his many projects.

Having worked as a film critic, how do you view Bahraini and Arab film production?

It is difficult to summarise Arab cinematic production. Arab cinema has a long history and has undergone many transformations.

There are some serious and distinctive experiments in Egypt and North Africa, trying to present something new and different from today's conventional and purely commercial cinema.

Our problem with the dominant trend in Arab cinema is that it lacks a sound artistic and intellectual vision and aspires to nothing greater than profit.

Productions rarely amount to serious artworks, their only goal being to entertain in order to achieve high revenues.

You have written several theatre plays. Could you tell us about your experience as a playwright?

My plays are not numerous and they do not stem from a deliberate ambition to undertake a stable and continuous project with specific goals.

In our local cultural ecosystem, theatre is no longer as active and ambitious as it once was.

Today's climate does not encourage writers to write plays or scripts for theatre. So, playwriting is not really a pressing concern or a necessity for me.

How do you explain your diverse literary endeavours?

When I move from one writing form or genre to another, I see myself as an actor playing different roles.

When an actor does that, they do not feel confused or disoriented; they simply try to be as creative as possible in every one of those roles.

What are some of your upcoming projects?

I am currently finishing a book about the Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman.

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