Mountain Boy
Directed by Zainab Sheheen
Narrative Feature
United Arab Emirates | 93 min | 2024
MOUNTAIN BOY is a live-action, feel-good, family-adventure, feature film based on the award-winning United Arab Emirates (UAE) children’s book THE BOY WHO KNEW THE MOUNTAINS by Dr. Michele Ziolkowski. Suhail, a young boy with Autism, flees to live in the mountains after his father shuns him, not understanding his determination. Pinned with the confusing sadness that his mother died in childbirth with him, Suhail makes the epic journey, with his new friend Barakah, an Arabian Saluki, to find acceptance, family, and redemption. The film is a passionate exploration of the world of neurodiverse people to honour the entire human experience and understand there are many ways to be alive.