AURAK students win 1st Prize at Ajman Film Festival

American University of Ras Al Khaimah (AURAK) has added another achievement to its distinguished track record after winning the first prize of a short film contest at Ajman Film Festival.

The eight-minute film titled “Recasting the Past: Urban Regeneration of Ras Al Khaimah Old Corniche” and screened in the Awards Announcement Ceremony at Expo Dubai 2020 on Monday March 14th, 2022 under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Rashid bin Humaid Al Nuaimi, Chairman of the Ajman Municipality and Planning Department, was competing in the category of Architecture and the Future of Cities.

The film was a collaborative project involving AURAK students and faculty from the Schools of Architecture and Mass Communication. It presented the architecture students, Jovika Vijayakumaran and Asiya Begum’s idea, which aims to revitalize the waterfront zone in the Ras Al Khaimah old city, next to the historic district, and to improve the area's quality of life through various sustainable design solutions.

Ms. Vijayakumaran and Begum submitted their idea for the Architectural Design Studio 7 under the guidance of Dr. Eman Assi, Associate Professor of Urban Design, and Mr. Tawfiq Abu Hantash, Associate Professor of Architecture, on which they proceeded to work with the mass communication students Khaled Alali, Mahra Alali, Raghad Alshamsi and Reham Alabbas under the supervision of Dr. Sabir Haque, Assistant Professor of Mass Communication to script, record and edit the film over a period of only one month.

Ajman Film Festival is a joint project of the Municipality and Planning Department of Ajman and City Space Architecture, Italy. It is an international short film festival showcasing outstanding submissions worldwide as well as the first of its kind in the Gulf Region.

The festival received 597 submissions from over 72 countries, with the jury shortlisting 34 films to be included in the program.