Cultural Preservation-United Arab Emirates
The most popular television show in the UAE stars four animated, 3-D grandmothers.
They grew up when Dubai was a desert village and are nonplused that Dubai has morphed, before their eyes, into a huge, modern metropolis.
Still wearing traditional face masks (burqas) and henna on their hands, the grandmothers struggle to be current with everything from wedding ceremonies to cosmetic surgery.
In GRANDMOTHER POWER, creator/producer Mohammed Saeed Harib introduces the grandmothers, describes their antics and explains their unprecedented popularity.
News About Grandmothers in UAE
Updates about the grandmother groups in Grandmother Power
Multi Media:
Video: Mohammed Saeed Harib addressed TEDX-Dubai in October 2009, and described his dream of creating an animated television series about four grandmothers---all of whom are featured, with him, in Grandmother Power.
Trailer: For the Dubai grandmothers who grew up with one mode of transportation (walking), an airplane (with its safety messages) is a brand new experience.
Freej in the News: Read the reason for the Trailer you just watched!
In the News:
Project Website: The Freej website includes plot summaries and animated video excerpts.
The New York Times tells how the hottest television series in the UAE was inspired in---Boston .
Behind the Scenes: Go behind the scenes with Paola in Dubai: see a sampling of pictures that are not in the book, including people and scenery that captured Paola’s attention while she was doing research about Freej in the United Arab Emirates.
