Experiencing Interruptions?

When the Shelves Hymn

A grieving mother and son travel to AlUla city in Saudi Arabia to sell their family’s antique shop, only to uncover hidden secrets about their missing father that transform their lives and redefine their bond.

  • Hanaa Saleh Alfassi
    Director
  • Jade V.
    Writer
  • Mana Almajd
    Writer
  • Hanaa Saleh Alfassi
    Writer
  • Moayad AbuAlkhair
    Producer
  • Mana Almajd
    Key Cast
  • Emad Amaer
    Key Cast
  • Ayman Samman
    Key Cast
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Runtime:
    20 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    December 1, 2024
  • Country of Origin:
    Saudi Arabia
  • Country of Filming:
    Saudi Arabia
  • Language:
    Arabic, English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable
Distribution Information
  • Front Row Filmed Entertainment
    Distributor
    Country: United Arab Emirates
    Rights: All Rights
Director Biography - Hanaa Saleh Alfassi

Hanaa is a screenwriter, film producer, and director with an M.A. in Film & Media Production and over 18 years of industry experience wearing may hats over the years. Her portfolio includes short films showcased at prestigious festivals, including an animated documentary "In Between" screened at the Annecy Festival 2019. She is an alumna of the Rawi Screenwriters Lab in collaboration with the Sundance Institute.

Her short film, "Lollipop," was an official selection at the Dubai International Film Festival in 2017 and was screened in women's prisons in Tunisia, Saudi universities with Professor Hatoon Alfassi, and health nonprofits across Egypt.

Hanaa has collaborated with reputable entities like Procter & Gamble, Al Jazeera Documentary, MBC, Uber Global, Vizyon, KAUST, SBC, and more. Notably, two of her early short films were broadcast on MBC TV, reaching millions of viewers.

In 2022, Hanaa's feature film "Asghar" received Best Unproduced Screenplay award at the Saudi Film Festival. It also secured funding from the Malmo Development Fund in 2023, participated in the Prelude Red Sea Lodge Workshop, and holds a pre-sale offer from ART MENA distribution, with producer Hossam Elouan on board.

Her TV pilot, developed at the Red Sea Labs workshop, was guided by mentors such as Joe Peracchio (USC), Zac Hug, Marc Valera, and David Janollari. It won the Festival Market Prize in 2023 at the Red Sea Film Festival and was selected to pitch at the renowned Series Mania festival in France in 2024.

Recently, Hanaa had the honor of being a judge at Saudi Arabia's oldest and first film festival in its 10th edition and was chosen as one of three female directors for the AlUla Creates initiative by Film AlUla. There, she produced her 20-minute short film "When the Shelves Hymn."

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

I co-wrote this film with my sister and her 15-year-old daughter, drawing from a deeply personal space. While the story is fictional, it was inspired by a real experience our family faced, pushing us to break the silence around depression and suicide, topics often left unspoken in our culture.

At its heart, the film explores male vulnerability and the quiet weight of societal expectations. We centered the mother, a woman shaped by toxic ideas of masculinity, who unknowingly passes these pressures onto her son. As she confronts her husband’s absence, she’s forced into a quiet transformation.

The story traces her gradual shift from rigid mother to someone learning, however slowly, to listen and offer care. For us, this was a reminder to families, especially in the MENA region, that healing takes time, and that love and mental health must come before inherited roles or expectations.