Establishment of the cinema in Malé
Hassan Afeef is one of the pioneers of Maldivian cinema. It was he who, with a group of friends, decided to produce the first local film in 1979 in Malé. They faced a first failure due to lack of funding and had to wait until 1982 for Thin Fiyavalhu to see the light of day. In 1994, the Gaumee Film Awards were created to reward films shot in the Maldives. The first of them to be crowned was Dheriyaa (which received eight awards) by Mohamed Niyaz. But the most successful film was released in 1996, a horror film: Fathis Handhuvaru by Easa Shareef.
The 2000s under the sign of Bollywood
In the following decade, remakes and even copies of Bollywood films became the norm. The main Indian hits of the previous year were copied, unofficially, in the archipelago. Among these remakes, we can mention Hiyy Halaaku (1999) by Hussain Adil, a remake of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998) starring the famous Shah Rukh Khan or SRK, or Ginihila (2003) by Easa Shareef, a remake of the horror film Raaz (2002) by Vikram Bhatt. It was also during this decade that filmmakers Fathimath Nahula and Abdul Faththaah came to prominence, both directing successful melodramas Naaummeedhu (2001), Kalaayaanulaa (2003), Zuleykha (2005), and Yoosuf (2008). Abdul Faththaah also directed the archipelago's first disaster film: Hureemey Inthizaarugaa, inspired by the effects of an earthquake that occurred a year earlier.
Development of original creations
Two emerging directors developed their own style at the end of the 2000s: far from melodramas and Bollywood copies, they anchored themselves in a harder reality and made committed films. Moomin Fuad and Ali Shifau, respectively directed Heylaa (2006) and Happy Birthday (2009), and paved the way for a darker cinema, which looks at society's shortcomings. Incest, rape and paedophilia are the subjects of films such as Veeraana and Heyonuvaane by Yoosuf Shafeeu or Niuma, the first film by director Niuma Mohamed - which confirms the predominant place of women filmmakers in national production. Moomin Fuad directed a beautiful criminal tragedy, Loodhifa, which was acclaimed by the critics but failed financially.
Acceleration of productions and flowering of new talents
Between 2010 and 2011, twenty-five films were produced. 2013 sees the first 3D production, it is a horror film Fathis Handhuvaruge Feshun (2013) by Ali Shifau. Ravee Farooq's experimental thriller Ingili (2013) is the first film to bring domestic cinema to foreign platforms. Two more films will be successful in the Indian Ocean - Ali Seezan's psychological thriller Insaana (2014) and Ravee Farooq's Vishka (2017). Ilyas Waheed, after the success of Bavathi (2019), is directing Nina in 2020, a martial arts film. But the film is marred by a criminal case incriminating one of the actors.
The archipelago filmed from elsewhere
Like any tourist paradise, the Maldives attracts its share of foreign blockbusters, with Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) topping the list. There is also Kon-tiki (2012), which tells the story of the Norwegian expedition on board the ship of the same name, an adaptation of a book by Saldam Rushdie, Midnight's Children (2012), and Fight Club - Members only (2006), the Bollywood adaptation of David Fincher's famous film. Documentaries: Un mur contre l'Océan (A wall against the ocean) tells the story of the wall being built to protect Malé from rising sea levels.
