Muscat – An Omani film called The Goal received the Best Short Film Award at the fourth edition of the Casablanca International Festival held recently in Morocco.

Directed by Mohammed al Darushi, the three-minute short is a narrative of a blind boy who struggles against all odds to fight back prejudices and limitations to play football and win back confidence in life.

Darushi is primarily a documentary filmmaker and The Goal is his first ever short film.

He said, “I am very happy with the outcome of my very first short film. It is the true story about a young boy who is a promising footballer but all of a sudden loses vision in one eye. But at the age of 15, he is blessed to find a mentor and coach who motivates and inspires him once again to take up football. He finally starts to play the game with difficulties and excels in it in due course of time with his strong will.”

Darushi informed that the film took months for pre- and post-production.

The film was selected from a pool of 14 finalists representing Arab countries.

Darushi said, “I always want to inspire people with through my medium of art. One can be a winner provided he/she has determination and also a good mentor in life. Everything is achievable and the story of my film is a testimony to that. We wanted to try many ideas in post production but time limitations due to the festival deadline compelled us to narrow down some of our ideas.”

Darushi said that there are plans to show The Goal at several other film festivals around the world next year.