Adhan

Dilmun Highway examines the intersection of ancient history and modern life, centering on the burial mounds of the Dilmun civilization, one of the largest necropolises in the world. Filmed in the village of A’ali, the work documents the gradual erasure of these archaeological treasures as they make way for urban sprawl. Roads dissect burial fields, and mounds are cleared for garages and pipelines, presenting a stark image of how historical sanctity is diminished by the demands of the present.

The video captures the paradox of a landscape both steeped in history and shaped by the everyday: walls adorned with revolutionary stencils, flags marking a strong Shiite presence, and the resonant call of the muezzin emphasize the spiritual undercurrents of a place undergoing transformation. The absence of visible human activity contrasts sharply with these signs of political and religious tension, evoking a sense of inertia and inevitability as the tombs fade into the margins of awareness.

The film concludes with the titular highway, where cars race across the ancient necropolis. The passengers, seemingly detached from the millennia of history beneath them, embody the contemporary disconnection from the past. Through its deliberate pacing and layered imagery, Dilmun Highway reflects on the fragility of cultural memory and the relentless progression of modernity over landscapes once sacred and enduring.