Heritage
Al Zubarah — Historical Film, 1780s
Historical Reconstruction · Digital Environments & Animation
- Client
- Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities
- Project
- Al Zubarah — Historical Film
- Period depicted
- 1780s
- Presented
- Isa the Great exhibition, Bahrain National Museum, 20 October 2026
- Year
- 2026
- Industry
- Government & Public Sector
- Services
- Historical research · Digital environments · Animation
- Director
- Khalid Al Muharraqi
About the project
In the 1780s, Al Zubarah was a walled town of merchants, pearl divers and boat-builders on the Gulf coast. Its harbour faced the sea, and a fortified route led inland to the fort at Murair.
The film studies the town from above across a single day, from first light to nightfall. Muharraqi Studios built it from historic maps and architectural research. That evidence shaped the line of the coast and the shallows, the town wall and its towers, the courtyard houses, the channel to the fort, and the dhows drawn up along the shore.
Muharraqi Studios created the film for the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities, for the Isa the Great exhibition at Bahrain National Museum. The film and its imagery were directed by Khalid Al Muharraqi. Its companion film, Muharraq in the early 1900s, continues the journey across the sea and more than a century later.
Outcome
Presented at the opening of the Isa the Great exhibition at Bahrain National Museum on 20 October 2026, opened by His Excellency Shaikh Khalid bin Abdullah Al Khalifa, Deputy Prime Minister, on behalf of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa.
