After its successful debut at the Ajyal Youth Festival under Mohaq (kids jury) and 'Made in Qatar' competitions, the film received an invitation from the Boston International Kids Festival and another festival in Argentina.
Charlie is a true story of a 10-year-old dyslexic child and a very dedicated mother who patiently teaches her son to read and write, said Ali, who wants to continue spreading awareness about dyslexia not only in Qatar but also in other parts of the world.
When Charlie’s family arrived two years ago, Ali noted that they struggled to get the child in one of the schools in the country.



Filmmaker Ali Ali during the making of 'Charlie.'

“In the film we see the family prepare for school in the morning,” the filmmaker narrates. “Charlie sees his older sister go to school where he couldn’t, and his mother keeps on reading for him. It focuses more on the boy’s daily life facing the challenges in learning.
“But one day, a school accepted him and they have a special teacher who is going to help the boy.”
Ali describes the mother as “a really a very dedicated mother” who reads for Charlie every day.
The family came to know that Charlie is dyslexic through a popular Indian film Taare Zameen Par (Like Stars On Earth), according to Ali.
“After seeing this film they uttered, ‘this is our child's story, it is very similar,’ so they took Charlie to a specialist and he was diagnosed with dyslexia,” he said.
The film was selected by the Ministry of Education and Higher Education to be screened in several Qatar schools last year for students aged 14 to 17, Ali noted.
Nearly six years as a Qatar-based filmmaker, Ali says Charlie is his fourth short film taped in Qatar.
“The good news is that Charlie continues to improve and we are all sure he will be a great man just like we have great examples like Richard Branson, among others with dyslexia,” Ali added.
He hopes private investors will trust and support local filmmakers like what the Doha Film Institute is doing. Ali participated in various film festivals in Qatar and abroad such as the ‘Middle East Now’ festival in Florence, Italy in 2014 with his film Theatre Night.
While all his films were made in Qatar, Ali wishes to film in other countries such as in Europe but that would depend on the story.
“If it requires travelling to that country, it will be nice, and it will be a different experience,” Ali said.
He also hopes a database for the artists and filmmakers in Qatar will be created online (official website) for people to reach them and see their work.