Abu Dhabi, November 2013: ”Beyond Borders”, an adventurous documentary TV series that sees six young Emirati nationals travel to the Philippines to live and work alongside local families, will air on MBC1.
“Beyond Borders” documents the adventures of the 6 UAE nationals – three men and three women aged 17 to 21 – as they leave their personal comforts and strive to deal with the new challenges set ahead of them for a duration of 15 days.
The documentary series sees the cast – Ahmed Al Ghurair; Salem Al Marar; Mohammed Al Ameri; Fatima Abdulrahman; Tasneem Al Naqbi and Mariam Al Kuwati – live with Filipino families for two weeks. As they board the plane to the Philippines they are stripped of their electronic devices, phones, credit cards and money. When they land they are allowed only items that their Filipino host families can afford.
The young Emiratis work in different industries across the Philippines and are introduced to inspirational charitable programs – taking on board valuable lessons in empathy and how ordinary people can make a difference to society.
Ali Jaber, MBC Group TV Director said: “This partnership between MBC Group and Image Nation to broadcast “Beyond Borders” on MBC1, reflects the Group’s commitment towards Arab youth, while highlighting the value of their constructive experiences and challenges, from a physical point of view as well an intellectual one.”
Mohammed Al Mubarak, Chairman of Image Nation, said: “We are proud that Beyond Borders has tapped into Emirati youth culture – combining a real respect for tradition with a sense of curiosity and adventure about the world beyond their own nation. The series seeks to educate as much as it does entertain while promoting the values of the Abu Dhabi leadership, namely a respect for diversity, entrepreneurship, responsibility with money and broadmindedness.”
“We hope young Emiratis will be inspired to make a difference to their own community, as well as learn that nothing should be taken for granted,” Al Mubarak concluded.
Jaber further added: “We saw a very strong and meaningful message in this documentary, whether from a production standpoint, technical or artistic, as well as cultural and moral messages targeted towards the youth of today…and is aligned with MBC Group’s overall content strategy that we are very keen on conveying to millions of Arabs in the region and outside.”
While Michael Garin, CEO of Image Nation, commented: “We are delighted to have secured this prestigious partnership with MBC. It is fantastic that we will be able to engage the people of the UAE, the Middle East and the rest of the Arab world by harnessing MBC’s considerable reach for this important project.
Garin further elaborated: “This is Image Nation’s first partnership with MBC and is testament to the quality of the programming that our team and partners are producing.”
It is worth noting that Image Nation has rapidly become one of the leading content creators in Abu Dhabi and the UAE. The company commissions and produces filmed content across a wide range of platforms, with a particular focus on audiences in the UAE and Gulf region.
The documentary series “Beyond Borders” airs every Friday on MBC1 starting November 15th, at 10am GMT, 1pm KSA.