The Dream Of Everest

Four Arab Women on Top of the World

In the Spring of 2019, as the rest of the world gasped at the crowds forming on Everest (even made it to the last cover of Adventure). Four Arab women put it all on the line, physically, emotionally and culturally and climbed to the highest point on earth ‘The dream of Everest’ is their story, a feature-length documentary by Canadian adventure filmaker, Elia Saikaly, that chronicles the story of these women from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and Oman as they train and prepare to the summit of Mt Everest.

Let’s start at the beginning...

Who is Elia Saikaly – how would you describe yourself?

I’m a Canadian adventure filmmaker. I’m 40 years old and have been working in the video production industry for the past 20 years. My father is Lebanese and was born in Lebanon. My mountaineering/high altitude filmmaker career began 14 years ago.

Before the current documentary – what major projects were you working on?

I chase the stories, not the summits and am drawn to expeditions that share inspiring adventures that showcase the power of the human spirit. My most recent project was called “The Climb for Albinism”. I created an initiative that told the told of 6 women with Albinism from East Africa who attempted to stand on the summit of Kilimanjaro. Their community is often marginalized, oppressed and in the worst cases attacked and sometimes killed for their body parts which are sold on the black market for witchcraft. My project was aimed at shining the spotlight on the issue and empowered a team of women who bravely told their stories to reframe the narrative and depict them as heroes and role models for their community.