Neo Moses

A Feature Documentary Film Concept

Status: early development
Director: Pavel Borecký
Neo Moses
Saudi Arabia started building a $1 trillion eco-city to change
the fossil fuel economy. Will “Neom” help Saudis to break free
from their dependency on oil?

“Neo Moses” follows the builders of a new Arab post-oil society

as they discover an ancient knowledge of a long-forgotten explorer.

Genre: an observational documentary film

Running Time: app. 90 min
Years of Production: 2023-2025
Expected Release: Q2 or Q3 2026
Productions: Xova Film, Pavel Borecký (+ co-productions in negotiation)
Countries of Production: Saudi Arabia, Czech Republic

Synopsis: Emerging Story
Cheap energy has changed everything. So does its
unintended offspring: climate change.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia thus announces the end of an era.
In their “Vision 2030”, new rulers usher toward the society after oil.
Opening the country to mass tourism, media and AI, there will be
no shielding from foreign cultures and no need for petro-dollars. Building
a new futuristic city shall make the dream come true.
Neom (New Future) is the project for the transformation of how we think
of nature, energy, urbanism and well-being. The best hands and brains
are invited to work together and construct The Line: a 170-km-long
linear, smart, car-free and carbon-neutral city for 9 million citizens.
The plan spans coastal areas, hot deserts and high mountain ranges.
Who are the “builders of the future” and what obstacles
will our protagonists need to overcome?
We enter through the Neom visitor centre. The story unfolds in design
offices and construction sites, as well as new homes, energy labs
and pristine landscapes, where the dream of change takes its roots.
Neom builders walk in the footsteps of the researcher,
who mapped the same landscape 100 years ago.
Guided by the sheikhs, Czechoslovak Alois Musil covered 21 000 km
of the Arab world on a camel’s back. He saw the lands populated by
animals and traditions, found strength in a nomadic existence and
became friends with the grandfathers of today’s Neom visionaries.
Even though his books captured colourful customs, old wisdom and
the world on the verge of modernisation, Musil’s vision was forgotten.
Discovered in the sand, resurrected voice now reflects
the actions of Neom and asks important questions.
During the building of Phase I, the film observes the construction works,
devoted search for innovations and society transforming from within,
but the past remains to guide the future. The European professor who
became a great Arab ally known as Musa (Moses/messenger/rasul)
whispers his thoughts and makes the builders think twice about their path.
As the journey between the dawn and dusk of the petrol
era emerges, are we going to see a “new green order”
coming into being?
 Alois Musil
Neo Moses is an adaptation story 1868-1944
explorer
It is a smart fusion between an essay form and an observational film,
geographer
in which the call for technological mastery of climate change, royal advisor
the insider cinematographic look into Neom and its promises, ethnographer

is contrasted with the emotional call for men’s humility and wisdom, writer / priest

the fragments of Musil’s prose based on his life with Arab Bedouins.

Neom’s promo videos:

The Line / Oxagon / Trojena
Artistic Approach and Inspirational Sources
Cinematography and Visual Elements Inspirational Sources

The visual language will merge observational and essayistic forms.

The film crew will combine European and Saudi talent. 2021 2021
Visions du Réel Sundance
Grand Prix Grand Jury Prize
The film will seek to creatively integrate Arri Alexa hi-res digital
(original on-location footage), computer animation (Neom renders),
and 8mm or 16mm analogue footage.

Sound and Audio Elements

2022 2021
We will work with a sound artist with extensive experience in deserts, Oscar European
Nominee Film Awards
non-fiction adventures and sensory ethnographies. The right music
Nominee
shall be found between the regional soundscapes and the emerging
rhythms of Arab Futurism.

Neo Moses: playful / scientific / contemplative "I'd rather people feel a film

The film will push the audience to the edge of tomorrow before understanding it.”

with its organic and thought-provoking form. Robert Bresson - legendary French director
Production Strategy: The Essentials
Since the themes of technology, climate and energy Estimated Budget: 475 000 EUR
resonate universally, we will seek international
Project Stage
co-production partnerships and EU states funds.
The project is now in the Early Development stage:

Potential Co-Producers + Special Interest Countries ● LoI: Telfaz 11 - co-production partnership

● LoI: Viera Čákanyová (Dramaturgy, Frem: Berlinale 2020)
● Germany, Sweden, Slovakia - ready to co-produce
● LoI: Alex Grigoras (DOP, Wood and Water: Berlinale 2021)
● Next up: USA, UK, Austria + pre-buying rights + streamers
● LoI: Ondřej Beránek (Director, Czech Academy of Sciences)
● Europe, MENA and the economies of fast-paced energy transition
Pavel Žďárský (Director, Academic Society of Alois Musil)
● Letter of Support: Zdeněk Rychtera (Programme Director,
Timeline
AFO), Emilie Bujès (Artistic Director, Visions du Réel),
Pre-Development: January 2022 - November 2022 André Singer (Producer of Werner Herzog, Spring Films)
● Pitching: Camp4Science 2022 and Berlinale Talents 2022
Development and Pre-Production: January 2023-November 2023

Production: November 2023-September 2025

The ultimate goal is to create a strong visionary film,
Post-Production: January 2026-April 2026
meet the highest artistic and industry standards,
Release: Q2 or Q3 2026 and run a theatrical/broadcasting release.
Director and Producer
Pavel Borecký

Pavel Borecký (Prague, 1986) is a documentary filmmaker, social

anthropologist and development specialist. His latest films Solaris (2015)
and In the Devil's Garden (2018) focused on the consumption culture in
Estonia and the decolonisation in the SADR. Since 2020, Living Water won
awards and travelled to Ji.hlava, Visions du Réel, CPH:DOX and DokuFest, Pavel Borecký’s CV
among others. His Bedouin friends in Jordan call him “Sager” (falcon). Berlinale Talents profile

Marek Novák

XOVA FILM is a Prague-based production company with auteur-driven

and eclectic profile. The company is operated by Marek Novák, a graduate
of Prague’s FAMU, EAVE Producers Workshop and 2021's Producer on the
Move. Marek is a member of the European Film Academy, Czech
Audiovisual Producers Association and Berlinale Talents 2020 alumnus.

His latest feature film Ordinary Failures by Cristina Groșan premiered

at the Venice Film Festival in 2022.

Xova Film website

Berlinale Talents profile
Director’s Statement
My new film will continue where the last one ended:
building a sense of hope.

I started to master Cultural and Sustainability Studies ten years ago.

It has brought me to Peru, Estonia and Switzerland. Gradually, I have
committed myself to non-fiction film and social science. Believing in
a good story grounded in lived reality, I connect artistic and academic
worlds into the platforms for understanding and acting.

Six years ago, I was invited to Jordan, one of the most water-scarce
countries in the world, to explore the impact of climate change and the use
of water resources. The result is Living Water film.

“Neo Moses” will tell a story that concerns us all, the challenges
of “starting anew” and our relations to the powerful predecessors,
in times when humanity needs a bold forward-looking action.

I believe that the universal language of cinema will transcend cultural

differences, communicate challenges sensitively and allow global
audiences to be inspired and act towards a sustainable future.
Living Water
Living Water (77 min, 2020, Dir.: Pavel Borecký) is an atmospheric journey into
the clash between the state of Jordan, agricultural businesses and Wadi Rum
indigenous communities over the last abundant source of drinking water.

The film is the result of year-long field research in the region close to Neom.

Living Water website Living Water - link (password: Amman2020)

Marek Novák Pavel Borecký
marek@xovafilm.cz hello@pavelborecky.com
Tel.: +420 607240966 Tel.: +420 777343634

Xova Film University of Bern

Sudoměřská 893/52, Prague Walter Benjamin Kolleg
130 00, Czech Republic Institute of Social Anthropology

Xova Film academia

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