Fatima Al-Banawi | |
|---|---|
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| Born | Fatima Al-Banawi 10,Oct, 1988 |
| Nationality | Saudi |
| Alma mater |
Effat University Harvard University |
| Occupation(s) | Director, producer, screenwriter, social activist, actress |
| Years active | 2015–present |
| Website |
www |
Fatima Al-Banawi ( Arabic: فاطمة البنوي Hejazi: [ˈfaːtˤma alˈbanawi]) is a Saudi Arabian filmmaker and actress. [1] She is best known as the director and actress of popular television serials and films Barakah Meets Barakah, A Blink of an Eye and Paranormal. She is also a renowned storyteller in Saudi Arabia. [2]
Personal life
Al-Banawi was born in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. She graduated with a degree in counseling psychology from Effat University in Jeddah. [3] Then she started to work against violence at the Family Protection Society in Jeddah. [4] In the meantime, she completed her master's degree in theological studies from Harvard University specializing in women, gender, and Islamic studies. [1]
During her undergraduate period, she attended an advanced oil painting course at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts. She worked as a social development and women's empowerment consultant at the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) for few months before entering the performing arts. [3]
Career
She founded the story telling project called the Other Story Project in 2015. [5] Through the project, she has collected almost 5000 real-life stories from strangers. [6] By using these lives, Al-Banawi later directed the short film A Blink of an Eye. Meanwhile, she has traveled locally and internationally to perform human stories. [4] Later in 2018 the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Paris call her the " Sophie Calle of Saudi Arabia" upon the warm reception of her performance "Amours Saoudiennes". In the same year, she was selected as a Next Generation Leader by Time magazine. [1]
By using her experiences and gathered information from strangers in her hometown of Jeddah between 2015 and 2018, she wrote her first book, The Other Story. [3] In 2010, she co-founded the Theatre of the Oppressed Chapter located in Jeddah. Then she started to perform many stage plays at the theater. Later some of its plays were performed at Harvard. [1] [4]
In 2016, she made her film debut in the award-winning Saudi feature film, Barakah Meets Barakah. [7] She was internationally recognized with the role and made the way for Saudi Arabian cinema. [4] The film was selected as the Saudi Arabian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 89th Academy Awards (the second time the country made a submission for the Oscars). [8] The film premiered at the Forum section of the 66th Berlin International Film Festival making it the first Saudi feature film to premiere at the festival. [9]
Then she appeared in the television serial Bashar and the short Going South. The latter was represented at the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival. In 2019, she made a special appearance in the feature film Roll'em and television serial Om AlQalayed. [1] In 2019, she directed the stage play The Straight Circle Play in which she also played the lead role. [3]
In 2020, Al-Banawi appeared in the Egyptian web series Paranormal which was based on the supernatural book series Ma Waraa Al Tabiaa written by Ahmed Khaled Tawfik. [10] [11] In the series, she played a supportive role of Nargis. The series was released on 5 November 2020 on Netflix, becoming Netflix's first Egyptian original. [12]
As of 2023, her feature film Basma is in development after winning a fund from the Red Sea International Film Festival. [13] In mid-2020, she wrote and directed her first short film Until We See Light. Then during the global COVID-19 pandemic, she co-wrote, co-directed and starred in television serial Al-Shak Series, which she shot fully from home during the lockdown. [1] He latest feature films as an actress include Route 10, directed by Omar Naim; [14] and Champions, an adaptation of a Spanish film about a soccer team with special needs members, [15] both films were produced by MBC Group and Image Nation.
Filmography
| Year | Film | Role | Genre | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Barakah Meets Barakah | Actress: Barakah / Bibi | Film | |
| 2018 | A Blink of an Eye | Director, writer, actress: Narrator | Film | |
| 2019 | Roll'em | Script supervisor, Actress: Sophie | Film | |
| Goin South | Actress: Aya | Short film | ||
| 2020 | Doubt | Director, writer, actress: Samar | TV series short | |
| Paranormal | Actress: Nargis | TV series | ||
| 2021 | Champions | Actress: Nada | Film | |
| 2022 | Route 10 | Actress | Film | |
| 2023 | Alhamour | Actress | Film | |
| 2024 | Basma | Actress / Director | Film |
she also worked in "ROUT 10" 2022 Film .
References
- ^ a b c d e f "About Fatima Al-Banawi". Fatima Al-Banawi official website. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
- ^ "Telling Saudi Stories". Time. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
- ^ a b c d "Fatima Al-Banawi, Saudi writer, actress, and performing artist". Arab News. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
- ^ a b c d "Fatima Albanawi bio". naseba. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
- ^ "The Uncensored Stories of Regular Saudis are the Subject of this Ambitious Project". Official be spoke. Archived from the original on 17 November 2020. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
- ^ "Fatima Al-Banawi: Media Development and Content Creator for 'The Other Project'". United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC). Retrieved 15 November 2020.
- ^ "Fatima Al-Banawi's Saudi stories mine the personal and the universal". France 24. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
- ^ Saudi Arabia Submits Second Ever Film, 'Barakah Meets Barakah,' for Oscar Foreign Language Race 2016
- ^ "| Berlinale |". Berlinale.de. 19 December 2016.
- ^ "Stream It Or Skip It: 'Paranormal' On Netflix, An Egyptian Thriller Where A Sad Sack Professor Gets Roped Into Rooting Out Ghosts And Spirits". Decider. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
- ^ "Paranormal – Netflix Review". Heaven of Horror. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
- ^ "اليوم السابع يحاور عمرو سلامة وآية سماحة حول مسلسل ما وراء الطبيعة.. اعرف قالوا ايه". Youm7 (in Arabic). Retrieved 8 November 2020.
- ^ Vivarelli, Nick (21 May 2022). "Saudi Arabia's Fatima Al-Banawi Set For Feature Debut With 'Basma' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 4 February 2023.
- ^ Vivarelli, Nick (28 June 2022). "Saudi Thriller 'Route 10' Sells to Distributor Front Row for Wide Regional Release". Variety. Retrieved 4 February 2023.
- ^ "Review: Saudi film 'Champions' is a heartfelt movie about friendship, football, and learning difficulties". Arab News. 6 March 2022. Retrieved 4 February 2023.
External links
