DUBAI: Saudi stars Fatima Al-Banawi and Roula Dakheelallah are among several professionals hosting a masterclass at the Alfwad Productions headquarters in Jeddah on Thursday.
The free workshop has been organized in collaboration with the Red Sea International Film Festival, as it prepares for its fifth edition from Dec. 4 to 13 in Jeddah.
Director and actress Al-Banawi will join Dakheelallah, who won the Best Actress award at the 25th Rotterdam Arab Film Festival this summer for her lead role in the Saudi Arabia movie “My Driver & I.”
Also participating are screenwriter Adham Abdulghani, and producer Antoine Khalife, who worked on Oscar-nominated titles “Capernaum” and “The Man Who Sold His Skin.”
The other participants are writer Waad Janbi, director Rmas Al-Hazmi, and actor Eissa Hafiz, who starred in “Basma,” directed by Al-Banawi.
Al-Banawi first gained prominence for her role in the 2016 drama “Barakah Meets Barakah.” She also starred in the Egyptian Netflix series “Paranormal.”
In 2020, she directed her first short film, “Until We See Light.” That same year, she co-wrote, co-directed and starred in “Al-Shak,” a Shahid Original series, which she shot fully from home during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2024, she directed her debut feature “Basma,” which premiered on Netflix that year. She wrote the screenplay, contributed an original song to the soundtrack, and played the lead.
The film follows a young Saudi woman who returns to her hometown of Jeddah after two years studying in the US, only to discover that her parents had divorced. The story explores her emotional reckoning with the past, including her father’s mental illness and the impact it had on the family.
Dakheelallah shot to fame in 2024 for her role in “My Driver & I,” which won the Best Narrative Feature Film award at last year’s Red Sea International Film Festival. The film was directed by Ahd Kamel and is a poignant coming-of-age story set in 1980s and 1990s Jeddah.
It focuses on the relationship between a rebellious girl, Salma, and her family’s chauffeur, a Sudanese man named Gamar, who quickly becomes her confidant, and a father figure in the absence of her biological parent, a busy businessman.
But as Salma grows up, their relationship becomes strained as Gamar tries to rein in her defiance, believing that he is protecting her reputation.
