The largest fraud in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in which the Saudi actress and filmmaker Fatima Al-Banawi participates, through the events of the movie “Al-Hamour”, which she talked about in her interview with Al-Arabiya.net. She also talked about her departure from romantic works and her entry into the world of chases and action through the movie “Al-Hamour” and “Long Trail”, where the latter was shown at the Red Sea Festival in its inaugural session 2021.
She also talked about her relationship with Jeddah through her recently released new book entitled “The Other Story” and the story of its publication between Cairo and Jeddah. She also revealed the engine that drives her towards her dreams between writing stories and making films.
* Tell us first about your participation in the most famous fraud in the history of Saudi Arabia?
** It is a film that revolves around a drama and black comedy about a true story about “Hammour Sawa”, which is the most famous fraud in the history of Saudi Arabia, which took place at the beginning of the second millennium, when a businessman formed a network of fraudsters to collect money from shareholders And distributing fictitious profits, bringing the number of their victims to more than 40,000 people, with amounts worth one billion and 400 million Saudi riyals, and it began showing in theaters in Saudi Arabia, and it is directed by Abd al-Ilah al-Qurashi, written by Hani Kadour and Omar Bahbari, and co-starring with me Fahd al-Qahtani, Khaled Yaslam, Ismail Al-Hassan, Khairiya Abu Laban and Hussam Al-Harthy.
*Did you, because of this movie, decide to stay away from romantic works and enter the world of chases and action?
** Since my inception, I have been presenting romantic roles, specifically since 2015 when I presented the movie “Baraka Meets Baraka”, which at the time of its screening achieved great success in Saudi Arabia and the Arab world, as it was one of the first cinematic films shown in the Kingdom, and therefore I decided to change my skin through A group of diverse roles, the desire for renewal was one of the things that occupies my mind in my new cinematic work, and this is what really happened in the movie “A Long Trail”, which was shown on the Netflix platform and co-starred with me, the Saudi artist Baraa Alem, because my love for renewal and experience, and to offer something new I surprise myself and my audience behind my choice of this movie. If I stay in one mold, I will feel bored, and on the other hand, the audience will also get this feeling.
Fatima Al-Banawi
* Do you think that the movie “Long Trail” is an action movie?
** The truth is that the shortening of the movie “Long Trail” in that it is an action movie is unfair to it, as the movie is far from being called an action movie. , and each individual lives alone, and includes deep, strong and intelligent dialogues, but in a suspenseful framework through action.
What about your movie “Basma”?
** It is a special case for me, as I am eagerly awaiting its presentation, as it is my first artistic experience in which I combine authorship, directing and acting. My combination of writing, directing and acting is a point of strength for me and not a struggle that weakens me. I believe that what I am currently doing is a point of strength and not an internal struggle, because the process of directing and writing always struggles with acting during the artwork, but when you can achieve a balance between them, you will have an advantage, because when I embody a role In my mind is the vision of the director who directs me, and when I direct a work, I can employ my tendencies to the artist who receives directions from me in an easy and simplified manner, because I may be a day before in his place as an actress, embodying a role in front of another director.
How did you come up with your first book, The Other Story?
** The idea came in 2015 from the streets of Jeddah by collecting stories from the public about issues that occupy their minds, and Jeddah at that time was completely different from the current Jeddah that we see hosting international events, including the Red Sea Film Festival, so there was no openness as we see now, so it was The idea of collecting stories is difficult, and the audience used to participate in them with shyness and fear, which made me visit cafes, festivals, bazaars, and streets I did not know in order to meet their heroes.
* And how long did it take for this book to appear to the light?
** I collected 50% of the stories in the period from 2015 to 2018 during my studies in the United States, and after the first three years of the collection journey, I found waves of stories pouring into me, to the point that I realized that it was the stories that embraced me and not me that embraced them, and during my journey While telling and writing stories, I found myself writing part of my diaries, including my memories when I was young and details of my upbringing and upbringing in the city of Jeddah.
* What does this book cover?
** It is a private and intimate psychological and social memoir that I embodied with the memories and stories of my dearest comrades and source of inspiration, my grandfather, may God have mercy on him. I wish to accompany you from Al-Mazloum neighborhood to Obhur Al-Shamalia, and from local neighborhoods to German villages to discover new meanings of time, place and human stories. I have recorded part of history. The contemporary human story of the city of Jeddah, through realistic stories of the people of the city in its various parts, and these stories also include the memories of my grandfather for the most prominent special relationship between the grandfather and the granddaughter, as the book includes stories and tales for all women, men and youth.
* Some described the book as feminist?
** I refuse to reduce the idea of my book to being a work that defends women, as it is a socio-psychological book, and I am also against the idea of reducing women and putting them in a category of their own, as women are an integral part of society, and when they are placed in a special initiative, they are marginalized, and it is my duty As a writer, I shed light on society with all its elements in order to develop it, starting with children, youth, women and the elderly. I see that the heroes of my book whose stories I have collected are brave personalities, especially the women among them, because they were able to overcome their fear and allowed part of their weakness and fear to be published in the book.
