JEDDAH: For anyone interested in the art of filmmaking, Saudi star Hajar Al-Naim is a real-life icon who took a risk and smashed expectations.
From a hesitant English speaker to a graduate of Los Angeles’ Loyola Marymount University, Al-Naim’s story is inspirational for Saudi Arabia-based film enthusiasts who wish to explore the industry.
Before she made her dreams come true in Los Angeles, Al-Naim taught as an instructor at King Faisal University after graduating in 2011. She then reached a point where she was bored of her job and realized that her English-language skills were lacking.
“All the English courses I took in Saudi Arabia did not improve my language, so I decided to save some money from my salary because I was working as an instructor in King Faisal University at that time. Then, the hardest part — how would I convince my parents to (let me) go to the US and learn English? We have never traveled outside the Middle East and that idea would sound very, very crazy to them. It actually was. They rejected it many times, but I kept on convincing them... I convinced them, finally, to (allow me to) go with my 16-year-old brother and, of course, I chose to go to Los Angeles to get a sense of the filmmaking industry and how it works.”
From that point, Al-Naim proved that she was a tough go-getter and pursued her passion single-mindedly.
“When I went to Los Angeles, I started visiting the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television. I used to stand outside the classes for a long time to hear what they were saying — I was super curious. I always wanted to be inside, not outside. I decided that I was going to do whatever it takes to be inside that class. I went back home, quit my job, applied to the scholarship, got accepted and came back to LA,” she told Arab News.
Al-Naim’s father was supportive and invaluable to her success, she told Arab News.
“My dad decided to retire and come with me to LA to pursue my master’s degree in film production. It was really hard for him to leave his job and my mom with my five young siblings for me to study something that did not have any future in Saudi Arabia at that time — late 2012. My dad supported me a lot. He bought me a car and taught me how to drive and got me everything I needed before he went back. The (society) was a little bit harsh on him because of my major, but he believed in me and did not care what they said.”
She completed her master’s degree in the spring of 2017 and has not looked back since.
Al-Naim’s passion
The filmmaker is most interested in creating thriller movies and exploring people’s fears.
“Thriller movies are my genre… I do not limit myself and put boarders on my talent, but I tried a lot of things and… that worked pretty well. I believe that going down deep into people’s fears and scaring them… is a great way to see each other’s point of view without judgment.
“My number one influence is Alfred Hitchcock, the master of suspense. Also, David Lynch and David Fincher. Their work speaks to me and affects the way I tell my stories,” she added.
Al-Naim is making waves with her film “Detained,” which is set to be screened during the Dubai International Film Festival in December, 2017.
She told Arab News that the movie, which was made between October 2016-April 2017, tries to change the distorted image of Islam in the West by highlighting the suffering of veiled women in the West.
It centers around a Syrian girl named Lara who travels to the US after the escalation of violence and war in her country, but disappointment reigns supreme when she is stopped by security personnel following the involvement of her father in a terrorist incident at an airport in London.
“The movie leaves you with these questions: Who are the victims of terrorism on both sides? How do these things come to pass? If you are put into an impossible situation, what would you do?
“I tried to address the perspective of Americans who, justifiably, feel the need to be safe and secure. However, maybe there are elements they do not fully understand and you have this young Muslim girl who is coming from the same situation, but in a different way.”
The future of filmmaking
Al-Naim feels it is her responsibility to encourage and help other Saudi women to pursue their filmmaking dreams.
“I feel responsible for encouraging more women to tell their stories. I know they need guidance and I am here for them. When I was 13-years-old, I cut video tapes together to make new tapes of my favorite TV shows, but nobody told me that I could be a filmmaker. Saudi girls should know that filmmaking is an option for their future. They do not have to spend their lives figuring that out. One of the reasons why I want to be successful in the film industry is to encourage more girls to step forward and join me.”
As for the industry in the Kingdom, Al-Naim has high hopes.
“We have cultural diversity (here) and I’m so excited to see how filmmakers will tell their stories. We are, as filmmakers, affected by European cinema, Iranian cinema and American cinema and that will affect the way in which we tell our stories.”
Hajar Al-Naim: The Saudi filmmaker who risked it all
Hajar Al-Naim: The Saudi filmmaker who risked it all
India’s biggest election loser ready to fight again
- K. Padmarajan, a 65-year-old tire repair shop owner, failed 238 times in his bid for public office, but he vows to fight on
- His one victory has been to earn a place as India’s most unsuccessful candidate in the Limca Book of Records
METTUR, India: Despite failing 238 times in his bid for public office in India, K. Padmarajan is unperturbed as he prepares, yet again, to contest elections in the world’s largest democracy.
The 65-year-old tire repair shop owner began fighting elections in 1988 from his hometown of Mettur in the southern state of Tamil Nadu.
People laughed when he threw his hat into the ring, but he said he wanted to prove that an ordinary man can take part.
“All candidates seek victory in elections,” said Padmarajan, sporting a bright shawl draped over his shoulder and an imposing walrus moustache. “Not me.”
For him, the victory is in participating, and when his defeat inevitably comes, he is “happy losing,” he said.
This year, in India’s six-week-long general elections that begin on April 19, he is contesting a parliamentary seat in Tamil Nadu’s Dharmapuri district.
Popularly dubbed the “Election King,” Padmarajan has competed across the country in elections ranging from presidential to local polls.
Over the years he has lost to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, former premiers Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh, and Congress party scion Rahul Gandhi.
‘It is about involvement’
“Victory is secondary,” he said. “Who is the opposite candidate? I do not care.”
Padmarajan’s main preoccupation now is extending his losing streak.
It has not come cheap — he estimates he has spent thousands of dollars in more than three decades of nomination fees.
That includes a security deposit of 25,000 rupees ($300) for his latest tilt, which will not be refunded unless he wins more than 16 percent of the vote.
His one victory has been to earn a place as India’s most unsuccessful candidate in the Limca Book of Records, the country’s archive of records held by Indians.
Padmarajan’s best performance was in 2011, when he stood for the assembly elections in Mettur. He won 6,273 votes — compared to more than 75,000 for the eventual victor.
“I did not even expect one vote,” he said. “But it showed that people are accepting me.”
In addition to his tire repair shop, Padmarajan provides homoeopathic remedies and works as an editor for local media.
But among all his jobs, fighting elections was the most important, he said.
“It is about involvement,” he said. “People hesitate to put in their nominations. So I want to be a role model, to create awareness.”
‘Failure is best’
Padmarajan maintains detailed records of the nomination papers and identity cards from each of his failed bids for statesmanship, all laminated for safekeeping.
Each bears the multitude of campaign symbols he has used; a fish, ring, hat, telephone and, this time, tires.
Once the subject of ridicule, Padmarajan is now asked to address students about resilience, using his campaigns to explain how to bounce back from defeat.
“I do not think of winning — failure is best,” he said. “If we are in that frame of mind, we do not get stressed.”
Padmarajan’s lesson in democracy comes at a time when public support for India’s clamorous democratic process appears to be waning.
A February survey by the Pew Research Center found 67 percent of Indians thought that a strong leader unencumbered by parliament or the courts was a better system of government than representative democracy — up from 55 percent in 2017.
Rights groups also say that democracy has become increasingly illiberal under Modi, with several criminal probes into opposition party leaders making this year’s election appear increasingly one-sided.
Padmarajan said it was important, now more than ever, that every citizen of the country exercise their franchise.
“It is their right, they should cast their votes, in that respect there is no winning or losing,” he said.
Padmarajan said he will continue to fight elections until his last breath — but would be shocked were he ever to win.
“I will have a heart attack,” he laughed.
Creature named Kermit the Frog offers clues on amphibian evolution
- Scientists described the fossilized skull of a creature called Kermitops gratus that lived in what is now Texas about 270 million years ago
- Amphibians are one of the four groups of living terrestrial vertebrates, along with reptiles, birds and mammals
WASHINGTON: There definitely were no muppets during the Permian Period, but there was a Kermit — or at least a forerunner of modern amphibians that has been named after the celebrity frog.
Scientists on Thursday described the fossilized skull of a creature called Kermitops gratus that lived in what is now Texas about 270 million years ago. It belongs to a lineage believed to have given rise to the three living branches of amphibians — frogs, salamanders and limbless caecilians.
While only the skull — measuring around 1.2 inches (3 cm) long — was discovered, the researchers think Kermitops had a stoutly built salamander-like body roughly 6-7 inches (15-18 cm) long, though salamanders would not evolve for another roughly 100 million years.
Amphibians are one of the four groups of living terrestrial vertebrates, along with reptiles, birds and mammals. The unique features of the Kermitops skull — a blend of archaic and more advanced features — are providing insight into amphibian evolution.
“Kermitops helps us understand the early history of amphibians by revealing there isn’t a clear trend of step by step becoming more like the modern amphibian,” said Calvin So, a George Washington University paleontology doctoral student and lead author of the study published in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society.
The fossil was collected in 1984 near Lake Kemp in Texas and kept in the expansive collection of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History in Washington, but was not thoroughly studied until recently.
Kermitops had a rounded snout, not unlike frogs and salamanders. Preserved in its eye sockets were palpebral bones — or eyelid bones — a feature absent in today’s amphibians. Its skull is constructed of roof-like bones, in contrast to the thin and strut-like bones of modern amphibians.
“The length of the skull in front of the eyes is longer than the length of the skull behind the eyes, which differs from the other fossil amphibians living at the same time. We think this might have allowed Kermitops to snap its jaws closed faster, enabling capture of fast insect prey,” So said.
The fossil record of early amphibians and their forerunners is spotty, making it difficult to figure out the origins of modern amphibians.
“Kermitops, with its unique anatomy, really exemplifies the importance of continuing to add new fossil data to understanding this evolutionary problem,” said National Museum of Natural History paleontologist and study co-author Arjan Mann.
Kermit the Frog was created by the late American puppeteer Jim Henson in 1955, and a Kermit puppet made in the 1970s is in the collection of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History as an important cultural object.
Kermitops means “Kermit face,” a nod to the muppet’s humorous look.
“We thought that the eyelid bones gave the fossil a bug-eyed look, and combined with a lopsided smile produced by slight crushing during the preservation of the fossil, we really thought it looked like Kermit the Frog,” So said.
Kermitops belonged to a group called temnospondyls that arose a few tens of millions of years after the first land vertebrates evolved from fish ancestors. The biggest temnospondyls superficially resembled crocodiles, including two that each were around 20 feet (6 meters) in length, Prionosuchus and Mastodonsaurus.
Temnospondyls are considered the progenitor lineage of modern amphibians, Mann said.
Kermitops existed about 20 million years before the worst mass extinction in Earth’s history and about 40 million years before the first dinosaurs. It lived alongside other members of the amphibian lineage as well as the impressive sail-backed Dimetrodon, a predator related to the mammalian lineage.
The environment in which Kermitops lived appears to have alternated between warm and humid seasons and hot and arid seasons.
“This environment would be similar to modern-day monsoons that take place in the Southwest US and Southeast Asia,” So said.
Dubai restaurateur apologizes for sharing controversial pro-Israel video
- Vegan restaurant chain owner Emma Sawko faced criticism after sharing video by conservative non-profit PragerU
- Clip claimed Palestinians are brainwashed to hate and desire to become suicide bombers
LONDON: A Dubai restaurateur issued an apology on Wednesday following backlash for sharing a controversial pro-Israel video claiming that Palestinians are brainwashed into embracing violence.
The video has been produced by American nonprofit PragerU, which is known for its conservative viewpoints and which has been labeled a “political propaganda machine.”
Emma Sawko, co-founder of the popular vegan restaurant chain Wild & The Moon and organic cafe Comptoir 102, posted a statement of apology on her Instagram account on Tuesday.
“I am sorry for the post I re-shared,” she wrote. “I was standing by the fact that we must find a way towards peace, and this is the only message I have been meaning to convey.
“I am deeply shaken by the loss of innocent Palestinian lives,” she continued, adding that as the conflict drags, it is increasingly hard to “communicate and find the ways towards peace and dialogue.”
The video, titled “My Life in Israel as an Arab Muslim,” features Sophia Salma Khalifa, described by PragerU as the first Muslim Arab to enroll in the Israeli army’s Atuda program in electrical engineering.
Khalifa, now residing in the US, made several controversial claims in the clip, including allegations that Palestinians are brainwashed to hate and that a childhood friend expressed a desire to become a suicide bomber.
The video is part of a series called “Stories of Us,” produced by PragerU to promote American values and offer an alternative to what they perceive as left-wing ideology.
PragerU has faced criticism for disseminating misinformation on topics like climate change and for its denial of historical events like slavery, drawing concerns from rights groups.
Sawko is not the only restaurateur to face backlash over social media posts.
Over the weekend, Bahrain-based Italian-Canadian chef Susy Massetti issued an apology after questioning on social media whether many Palestinians were starving due to Israel’s restriction of aid.
In a series of videos posted online, Massetti expressed deep regret for her comments, clarifying that there was “no malicious intent.”
Similarly, New York City restaurant owner Keith McNally faced criticism in October for sharing what appeared to be a pro-Hamas and pro-Palestinian post on social media.
Finland world’s happiest country again, Kuwait ranks 13: study
- Sharpest decline in happiness since 2006-10 was noted in Afghanistan, Lebanon and Jordan
HELSINKI: Finland remained the world’s happiest country for a seventh straight year in an annual UN sponsored World Happiness Report published on Wednesday.
And Nordic countries kept their places among the 10 most cheerful, with Denmark, Iceland and Sweden trailing Finland.
Afghanistan, plagued by a humanitarian catastrophe since the Taliban regained control in 2020, stayed at the bottom of the 143 countries surveyed.
For the first time since the report was published more than a decade ago, the United States and Germany were not among the 20 happiest nations, coming in 23rd and 24th respectively.
In turn, Costa Rica and Kuwait entered the top 20 at 12 and 13.
The report noted the happiest countries no longer included any of the world’s largest countries.
“In the top 10 countries only the Netherlands and Australia have populations over 15 million. In the whole of the top 20, only Canada and the UK have populations over 30 million.”
The sharpest decline in happiness since 2006-10 was noted in Afghanistan, Lebanon and Jordan, while the Eastern European countries Serbia, Bulgaria and Latvia reported the biggest increases.
The happiness ranking is based on individuals’ self-assessed evaluations of life satisfaction, as well as GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom, generosity and corruption.
Jennifer De Paola, a happiness researcher at the University of Helsinki in Finland, told AFP that Finns’ close connection to nature and healthy work-life balance were key contributors to their life satisfaction.
In addition, Finns may have a “more attainable understanding of what a successful life is,” compared to for example the United States where success is often equated with financial gain, she said.
Finns’ strong welfare society, trust in state authorities, low levels of corruption and free health care and education were also key.
“Finnish society is permeated by a sense of trust, freedom, and high level of autonomy,” De Paola said.
This year’s report also found that younger generations were happier than their older peers in most of the world’s regions — but not all.
In North America, Australia and New Zealand, happiness among groups under 30 has dropped dramatically since 2006-10, with older generations now happier than the young.
By contrast, in Central and Eastern Europe, happiness increased substantially at all ages during the same period, while in Western Europe people of all ages reported similar levels of happiness.
Happiness inequality increased in every region except Europe, which authors described as a “worrying trend.”
The rise was especially distinct among the old and in Sub-Saharan Africa, reflecting inequalities in “income, education, health care, social acceptance, trust, and the presence of supportive social environments at the family, community and national levels,” the authors said.
Authorities seize ailing alligator kept illegally in New York home’s swimming pool
- The home’s owner built an addition and installed an in-ground swimming pool for the 30-year-old alligator
- The alligator has “blindness in both eyes” and spinal complications
NEW YORK: An ailing alligator was seized from an upstate New York home where it was being kept illegally, state officials said.
Environmental conservation police officers seized the 750-pound (340-kilogram), 11-foot-long (3.4-meter-long) alligator on Wednesday from a home in Hamburg, south of Buffalo.
The home’s owner built an addition and installed an in-ground swimming pool for the 30-year-old alligator and allowed people, including children, to get into the water with the reptile, according to the state Department of Environmental Conservation.
The alligator has “blindness in both eyes” and spinal complications, among other health issues. The reptile was sent to a licensed caretaker until a place is found where it can receive permanent care, according to a release from the agency.
The owner’s state license to keep the alligator expired in 2021. The state determined at that time the alligator’s holding area failed to meet safety standards. Officers took action this week after learning the “extent at which the owner was seriously endangering the public,” according to a statement from the agency.
State environmental officials haven’t decided whether to bring charges.
Officials believe a lethargic 4-foot (1.2-meter) alligator found in Prospect Park Lake in Brooklyn in February 2023 was likely an abandoned pet.