Ramy Youssef reveals Lindsey Lohan was to appear on his Hulu series
Ramy Youssef said he stopped hearing back from Lindsey Lohan
Updated 28 May 2020
Arab News
DUBAI: Egyptian-American actor Ramy Youssef revealed that US-actress Lindsey Lohan was supposed to star in his Hulu comedy series “Ramy,” but he “stopped hearing from her.”
“We were interested in this idea of people that you don’t really think are Muslim,” Youssef said speaking to Entertainment Weekly magazine. “We actually cast Lindsay Lohan, because Lindsay had this whole thing about converting to Islam.”
I talked to her and she was down, and then, you know, like Lindsay does, we just kind of stopped hearing from her,” he added.
I was trying to get a hold of her and she was on the call sheet, and I guess she couldn’t make it. I don’t know, I never heard from her,” the award-winning actor said. “You can’t try and put Lindsay in a box, that’s what I know. Lindsay is going to be Lindsay.”
The actor, hopeful about having the “Mean Girls” actress on his show, tweeted on Thursday: “Season three inshallah.”
In January, Youssef won a Golden Globes Award for “Best Actor in a Comedy Series” for his performance as “Ramy” in his 10-episode hit show.
Lohen, who has been living in Dubai since 2008, recently appeared on the chat show “Lights Out With David Spade” to promote her new single, “Back To Me.”
During her conversation with Spade, Lohan talked about her experience living in Dubai.
“It’s a city built on desert,” she said in her 17-minute video chat. “I came here in 2008 when they’d just finished building the Atlantis Hotel and there was none of this here. There was no DIFC, Downtown, Dubai Mall… anything that there is now.”
The star also spoke about the rules that Dubai has imposed on residents during the COVID-19 lockdown. “They are very strict here… You are not allowed outside. They take it very seriously,” she said.
Saudi filmmaker Abdulrahman Sandokji’s ‘Underground’ discusses the Kingdom’s music scene
‘Unfolding the unseen is my thing,’ says Abdulrahman Sandokji
Updated 5 sec ago
Adam Grundey
DUBAI: “In film school, they tell you that your first film should be a documentary — train in a simpler form, then go to fiction,” says Saudi filmmaker Abdulrahman Sandokji. “So, naturally, I started with documentaries. But I got hooked.”
Over 15 years later, Sandokji still hasn’t moved on to fiction. Not that that’s an issue for him. His documentaries — produced by the company he founded, Basar Media — have proven immensely satisfying.
“A fiction film can take one or two years to shoot. I have no patience with waiting days and days to shoot one scene. I want things faster and more surprising,” he tells Arab News.
Sandokji (front, center) on set, shooting “Underground.” (Supplied)
“And (documentaries) are honest. You’re talking about real stories. Unfolding the unseen is my thing, you know? I want to go into these deep places and show them to people,” he continues. “It’s a way to understand people, to really see people. To pick a flower from lots of beautiful gardens and plant them in your own garden. It’s more of a journey of discovery for me, you know? That’s what I love about documentaries.”
Sandokji’s breakthrough came with his 2014 film “Phosphine,” which he describes as a “Michael-Moore style” investigative documentary. It explored how the titular chemical — a potentially deadly respiratory poison — had been used (out of ignorance rather than malice) in homes to kill cockroaches, rats and other pests. While the actual occupants had been told to leave their apartments for five or six days, their neighbors were not, and the odorless gas killed them.
Sandokji put his documentary up on YouTube. It got 5 million views in five days, he says, adding that, at the time, he and his colleagues were delighted if they got 100,000 views on any of their videos, because they “weren’t funny — they weren’t comedies.” But “Phosphine” ended up making a difference to society, as well as to Sandokji’s career.
On set for “Underground.” (Supplied)
“We were on TV shows and talk shows — we were overwhelmed. Lots of social movement happened and governmental sectors held very urgent meetings about this substance. The Ministry of Health set up a hotline about it,” he says. “That was when I thought, ‘OK. Maybe this is your thing. Being a voice for those who want their voices to be heard.’”
Unlike “Phosphine,” Sandokji’s latest doc, “Underground,” is not a “tragic story.” But, once again, it was a “journey of discovery” for him — one that delves into the Kingdom’s burgeoning alternative music scene.
The idea — as for many of his films — was not Sandokji’s own. “When I analyze myself, I’m more of a person who receives an idea and then gets to enlarge it,” he says. “When I generate an idea myself, people go, ‘Mmm. No.’” He laughs. “They’ll go, ‘How about this idea instead?’ I’m like the gas — just throw the spark on me and I’ll explode, you know?”
Sandokji’s “Underground” was a “journey of discovery” for him. (Supplied)
The “spark” for “Underground” came from a friend, Tamer Farhan. “He’s passionate about underground music. He knows all these artists,” Sandokji says. “And he opened the window to me and said ‘Come and have a look.’”
What Sandokji found was a wealth of talent and experience that has largely gone unnoticed in Saudi Arabia — understandably, given that until recently live music was largely outlawed in the Kingdom, and music that wasn’t commercial Khaleeji pop or classical Arabic fare was frowned upon.
“These people are good people,” says Sandokji. “Over the years people talked about the music underground as this place with drugs and all this prohibited stuff. But no. They are nice. They have feelings. They love their music and they’re passionate and they’re kind.”
That passion shines through in “Underground,” whether from veterans such as metal band Wasted Land’s frontman Emad Mujallid or relative newcomers such as DJ Cosmicat (Nouf Sufyani) and Salma Murad. All the artists involved are given the opportunity to discuss their craft and love for music in depth, and to play some of their music live.
Sandokji believes “Underground” has the potential to grab international attention. (Supplied)
“(The songs) are not recorded and synced,” Sandokji says. “I wanted to show the audience how talented they are.”
So far, that audience is whoever attended the premiere on the opening night of the Saudi Film Festival on May 2 — another landmark for Sandokji, he explains. “Usually they choose fiction films — good fiction films — for the opening. I was always watching them thinking ‘When am I going to make a movie that could be screened in the opening? I’m a documentary maker, nobody would give me that chance.’ But it happened.”
And he believes “Underground” has the potential to grab international attention. It’s already been submitted for consideration at several large festivals, but the main aim since he started shooting it in 2022, Sandokji happily admits, has been to get the film on Netflix. There are also discussions underway about turning it into a TV series.
“It’s something people will want to know more about, I think,” he says, before citing the words the movie concludes with, when Murad is discussing what music means to her: “It’s powerful. It’s beautiful.”
“When Salma said that, I had goosebumps,” Sandokji says. “I thought, ‘Yes! These are the words the movie has to end with.’ Music is powerful; it can make you very strong, it can make you very weak… it’s magical.”
El Seed launches Tunisian olive oil brand Tacapae with artworks for bottles
Updated 14 min 6 sec ago
Arab News
DUBAI: French-Tunisian artist El Seed’s take on Arabic calligraphy (sometimes referred to as ‘calligraffiti’) has embellished favelas in Brazil, marginalized buildings in Cairo, and the Saudi desert. He is known for working with local communities to share messages of human connection, based on quotes from influential writers and philosophers.
In a departure from his usual large-scale artworks, the artist recently launched his most intimate endeavor to date. The project is called “Tacapae” and consists of olive oil-filled bottles decorated with El Seed’s swirling calligraphy. The name of the brand is inspired by the ancient Greek name of the artist’s hometown, Gabes, in southern Tunisia, from where the olive oil is sourced.
The most powerful aspect of the ceramic, handmade bottles is the quote El Seed used. (Supplied)
“I didn’t want to call it ‘El Seed Olive Oil’ because I don’t link the oil to myself,” El Seed tells Arab News at his Dubai studio in Alserkal Avenue. “I’m the founder, but the goal is to have a bottle designed by other artists every year. It’s a kind of partnership.”
El Seed explains that his cousin informed him of a plot of land for sale in Gabes. “And it happened that the olive trees of this land were planted by my great-grandfather,” he says.
El Seed purchased the land and its trees now provide the oil for Tacapae. A total of 31 bottles (a tribute to the land’s original 31 trees) were personally hand-finished by the artist himself.
A total of 31 bottles (a tribute to the land’s original 31 trees) were personally hand-finished by the artist himself. (Supplied)
The most powerful aspect of the ceramic, handmade bottles is the quote El Seed used. Translated into Arabic from a quote by 20th-century US novelist John Dos Passos, it reads: “You can snatch a man from his country but not the country from a man’s heart.”
Those words have resonated with El Seed his whole life. “Nobody can take away from you all the memories that you carry for a particular place,” he says. “I grew up in France, I live in the US and Canada and I spend some time in the Middle East, but my main focus is in Tunisia. I carry it with me.”
Where We Are Going Today: Armin restaurant in Riyadh
Armenian cuisine is a blend of Middle Eastern, Mediterranean and Eastern European influences
Updated 17 May 2024
Sulafa Alkhunaizi
RIYADH: Riyadh’s popular Armenian restaurant, Armin, takes visitors on a journey of authentic flavors with its heartwarming, aromatic and herby dishes.
Armenian cuisine is a blend of Middle Eastern, Mediterranean and Eastern European influences with ingredients such as rice, lamb and sumac.
Armin hits the taste nail on the head with a selection of Middle Eastern dishes featuring chicken and lamb kebabs, tabouleh, fattoush, vine leaves, and a popular eggplant dip, muttabal.
The menu provides guests with options aplenty, with vegetarian and omnivorous diners catered for, making it an ideal spot for dining out.
Upon arrival, guests are spoiled with freshly baked pita bread, perfect to plunge into their dipping of choice.
The best appetizer on the menu is the hummus with meat and topped off with crispy pine nuts, making a perfect combination of nutty flavors.
A must-have side dish is the spicy potato, cooked to perfection with a kick of spice and a touch of garlic and coriander.
The star main course is the shish barak, a traditional Armenian dish consisting of dumplings made with a thin dough wrapper and filled with flavorful beef or lamb with onions and a mix of spices.
Shish barak is boiled, unlike Chinese or Japanese dumplings, which are usually pan fried or steamed.
The only downside of the visit is cost — Armin’s prices are on the high side. But given its customer service and delicious food, it is a price worth paying. Although many dishes on Armin’s menu can be found in Middle Eastern restaurants for a fraction of the price, the quality of the ingredients here is unmatched.
The story behind Saudi artist Alia Ahmad’s alluring abstracts
Ahmad is garnering international attention, with two solo exhibitions in Europe
Updated 16 May 2024
Rebecca Anne Proctor
RIYADH: Hanging at the Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale in Riyadh is a large canvas titled “Alwasm,” a 2023 painting by Saudi artist Alia Ahmad. It’s an instant showstopper. Guests on the opening night of the event, which runs until May 24, gathered around the painting, which was inspired by Wadi Hanifah in the Najd region of Riyadh, which is where the biennale is being staged. Commissioned for the event, the painting’s alluring warm tones and lively hues capture the titular period between October and December when the weather becomes cooler and there is respite from the arid desert heat.
Ahmad is on a roll. Since graduating from London’s Royal College of Art with a Master’s in 2020, the 28-year-old Riyadh-based painter has staged several solo exhibitions in her home country and has increasingly garnered international attention for her abstract expressionist canvases that depict the natural and urban landscape of her home country. Ahmad says she considers paintings “social spaces” as well as “blueprints.”
Alia Ahmad's 'Malga—The Place In Which We Gather,' which sold for $128,786 at auction this year. (Courtesy of Phillips)
“These paintings represent my version of the landscape,” Ahmad tells Arab News. “They include elements that may be references to birds or various color palettes that aren’t necessarily found in the landscape, but that represent how I view it. I’m addicted to incorporating my imagination.”
The desert landscape, she stresses, “is not necessarily dry or empty. It has so much more.” And that is what she captures in the lush, lyrical brushstrokes of her abstract works, which are filled with references to local culture. “The traditional Arab bedouin dress is filled with color. As are the tents,” she says. “Women here have traditionally embellished their gowns. Where does this sense of vibrant creativity come from? The color and playfulness we imbue our traditional dress and items with comes from the landscape.”
Ahmad recently staged her first solo exhibition in Europe. “Terhal Gheim (The Voyage of the Clouds)” runs at White Cube in Paris until May 18.
On March 7 this year she sold her first work at auction at the Phillips 20th Century & Contemporary Art sale in London. Her painting “Malga — The Place in Which We Gather” sold for four times its estimate, bringing in a remarkable £101,600 (roughly SAR475,825).
Ahmad's works on display in London's Albion Juene Gallery. (Gilbert McCarragher)
And on May 2, another solo exhibition — “Thought to Image” — opened in London at Albion Jeune. Running until June 12, the show presents Ahmad’s alluring abstract landscapes, inspired by the hues of traditional textiles created by Sadu weavers of Bedouin tribes and the Arabic calligraphic script known as khatt.
“Much of my inspiration comes from textiles,” she explains. “At one point I was obsessed with buying pieces of fabric and making collages.”
She also used to draw stick-figure cartoons as a child, she adds. Those amateur drawings were works in progress — an aspect Ahmad continues to enjoy in her practice. “I loved the idea of having a drawing in progress to then fill in the blanks of what the character might look like later,” she says.
Ahmad’s paintings today are an amalgamation of various aspects of her homeland — its rich natural environment from the desert to the lush palm trees and other vegetation, local dress, jewelry and animals. She brings all of them together to depict in colorful abstract forms the richness of Saudi heritage, particularly that of her home region of Najd.
Her works, as international gallerists and collectors have found, are rife with specific local details that connect in some way with people across the world, even if only by piquing their curiosity about a country that has only recently really opened up to visitors.
Ultimately, Ahmad’s paintings serve as a unique reference point during a time of monumental social and economic change in the Kingdom, revealing and documenting a moment of both transformation and a desire to retain and promote Saudi’s rich heritage.
Her imaginary landscapes also include flattened perspectives, nods to her previous training in digital graphics. They reflect the futuristic visages of the modern world coupled with the beauty of the undulating curves of the desert landscape and the colorful attributes of Arabian culture.
Each painting takes the viewer on a voyage into a vibrant abstract world that echoes aspects of everyday reality.
As Ahmad puts it: “They are all playful paintings and I make sure that each work and each show I stage retains that aspect of curiosity.”
Recipes for Success: The St. Regis Red Sea Executive Sous Chef Skotarenko Artem on educating guests and experimentation
Updated 16 May 2024
Shyama Krishna Kumar
JEDDAH: The newly-opened The St. Regis Red Sea is home to several restaurants, including Middle Eastern restaurant Nesma, Japanese establishment Gishiki 45, and Tilina — a “floating” restaurant that serves a degustation menu. The resort’s executive sous chef, Skotarenko Artem, from Russia, oversees a team of 75.
“Discipline is one of the most important things in the kitchen. I can say it’s one of the pillars. But relationships in the kitchen should be based on respect. If you shout at your employees, you can make people scared, but they will never respect you for it,” Artem tells Arab News. “Shouting is a thing of the past in the kitchen.”
The St. Regis Red Sea Resort’s Tilina offers a degustation menu for its visitors. (Supplied)
Tilina, he says, is a “unique concept for Saudi Arabia.”
“The degustation menu takes two to three hours. Not everyone can sit for this time and wait for the dishes. So, we try to educate the guests,” he explains.
When you started out what was the most common mistake you made?
I guess trying to repeat the dishes of celebrity chefs that I found online, from other parts of the world. And I was really upset with the results because they were below my expectations. That was because of products and seasonality, because every country has different produce and you can’t expect to get the same results in another country.
What’s your top tip for amateurs?
Don’t be afraid to experiment. If you find a nice recipe and you want to follow it, most likely you won’t have all the ingredients available at home. So use your imagination and, like this, you can achieve a great result.
What one ingredient can instantly improve any dish?
Doesn’t matter where you’re cooking — it can be a restaurant or at home — love is the most important.
What’s the most common mistake that you find in other restaurants?
I’m actually not very picky when I go out. But, for me, the most common issue is seasoning. It’s very easy to spoil a dish if you have poor seasoning; it becomes flat and, actually, it is dead.
What’s your favorite cuisine?
When I go out, I’m always looking for something unusual and interesting that I’m not familiar with. It helps to keep your mind open.
What’s your go-to dish if you have to cook something quickly at home?
I don’t actually cook at home very often. But I’ll always have fresh bread in and a piece of good quality cheese. Along with them, I have all these different kinds of preserves and pickled vegetables. So, if I have to do something quick at home, I’d make a nice Cuban-style sandwich.
What customer behavior most annoys you?
Actually, there’s a long list. But what really annoys me is when guests leave the table without valid excuses when the dishes are ready to serve. Because then you need to remake the dish. It’s a disservice to all the other guests in the restaurant.
What’s your favorite dish to cook?
Where I’m from, it tends to get very cold. So, I love to make rich soups of all kinds. But they tend to take a lot of time and patience.
What’s the most difficult dish for you to get right?
Actually, I’m really flexible and adaptable. For me, everything is possible if you’re focused and committed to it.
RECIPE
Chef Skotarenko’s cured mackerel, salted laminaria, and dill kefir sauce
INGREDIENTS
For the brine: 1L water; 80g sea salt; 30g brown sugar; 1 garlic clove; 10g dill; 30g sunflower oil (or your preferred flavor of oil); 2g black pepper; 2g bay leaves
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Place a whole mackerel (300-400g) in the brine and leave overnight.
2. Place 500g fresh laminaria in a pot of cold water and bring to a boil. Strain the water and repeat the process three times.
3. Wash the laminaria in cold water, sprinkle with 5g sea salt, and refrigerate overnight.
4. Slice 500g fresh cucumber. Mix with 50g olive oil, a pinch of salt, and 20g apple cider vinegar. Refrigerate overnight.
5. Mix 500g kefir (or laban if you prefer) with 30g lemon juice, 5g finely chopped garlic, 5g salt, and 2g white pepper.
6. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and add 500g dill. Remove after 10 seconds and place in ice-cold water. Blend the dill with 500g olive oil until smooth, then strain through a fine sieve.
7. Plate all the ingredients separately and serve.
