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Elaf: In addition to her talent in acting, dramatic writing, and directing, Saudi filmmaker Fatima Al-Banawi reveals her literary skills to us through the book The Other Story, whose signing ceremony will be held at the Diwan Library in Cairo on Wednesday, December 21, followed by a panel discussion on the book, after witnessing the signing ceremony. The first was a great success at the Jeddah International Book Fair last Wednesday, December 14th.
In an intimate framework that can touch the feelings of every reader of different nationalities, Fatima Al-Banawi was able to record in her book the other story, part of the contemporary human history of her city, Jeddah, through realistic stories of the people of the city in its various parts, and these stories also include the memories of Fatima’s grandfather, to highlight the distinguished relationship between grandfather and granddaughter. For this book project, the American Time magazine had chosen Al-Banawi among the leaders of the new generation in 2018.
The book received strong reactions in Jeddah, which was echoed at the book signing ceremony at the Jeddah International Book Fair, and about this Fatima wrote on her official account on Instagram, saying, “Messages, bouquets, roses, and secret admirers for you, my story; this is how stories make you fall in love with her, and you cannot stop.” If it starts! A lot of things are on one side, and the other story is entirely on the other hand.”
About the book, Fatima wrote, “On a journey to collect thousands of stories from the streets of my city, Jeddah, I present to you special and intimate psychological and social notes embodied with the memories and stories of my dearest comrades and source of inspiration, my grandfather, may God have mercy on him. To discover new meanings of time, place and human stories.
Fatima Al-Banawi’s latest work is the thriller “A Long Trail”, which she co-starred with Baraa Alem, produced by MBC Studios and Image Nation, and is currently shown on the Netflix platform after its world premiere at the Red Sea Festival in its inaugural session 2021, and after its commercial showing in cinemas in Saudi Arabia.
Al-Banawi recently finished filming Sawa and Basma, her first feature film as a director, in which she also participates in acting, after the film received funding from the Red Sea Film Fund, which was announced within the activities of the 78th Venice International Film Festival. .
It was preceded by her distinguished role, which drew attention to her in the Egyptian thriller and suspense series 60 Minutes, which is one of the original works of the Shahid platform, achieving the highest viewership in Egypt, in which Fatima presented the role of a woman suffering from postpartum depression, whose weakness is manipulated by her psychiatrist. She also participated as a director in the Cairo International Film Festival in its 43rd session with the film Bloogh, which opened the Horizons of Arab Cinema competition, and includes five short films by five Saudi female directors, including Al-Banawi in her short film Until We See the Light.
It is noteworthy that Fatima Al-Banawi has won international acclaim for her starring role in the movie Baraka Meets Baraka, which participated in the Berlin Film Festival, and was a representative of Saudi Arabia in the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.
Among the other works in which Al-Banawi co-starred; The two social drama series, Human and Umm Al-Qalayed, which achieved success in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, and the suspense series, which she also co-authored and directed and was shown on the Shahid platform, and Paranormal, the first Egyptian work within the original Netflix works.