Ali and Walaa Hennaoui embrace 2025 after Ralph Lauren campaign
Updated 43 sec ago
Arab News
DUBAI: Dubai-based influencer couple Ali and Walaa Hennaoui are gearing up for the new year after closing out 2024 on a high note with a Ralph Lauren campaign.
The duo shared an inspiring message on their joint Instagram account, writing: “And to 2025, we say: no matter what you hold, we are ready for you — together. Sky’s the limit, always. Dream big, live boldly, and most importantly—believe in yourself.
“Here’s to a new year, stronger hearts, and endless possibilities. Happy New Year, everyone,” they added.
The couple, who have two children, reflected on their achievements in 2024, including their latest milestone: Starring together in a campaign for US fashion label Ralph Lauren during the festive season.
In a clip shared on their Instagram profile, they are featured aboard a yacht showcasing the brand’s latest collection, which includes clothing, accessories and perfumes. The video shows the couple preparing together on the yacht as it sails through locations such as Doha, Abu Dhabi and Dubai, with the region’s landmarks featured prominently in the background.
“Getting ready together…but this time aboard @ralphlauren yacht. Sailing through Doha, Abu Dhabi and Dubai,” the post’s caption reads.
Ali was dressed in a crisp white shirt and black trousers, with a tailored maroon knit sweater layered over his shoulders. Meanwhile, Walaa donned an off-white, full-sleeved knit sweater with a high neckline, featuring intricate patterns. She paired it with a flowing, pleated off-white maxi skirt, cinched at the waist with a statement brown leather belt that had a bold buckle.
In another image shared on their profile, Ali wore a tailored navy double-breasted blazer paired with a striped shirt and cream linen trousers, while Walaa opted for a navy blazer adorned with an embroidered crest on the chest.
The couple also took the opportunity to share heartfelt reflections on the past year.
“This year, we learned to embrace the beauty of the small things and truly understood the meaning of family first. Through every challenge and every doubt, we found strength in each other, solidifying our love, our marriage, and our smallest, most sacred circle,” they said on Instagram.
The pair share daily updates on family life on their social media feeds, including Instagram and TikTok, and have worked with fashion and homeware brands in the past. They also frequently attend runway presentations by Lebanese couturier Elie Saab, including his recent shows in Paris and Riyadh.
French Algerian animator aims to draw on experiences of peers in Saudi Arabia’s Diriyah Art Futures program
Updated 31 December 2024
Saffiya Ansari
DUBAI: Samia Dzair, a French Algerian animator handpicked by Saudi creative hub Diriyah Art Futures for its inaugural Emerging New Media Artists Program, said she hopes to broaden her horizons as part of the initiative alongside an international cohort of artists.
The year-long program, based in the UNESCO World Heritage site of Diriyah in Riyadh, will provide the chosen participants with access to professional equipment and facilities, a production budget, the opportunity to learn from guest lecturers from around the world specializing in new media art, and mentorships.
Dzair told Arab News she intends to use the opportunity to “fully question the various themes I address in my artistic work, such as myths, immigration and uprooting, while at the same time having the chance to produce quality work, with a real budget.”
She will join fellow artists from Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, China, Wales and other countries who were selected for the initiative, and said this varied, international collection of up-and-coming talents was a particularly appealing aspect of the program.
“Being in a group with other artists from different backgrounds is going to be very inspiring,” Dzair said. “We’ll be able to exchange our experiences, our respective world outlooks and inspire one another.”
She will be aiming develop her skills in the field of animation, specifically the 2D and stop-motion varieties, which is something she says she was drawn to as a child.
“My first encounter with art was with animated films,” she said. “I come from a social environment where institutional culture was not very accessible (and) my father used to buy me a lot of cartoons that were sold in tobacconists’ shops, except that they weren’t always animated films for children.
“That’s how I started watching a lot of animated films like ‘Ghost in the Shell,’ which weren’t for my age but which forged my aspirations and my aesthetic,” she added, referring to the 1995 anime film directed by Mamoru Oshii.
She was also attracted to the medium as a creator in part because of the relatively limited resources required for an animation project. While sculptors might require blocks of marble and a set of chisels and other tools, and painters need a studio stocked with shelves of paint and brushes, Dzair said she is able to “make a film all by myself in my room with a camera or a computer, a head full of ideas and a few scraps of paper. I love it.”
She added: “The fact that you can find a-thousand-and-one ways to give an impression of movement, to bring to life an environment, a character, an interaction or an idea is simply fascinating.”
The director graduated from the KASK School of Arts in Belgium before directing two short films — “Soufre” in 2021 and “Le Poids De La Terre En Grammes” in 2022 — and also developed a TV series titled “Blue Weddings” that explores North African lore through its depiction of the ogress Teryel, a fearsome mythological character.
“(The) project … began as an emotional outlet. My quest to understand my family's neuroses and traumas led me to write this project, which originally took the form of a tale. The tale of a subversive woman, an ogress, hated by all, but who symbolizes the anger of an entire land dispossessed of its culture,” Dzair explained.
“Like my protagonist, I grew up in the north of France, and was separated from the land of my elders, and also separated from my mother at a very early age, a mother who grew up during the Algerian civil war, who faced violence and lack of education. Nonetheless she was politicized by her elders and this knowledge made her rebellious and violent because she couldn’t do anything as a ‘third world’ villager and a woman.”
Dzair’s series seeks to use the story of the ogress to explore issues relating to uprooting, war, colonization and capitalism — “what particularly interests me in the tales I refer to is the figure of the angry murdered rebel ogress, which I believe perfectly sums up the resistance shown by Algeria and all formerly colonized African countries,” she said.
ISLAMABAD: As the world prepares to bid farewell to an eventful 2024 and welcome the new year, here is a list of five Pakistani women who shattered stereotypes and made history by dominating in their respective fields ranging from politics to mountaineering, and sports to music.
Maryam Nawaz Sharif
Maryam Nawaz Sharif, the daughter of three-time former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, made history in February after she was elected as the first woman chief minister of a Pakistani province.
This handout photograph taken and released by the Directorate General Public Relations (DGPR) of Punjab province on February 26, 2024, shows Governor Punjab Muhammad Balighur Rehman (C) administer oath to the newly elected Chief Minister of Punjab province Maryam Nawaz Sharif (2R) during a ceremony, as Pakistan's former Prime Ministers and leader of Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PMLN) party Nawaz Sharif (R) and his brother Shehbaz Sharif (2L) look on at the Governor's House in Lahore. (Directorate General Public Relations (DGPR) of Punjab province / AFP)
After her Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party won the highest number of seats after a contentious election in February, Sharif was elected as the chief minister of the country’s richest and most populous Punjab province.
She formally joined politics in 2012 and became increasingly involved in politics during her father’s four-year, self-imposed exile in the United Kingdom from 2019 to 2023. In 2019, she was appointed vice president of the PML-N, leading anti-government rallies throughout the country against then prime minister Imran Khan’s government.
Political opponents and critics, however, say her election to the chief minister’s post is an example of the enduring influence of feudal politics in Pakistan.
Ayla Majid
In November, Ayla Majid became the first South Asian and Muslim to be elected president of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), a global accountancy body.
Majid is the chief executive officer of a firm that advises on decarbonization, sustainability, and energy transition. Majid is leading more than 252,500 members and 526,000 future members of ACCA across 180 countries during her year-long term in office.
Global Vice President of ACCA and Founder & CEO of Planetive, AylaMajid, attends Business Summit 2023 in Islamabad on May 31, 2023. (Ayla Majid)
She has over 20 years of experience in energy, transaction advisory, mergers and acquisitions, investments and corporate governance. Majid holds a Master of Business Administration degree from the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) and a Bachelor of Law degree from the University of London.
Arooj Aftab
Pakistani singer Arooj Aftab earned Grammy nominations for the fourth time in a row in November. Her single “Raat Ki Rani” earned a nomination in the Best Global Music Performance, category while her album, “Night Reign” has earned a nomination for the Best Alternative Jazz Album category.
Arooj Aftab attends 'A New York Evening With Arooj Aftab' at The Greene Space in New York City on October 4, 2024. (AFP)
This category honors vocal or instrumental albums where new alternative jazz recordings comprise more than 75 percent of the playing time.
In 2022, Aftab became the first Pakistani singer to win a Grammy for her song ‘Mohabbat’ in the Best Global Music Performance category.
Naila Kiani
In May, Dubai-based mountaineer Naila Kiani became the first Pakistani woman to summit Mount Makalu, the fifth-highest mountain in the world. The tremendous achievement also brought another feather to Kiani’s cap, as it made her the first and only Pakistani woman to summit 11 out of 14 mountains that stand 8,000 meters above sea level.
The picture shared by Naila Kiani on November 16, 2023, shows the climber ascending Mount Nanga Parbat in northern Pakistan. (Naila Kiani)
Kiani had previously summited Broad Peak (8,047 meters), Annapurna (8,091 meters), K2 (8,611 meters), Lhotse (8,516 meters), Gasherbrum 1 (8,068 meters), Gasherbrum II (8,035 meters), Nanga Parbat (8,125 meters), Mount Everest (8,849 meters), Manaslu (8,156 meters) and Cho Oyu (8,201 meters) mountains.
The mother of two, who is also a banker by profession, garnered fame in 2018 after her wedding photos from K2’s base camp were widely shared on social media. She is also a recipient of the Sitara-e-Imtiaz, Pakistan’s third-highest civilian award, which she received in March 2024 for climbing Mount Everest.
Saleema Imtiaz
Saleema Imtiaz became the first Pakistani woman to be nominated to the International Cricket Council’s International Panel of Development Umpires in September. The nomination qualifies Imtiaz, 52, to officiate in women’s bilateral international matches and ICC Women’s Events.
Saleema Imtiaz holds a souvenir awarded for becoming Pakistan's first woman umpire on ICC International Development Panel in Multan, Pakistan, on September 17, 2024. (@TheRealPCB/X)
Imtiaz, mother of Pakistan women’s international player Kainat Imtiaz, began her umpiring career with the Pakistan Cricket Board Women’s Umpires Panel in 2008. Her extensive experience includes officiating in high-profile events under the Asian Cricket Council such as the 2022 and 2024 ACC Women’s T20 Asia Cup and the 2023 ACC Emerging Women’s Cup in Hong Kong.
Italian stars Ludovico Einaudi, Matteo Bocelli to perform at AlUla in January
The two performances are the latest in the AlUla Moments Concert Series
Updated 30 December 2024
Arab News
ALULA: Two Italian musical stars will perform in Saudi Arabia next month as part of the AlUla Moments Concert Series, it was confirmed on Monday.
Internationally acclaimed pianist and composer Ludovico Einaudi, who will take the stage on Jan. 17, is celebrated for blending classical and contemporary styles during his career which has spanned four decades.
Musical legend, Ludovico Einaudi, is performing at #Maraya on 17 Jan during #AlUla Arts Festival. Join us for this exclusive concert and experience the captivating fusion of classical, minimalist and contemporary music in an intimate setting like no other. #AlUlaMoments
He has previously performed at some of the world’s most iconic venues, including Teatro alla Scala in Milan, the Royal Albert Hall in London and the Sydney Opera House.
Einaudi’s compositions have earned him numerous awards and multiple platinum certifications.
A week later, on Jan. 24, the spotlight will shine on Matteo Bocelli, the rising Italian tenor and youngest son of legendary opera star Andrea Bocelli, who will perform as part of his debut headline world tour.
Experience the incredible voice of Matteo Bocelli, a force in the world of classical and contemporary music, as he performs during #AlUla Arts Festival. The exclusive concert will take place at #Maraya on 24 Jan. #AlUlaMoments
The two performances are the latest in the Concert Series, which have included Bocelli senior in April 2021, John Legend in November 2022 and Alicia Keys in February 2023.
Tickets for both performances are expected to sell quickly, and can be bought at this link.
Robbie Williams is here to entertain you with ‘Better Man’
Updated 30 December 2024
Karishma Nandkeolyar
DUBAI: “I want to be the best entertainer on the planet next year,” British singer-songwriter Robbie Williams said ahead of the UAE premiere of his biographical musical “Better Man” on Sunday.
And he is certainly making inroads on that resolution — fresh off a gig at Abu Dhabi’s Saadiyat Nights concert series, and before he hits the stage on the Robbie Williams Live 2025 tour across Europe, Williams sat down to discuss the Michael Gracey-directed film in Dubai.
It is a raw look at Williams’ life — his early showbiz years as a part of the Take That crew, his battle with addiction and family issues before settling down.
In the film, helmed by Gracey of “The Greatest Showman” fame, Williams is played by a CGI-generated monkey in an otherwise human cast. It was a creative gamble by the director, who previously said that the decision was inspired by conversations with Williams where he described himself as a performing monkey, according to the BBC.
“Well, I think that I would like to see myself as a lion, but I’m not. I’m cheeky and I’m silly, and I’m irreverent and I’m naughty, and I’m not alpha. I am a monkey. There’s vulnerability in monkeys, in apes, simians; I think they’re more human than humans,” Williams said during a media roundtable attended by Arab News.
In the film, the chimp is played by Jonno Davies, but there is an element of Williams in it. “I was in a cage, and 150 cameras, or something like that, (pointed at) you. And they scanned me, and then I had to do 120 different facial expressions to a bunch of cameras in front of me, and then they took all of that information and overlaid it over Jonno, who plays me so brilliantly, and those are my eyes, and those are my expressions,” he said.
UK 50-year-old pop superstar Robbie Williams says “best thing about fame is that it gives me the chance to be successful.” (Supplied)
While the movie offers a warning of sorts about the pitfalls of fame, the “Let Me Entertain You” singer explained: “I’m addicted to success more than I’m addicted to fame. I excel in showmanship; it’s the rest of everything else I’m not very good at. So, fame gives me the opportunity to be successful, to write a great song, to have it translate into people’s hearts, but to do stadiums, too.
“But this brings with its own problems as well, because, you know, I’ve got so much wrapped up in being Robbie Williams. The best thing about fame is that it gives me the chance to be successful.”
The 50-year-old pop superstar has been candid about his struggles with addiction in the past — he was admitted to a rehabilitation center in the US in 2007 and spoke about his addiction to drugs and alcohol during the 1990s in a four-part Netflix documentary released in 2023.
Fatima Al-Banawi celebrates highlights ahead of January’s Joy Awards in Riyadh
Updated 29 December 2024
Arab News
DUBAI: After topping off a stellar 2024 by co-hosting the closing ceremony of the star-studded Red Sea Film Festival in December, Saudi director and actress Fatima Al-Banawi took to Instagram this week to share behind-the-scenes snafus that occurred before the event.
The star, who is nominated in the Best Film Director category at the upcoming Joy Awards in Riyadh, shared a carousel of photos taken during and after the Red Sea International Film Festival in Jeddah, including a poignant shot of her grandfather.
“I don’t know where the words came from, but truly behind every grand appearance there are dark nights, dim lights, a sudden illness, and a liver sandwich that drips a sauce on your dress. But what comforts us through all the moments of exhaustion and fatigue are the celebrations that unfold honoring the stories we tell. And above all that, the moment you return home and find your grandfather watching you on the television screen (sic),” she captioned the post.
Al-Banawi made her directorial debut with “Basma” this year and she is nominated for an award at the Joy Awards, set to be held on Jan. 18.
The Best Film Director nominees include Tarek Al-Eryan (“Welad Rizq 3: Elqadia”), Ali Al-Kalthami (“Night Courier”), Fatima Al-Banawi (“Basma”), and Moataz Al-Touni (“Ex Merati”).
“Basma” launched on Netflix in June and Al-Banawi not only directed the movie, but wrote it (and an original song for the soundtrack) and played the title role — a young Saudi woman who returns home to Jeddah after two years away studying in the States to find that her parents have divorced without telling her after struggling to deal with the mental illness of her father, the well-respected Dr. Adly.
“My undergrad is in psychology. My father’s a psychologist. My sister’s a psychologist. I have psychology and sociology in my DNA,” Al-Banawi told Arab News at the time of the film’s release. “We talk about Sigmund Freud over lunch, you know?”
And so, when she sat down to write her first feature, it was natural that she would choose mental health as its focus.
“Dissonance was a word I found when I started working on ‘Basma.’ I wasn’t familiar with this term: to be in a complete state of, not just denial, but not responding in any way — action or awareness — to what (is obvious),” she said. “I felt it around me everywhere; things that were brushed under the carpet for years and years until they piled up and a person or a family could not handle them anymore.”
