00:29Transcription by ESO. Translation by —
00:34Well, thank you very much for taking the time.
00:37I saw the film actually at the Red Sea Film Festival back in 2025, you know, and I've been coming
00:44to the festival since that started back, I think it was in 2020, you know, and to see how the
00:51Saudi film industry has changed is really something else.
00:55But I mean, obviously, you had an inkling of it before anybody did, you know, from your first film.
01:02Could you talk about sort of that transmutation in terms of your filmmaking approach between that, obviously, it's a perfect
01:10candidate, and now to unidentified?
01:13I know it was like a couple years back, but could you talk about that mindset and psychology of you
01:18as a writer, director, producer?
01:23Yes, like Saudi Arabia changed so much since Wajda.
01:25When I did my first film, Saudi was segregated, so I wasn't able to go on the streets and shoot
01:31with my crew.
01:32Like whenever we were outside, I would be in a van and just like have a walkie-talkie, and it
01:36was challenging for me as a first-time filmmaker, really.
01:39I wanted to be with the actors and just like to let go of the performance and just empower the
01:44actors.
01:45It really taught me a lot, that experience, but it was hard.
01:49And at the perfect candidate, there was a huge shift when you go.
01:53I felt so empowered as a filmmaker in the streets because we had permission, we can shoot outside, and there
02:02was like a kind of like a conservative person who tried to stop us during filming.
02:09And then we called the police, and the police came and checked our permission, and they booked him.
02:14They just like, no, you cannot bother them.
02:16They have a right to the street.
02:17And that was such an amazing moment for me as a filmmaker coming from that, in a street where I
02:22wasn't allowed to run in the street as a kid without a abaya.
02:25Can you imagine filming there with the police?
02:27That was a really big moment for me.
02:29And then Unidentified is completely financed in Saudi Arabia.
02:35Before, I wasn't able to finance my films.
02:37Like, I had to go to co-production, which is amazing.
02:40I love co-production.
02:41It allowed me to make my films.
02:42But still, it is really, it is something different when you be able to make your film completely back at
02:47home.
02:48There is some kind of like funds for filmmakers to go, and that empowers me not only as a filmmaker,
02:55but also as a producer.
02:56And that allows me a little bit more of a financial gain, hopefully, in the film.
03:00So that is, the change, the complete shift is so much positive.
03:05And I think it is, in a place like Saudi Arabia, where it is politically very important, and ideologically is
03:12very important, it sets the tone for the rest of the Muslim world.
03:15When we are moving towards modernity and tolerance is very important, especially now with war raging everywhere.
03:22It is very important to have a voice of reason, and embracing modern values where we are global players, not
03:30just like against the world.
03:32Hi, my friends.
03:33Get ready with me.
03:34And I'm going to talk to you about a non-multiple situation around the world.
03:38I mean, there is someone who tries to design a little bit of a disease, but you can imagine that
03:42the blood was hidden in every room in the room.
03:45I mean, the victim was designed a little bit, and then I said to myself, oh my God, I'm able
03:49to design a little bit, and I took a break.
03:51And I said to myself, oh my God, I'm able to design a little bit, and I said to myself,
03:57oh my God, I'm able to design a little bit.
03:57I put the chair like you see, the short one.
03:59My friends, before I finish, don't follow me on broadcasts of the non-multiple situation around the world.
04:05And I'll add to you the comment.
04:07Oh God, I love this.
04:12But it's also, you're always been very good.
04:14And this film really sort of brings it to me, is perspective.
04:18Using the perspective, but also making the film, it has that forensic thriller entertainment element, but from a very specific
04:27perspective of Nawal.
04:29But the way you do it, it makes it show that, you know, these are the issues that we're dealing
04:34with, but these are the ways we have to approach it.
04:37But here's how we can turn it on its head.
04:39Can you talk about using that sort of narrative psychology to approach this project?
04:46Well, yeah, I think for me, it is always like, I try, I always, I am drawn to tell the
04:54stories of strong women, women who have agency.
04:57For good or bad, but they have agency.
05:00And I mean, like, I don't want women to be victims or see themselves as victims on the big screen.
05:07Internalizing that for me, I wanted that example for myself.
05:12It is therapeutic for me to see strong women like Wajda or Miriam or Nawal rebelling against the boundaries and
05:22rebelling against the mold the society puts on them.
05:26So, that is the perspective I come from when I'm writing my stories, when I'm writing, like, for those characters.
05:33That is, they are always, will never see themselves as victims.
05:38And that kind of helps me navigate the storytelling.
05:42And for, I ended unidentified, I wanted to tell a story that is entertaining, that still tells a lot about
05:50where I come from, as like, like Saudi Arabia and politics of it, the social, the social, social politics of
05:58it.
05:58But also, I wanted to tell a compelling, entertaining story, an entertaining story where people go to the movies and
06:07enjoy the film.
06:08And that was, like, for me, as very important, especially growing up in Saudi Arabia, where films weren't allowed and
06:14there wasn't no movies.
06:15I felt like it is important to tell a story where audiences are part of the film and enjoy it
06:20and don't feel like they are forced to watch it because it is an important film.
07:26Upon the second viewing system,
07:28because I just watched it again, you know, the pacing, the framing, all these things are sort of keyed into
07:33that.
07:34And obviously, that's your background.
07:36But it's interesting, it keys into what you're saying.
07:38I just saw a film in December at the last Red Sea called A Matter of Life and Death, which
07:43is a romantic comedy.
07:45And it does the same thing where it's trying to, it's not trying to make it an issue film, it's
07:50supposed to be entertainment.
07:51But genre is always great, because genre is able to rap and talk about things, but make them more, if
07:57you will, palpable, but also very sort of pointed.
08:01Does that make sense?
08:02Absolutely.
08:03I think genre films have really, especially horror, this is not a horror, but thriller, but like with Get Out
08:08and old films like that, I think there's, genres have a lot of followers and people want to go and
08:13enjoy a movie.
08:14But still, you can say so much about the world and where you come from.
08:17And that kind of like, you know, putting a little bit of medicine in there.
08:22Now, did you try when you were building sort of this story?
08:25Did you want to sort of show those misdirects and feel that out?
08:29Because that's the way, the reason the whole film works is because of the way you structure the narrative and
08:34reveal.
08:35I always want to tell entertaining stories, even with Wajda Unidentified and The Perfect Candidate, there was a lot of
08:41music there in The Perfect Candidate.
08:44And then for Wajda, it is such an endearing story about a little hustler, a little girl who will never
08:50take no for an answer.
08:51And this here, I wanted to tell a different story, but still in the same vein where it is entertaining.
08:58And I love thriller, like The Usual Suspect is one of the films that I watch again and again and
09:05again.
09:06And it's just really impacted us, that kind of cinema just like really was part of my identity and I
09:11want to show it.
09:12I want to pay homage to it and in my own culture.
09:16But I think also like with Saudi Arabia, we see there is a shift now where people are actually going
09:23to the movie theaters and actually enjoying a film from this kind.
09:26And bringing an elevated genre is very important, I think, during this time.
09:56And you're the only one who I know.
10:00From here.
10:02I'm going to tell you what I'm going to tell you.
10:05I'm not going to tell you.
10:07I'm going to tell you what I know.
10:09I'm not going to tell you what I'm going to tell you about.
10:10But also identification.
10:12Even if you don't completely identify with Karek, you can see yourself in them.
10:16That's why obviously using Mila is very important.
10:19But, you know, you obviously have a shorthand with her.
10:22But also, you know, she knows how to play certain things because it's about those little pieces of direction, I
10:28would think, that just sort of tweak it just a little that you can see like a glint in the
10:33eye or you understand where she's coming from.
10:35Can you talk about directing her, that sort of relationship and how that's evolved?
10:40Yes, absolutely.
10:41There is a shorthand between me and Mila.
10:43That is amazing.
10:44Like we understand each other and especially in independent film where you don't have a lot of time to rehearse.
10:50So if the director and the main actor are set to make the same film, there is mystery.
10:55There is like undeniable like success in the way things happen.
11:01And for this character in particular, we digested it.
11:05We sat together during pre-production and tried to find a moment where we can like we really don't want
11:12to like just.
11:13spoil the reveal and all.
11:15But we wanted like to build in a little bit of a moment where she can bring in a little
11:22bit of the complexity the character is going through.
11:25Do you know there's a limit?
11:26Do you know there's a limit?
11:27A limit, what's your limit?
11:29You know, I'm a youthful girl, I mean, it's not mafia.
11:32Why did you die?
11:33You're not the police, you're still in the matter of the matter.
11:35And I'm still helping.
11:37Either you're helping me.
11:42I'm helping you.
11:58My last question to you.
11:59Thank you very much.
11:59It's wonderful to talk to you.
12:01Yeah, I can't wait to see what you do next.
12:02Next is the the aspect of environment, not just obviously we talked about the environment, societal, all that.
12:09But I'm just talking about locations, because the thing is, is that I mean, I've only been to Jeddah, but
12:14Riyadh is obviously a completely different thing.
12:17But you find these great angles, these unique things within the city and then outside.
12:22Could you talk about using locations and obviously as a producer and obviously with your husband, you know, understanding what
12:29is possible, how things can look, but how things that have not been seen can look.
12:34Can you talk about looking at location as environment to sort of use as a wrapper in this film specifically?
12:41Yes, absolutely.
12:42I think using actual locations is very important.
12:45For one, it is like we can't afford a studio and building sets and our like very independent small film
12:50that we are putting together.
12:52But and and using actual locations, I think it is goes into the new Italian realism, like which which is
13:00very important when you are telling a story coming from Saudi Arabia.
13:03You don't want to give that like like even if the film is fiction, like this film is like it
13:09is all imagination, but it is really deep rooted in the culture.
13:12It is a film that reflects things that is happening in the culture, the family dynamics and the story, the
13:18fabric around it is all very authentic.
13:21So for me, it's bringing authenticity is very important, especially when I work in Saudi Arabia.
13:27When I work, I work in TV here and I work like I work, I did the Mary Shelley, which
13:32is like a lot of it like in the studio, but it is a different kind of work environment.
13:38It is different.
13:39Like you are working with more, I don't know, Saudi Arabia, I feel it's very important to be very authentic
13:45when it comes to locations.
13:46You guys are working with more, you know, Saudi Arabia, you are working with more, you are working with more,
13:51you are working with more, you are working with more, you are working with more.
13:53You don't have any family here, even if you were pregnant.
14:00You have a knowledge of how many people could be able to change my life for a week?
14:05But there are girls who are struggling with their lives, and who are working with their struggle.
14:08Right to us
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