Director Tawfik Al-Zaidi Tells Asharq Al-Awsat: ‘Noura’ Resembles AlUla in its Connection with Human, Art

Saudi film director Tawfik Al-Zaidi.
Saudi film director Tawfik Al-Zaidi.
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Director Tawfik Al-Zaidi Tells Asharq Al-Awsat: ‘Noura’ Resembles AlUla in its Connection with Human, Art

Saudi film director Tawfik Al-Zaidi.
Saudi film director Tawfik Al-Zaidi.

Saudi film director Tawfik Al-Zaidi expected the revenues of the Saudi cinema to hit one billion Saudi riyals by the end of 2022, after it exceeded 900 million riyals in November, highlighting the vital role Saudi Arabia has played in the cinema industry since 2018.

During an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat, Al-Zaidi said Saudi Arabia has become a filmmaking-friendly environment, noting that the kingdom has got into the cinema industry with cinema theaters and specialized festivals like Jeddah’s Red Sea Film Festival, which was a game changer.

Al-Zaidi, who directed, wrote, and made his film “Noura” in a small town in AlUla city, said he chose AlUla as a geographic background for his feature film because he sees that the movie and AlUla, which represents an esteemed human heritage, are similar in their connection to humans and art.

Starred by Yacob al-Farhan, Maria Bahrawi, and Abdullah al-Sadhan, “Noura” tells the story of Nader, an artist who gave up painting and moved to western Saudi Arabia where he became a children teacher; and Noura, a young woman who lives with her little brother, Nayef, an independent life, away from male caretakers after the death of their father. In the movie, Noura discovers that Nader is an artist, then an artistic connection emerges between the two, which revives Nader’s inspiration and makes him introduce Noura to a world of possibilities outside her small town.

Tawfik Al-Zaidi believes that cinema is rewriting reality by creating a world and living in it. He chose filmmaking driven by his passion for visual storytelling and narration, and because he sees the visual language of films as a universal, human language and a key to understanding the meanings and messages proposed by the director. Al-Zaidi started his career when he was 12, filming his peers playing football in his neighborhood with his own camera. Despite his early skills at the time, he didn’t realize that he was taking his first steps in the cinema industry.

Tawfik al-Zaidi started directing his own short movies in 2006, and he’s considered an influencing and pioneering member of the new cinema wave in the kingdom. His short film, “The Perfect Crime”, won the Best Montage Award at the Jeddah Film Festival 2007, and his film, “The Silence”, won the Gulf Award for Short Films at the Muscat International Film Festival 2009. The movie was screened in over 20 countries, and was selected by a US organization to be displayed in their private library.

In 2014, he wrote and directed “Four Colors” with the support of Emirati company Two Four 54, and the film was screened at the Dubai International Film Festival. In 2015, he wrote and directed “The Other”, a film funded by Misk foundation. Starred by Syrian actor Mohammed al-Qass, and Saudi actor Meshaal al-Mutairi, the film won the Best Short Film Award in the Riyadh Film Festival 2016.



Fans Bid Farewell to 4 Giant Pandas at Japan Zoo Before their Return to China

Giant panda Saihin, one among the four pandas on loan to Japan which will soon be heading back to China sits inside an enclosure at Adventure World in Shirahama, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan, Friday, June 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Ayaka McGill)
Giant panda Saihin, one among the four pandas on loan to Japan which will soon be heading back to China sits inside an enclosure at Adventure World in Shirahama, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan, Friday, June 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Ayaka McGill)
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Fans Bid Farewell to 4 Giant Pandas at Japan Zoo Before their Return to China

Giant panda Saihin, one among the four pandas on loan to Japan which will soon be heading back to China sits inside an enclosure at Adventure World in Shirahama, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan, Friday, June 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Ayaka McGill)
Giant panda Saihin, one among the four pandas on loan to Japan which will soon be heading back to China sits inside an enclosure at Adventure World in Shirahama, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan, Friday, June 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Ayaka McGill)

Thousands of fans bid a teary farewell Friday to a family of four giant pandas at a zoo in Japan’s coastal town of Shirahama as the animals made their last public appearance before their return to China.

Around 3,000 visitors flocked to the Adventure World theme park to get a last glimpse of the beloved animals. Many rushed straight to the panda exhibit zone, calling out the names of their favorites, The Associated Press reported.

Although the 24-year-old mother Rauhin and her three daughters — Yuihin, Saihin and Fuhin — were all born and raised at the park, they remain on loan from China and must now be returned.

Once they return to China, Xiao Xiao and Lei Lei at Tokyo’s Ueno Zoo will be the only pandas left in Japan.

More than 1,000 people, many wearing panda-themed attire, queued outside the entrance of the theme park hours before it opened while some camped outside the night before.

Some people wiped off tears while viewing throwback images of the pandas when they were cubs.

Yoshihiko Fukuzumi recalls the arrival of the first two pandas at the park 30 years ago and has watch their family grow. Since retiring three years ago, he and his wife have visited them nearly everyweek. “To us, they are like our grandchildren."

Giant pandas are native to southwestern China and serve as an unofficial national mascot. Beijing lends them to other countries as a sign of goodwill but maintains ownership over them and any cubs they produce.

Born in 2000, Rauhin had seven other cubs with Eimei, a male panda sent from China in 1994. Eimei returned home two years ago and has since died.

Despite strained political ties between Japan and China, giant pandas are hugely popular in Japan.

“We feel comforted just by looking at pandas,” said zoo director Koji Imazu.

Imazu said the departure of the four pandas marks the end of the zoo's 30-year joint project with China. He thanked Chinese specialists for sharing their expertise with the Japanese staff and said the zoo will be ready for a new arrival at any time.

“Of course we all miss them, but I hope you could send them off with a cheerful wave and wish them well in China,” Imazu said.

In Beijing, China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said giant pandas are “friendly ambassadors" conveying the goodwill of the Chinese people.

Guo said that China and Japan have collaborated on panda conservation and research since 2000, and that China is ready to further strengthen international cooperation, including with Japan.

Rauhin and her daughters will be flown to China on Saturday where they will join other pandas at a facility in Sichuan province near their original habitat. There, the three young ones will find partners.

“I still can't believe they're all leaving,” said Junko Ikeda, a Fuhin fan from neighboring Nara prefecture who spent Thursday night in her camper van for the send-off. "I hope she finds a partner, becomes a mother and lives a happy life.”