عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Varieties

Elham Ali: ‘The Prisoner’ Highlights ‘Boredom’ in Marital Life

Saudi Actress Elham Ali behind the scenes. (Amazon)
Saudi Actress Elham Ali behind the scenes. (Amazon)
TT
TT

Elham Ali: ‘The Prisoner’ Highlights ‘Boredom’ in Marital Life

Saudi Actress Elham Ali behind the scenes. (Amazon)
Saudi Actress Elham Ali behind the scenes. (Amazon)

The Saudi film “The Prisoner”, currently screening on Amazon Prime Video, focuses on marital problems. Shot in Egypt, the film is directed by Egyptian filmmaker Mahmoud Kamel, written by Ahmed al- Malawani, and starred by Joy Award-winner Elham Ali, Saudi actor Khaled Sakr, and Egyptian kid Rim Abdelkader.

The story is about Ammar (Khaled Sakr) and Rawan (Elham Ali), a couple who admit that their life has become miserable after losing their son; based on their daughter Rim’s advice, they temporarily move to another house owned by Ammar’s work partner, seeking rest and relief from sadness.

After moving to the new house, Rim spends most of her time on her phone, while Rawan blames her husband for her suffering, convinced that his non-stop work in Dubai took them from their son when he needed them the most, which deepens Ammar’s sadness and guilt.

“I am one of those actresses who prefer to prepare for their character by studying it. My character, Rawan is a woman who lost her son, she is depressed and sad, so I tried as much as I can to simulate this loss by reading the script and meeting with people who experienced such situation,” Ali told Asharq Al-Awsat about the preparations for her role.

“I tried to imagine how could someone face such loss. I was keen to deliver the emotions I heard about from people, I tried to understand the meaning of losing a child and to be a mother. Losing a child does not only lead to depression and sorrow, so I asked questions and looked for people who lived the same experience so I can deliver these emotions while playing the role of Rawan,” she added.

“I loved the film for many reasons, mainly my passion for thrillers which I really enjoy watching. Shooting ‘The Prisoner’ was one of the most enjoyable experiences for me, and I enjoyed watching it. I loved the team I worked with, and the project as a whole, especially that it was overseen by Fadi Ismail, who was like a big brother that took care of all of us,” Elham said.

“Everyone was professional behind the scenes, we worked together in friendly ambiances, a factor that personally encourages me to work in any project, because I believe that what comes from the heart will touch others’ hearts,” she said, describing the shooting experience in Egypt as rich.

Ali believes that “the story of Rawan and Ammar is common in our community because most married couples face similar problems. The real problem is the lack of communication amidst the tense and stressed circumstances they live in. I think it is a real problem that prompts married couples to suppress their emotions and build wrong ideas that lead to blaming the partner.”

Most Viewed

 
 
Varieties

Champion-chip: Best Fries Contest Heats Up Belgium

Fries are a national passion in Belgium. Nicolas TUCAT / AFP
Fries are a national passion in Belgium. Nicolas TUCAT / AFP
TT
TT

Champion-chip: Best Fries Contest Heats Up Belgium

Fries are a national passion in Belgium. Nicolas TUCAT / AFP
Fries are a national passion in Belgium. Nicolas TUCAT / AFP

Thick or thin, greasy or crispy, with samurai sauce or a more traditional mayo dip? A TV show has been on a quest to find the best fries in potato-mad Belgium.

For four years running "La meilleure friterie" (the best chip shop), a lighthearted culinary competition aired by broadcaster RTL-TVI, has been seeking out perfection among fry peddlers in the country's French-speaking region.

Watching it is a "sacred Thursday night ritual", said David Antoine, the host.

Crowning a winner among a dozen contestants is no picnic.

"There's sometimes friction among the judges, but we always find that famous Belgian compromise" over a portion of fries, Antoine told AFP in a joking reference to the country's penchant for lengthy political negotiations.

Fried potatoes are a national dish and symbol of pride in Belgium, home to about 4,600 diners specializing in the dish known as "friteries" in French or "frituren" in Flemish.

That number "has remained stable for many years," said Bernard Lefevre of the National Chip Shop Union, an industry group, noting the "market is doing well".

Each has its own flair.

To Lefevre, a good chip is preferably cut from a Belgian potato of the Bintje variety and double fried in beef fat. And size is paramount.

"Anything under nine millimeters is too thin and anything over fourteen is too thick," he explained.

- Hand-peeled 'gold' -

At Hill's Burger, a diner in Brussels, chef Massimo Sefa has gone for a "size twelve" -- that is "a two-millimeter crust and ten millimeters of creamy flesh", he said.

The 23-year-old smiled nervously when the TV show's judges entered his joint and the cameras started rolling.

But the stress is worth it, he explained. The broadcast will shine a spotlight on his friterie and a win would likely send sales skyrocketing.

Sefa opened up shop with his two younger brothers, Lorenzo and Marco. For them chips are a family matter: their grandfather ran about 10 chip shops in Brussels.

"Wow, delicious, crispy, and peeled by hand," Fabienne De Corte, one of the judges, raved upon tasting the goods.

"Fries in Belgium are our gold," added her husband Patrick De Corte, who is also on the judging panel.

"Every little detail makes a difference."

The show has a devout following, including some who tag along for filming sometimes dressed as fry cones and chanting "We've got the fries, we've got the potatoes!".

It has also had its share of controversies, particularly on the hot topic of sauces.

A technical glitch caused trouble during public voting in the first season and some grumbled the winner had bamboozled jurors with dazzling sauces, while the fries were not to everyone's taste.

Still the show has established itself in the French-speaking Belgian media landscape at a time where fries are sometimes changing along with Belgian society.

"There are halal, vegetarian, and vegan fry shops -- that's perfectly normal; society is evolving. We're not a museum of bygone folklore," Lefevre insists.

Varieties

Aging Japanese Village Turns to Peru in Search of New Residents

A general view of Nanmoku village, Gunma prefecture is seen on September 26, 2026. (Photo by Rie KIKUCHI / AFP)
A general view of Nanmoku village, Gunma prefecture is seen on September 26, 2026. (Photo by Rie KIKUCHI / AFP)
TT
TT

Aging Japanese Village Turns to Peru in Search of New Residents

A general view of Nanmoku village, Gunma prefecture is seen on September 26, 2026. (Photo by Rie KIKUCHI / AFP)
A general view of Nanmoku village, Gunma prefecture is seen on September 26, 2026. (Photo by Rie KIKUCHI / AFP)

In a misty mountain village in Japan, residents recently welcomed unlikely guests from a Peruvian district along the Amazon River, seeing a chance to revive an aging community facing extinction.

The mayor of Belen and two young women visited a care home on their trip to Nanmoku, a village of just 1,300 people in Gunma Prefecture, greeting the elderly with broad smiles as some looked on slightly puzzled.

"From the moment I arrived, I began to admire everything about this place," 19-year-old student Wendy Sangama told AFP during a week-long tour of Japan that followed the signing of a sister-city agreement between her hometown and the village last year.

"And yes, it's a town where I could see myself living and settling down," she said.

The village is the oldest municipality in Japan, with 70 percent of its residents aged 65 or above. A 2014 think tank report described it as "most at risk of disappearing."

The main street along the Nanmoku River is lined with houses and shops, some abandoned, and appeared largely deserted on the rainy weekend AFP visited.

Village officials hope the sister-city agreement, which promotes cultural and people-to-people ties, will ultimately attract young people from Belen to live in Nanmoku, although how they might obtain residency remains unclear.

While Peru has the world's third-largest population of Nikkei -- Japanese immigrants and their descendants -- Nanmoku Mayor Saijo Hasegawa told AFP the pact was down less to strategy than to a chance meeting with a Japanese-Peruvian businessman.

The village needed "to broaden its horizons and attract more residents, including foreigners,” no matter where they came from, he said.

"Without them, we could reach a point where even public transportation stops operating."

Despite its rapidly aging population and labor shortages, opposition to immigration is growing within Japan, prompting a push by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi for tighter regulations on foreign nationals.

Nanmoku has tried various initiatives to attract young people from elsewhere in the country, but employment opportunities remain scarce, and farmland is limited in the mountainous area.

"Around 60 people die each year here, and just two or three babies are born," Hasegawa said.

Belen, meanwhile, is young. The impoverished district of Iquitos, a remote Amazonian city in northeastern Peru, has a median age of about 27 years old.

Home to more than 60,000 residents, the "Venice of Latin America" -- accessible only by plane or boat -- is filled with wooden houses built on stilts to withstand seasonal flooding.

"I think the young people would be more enthusiastic about wanting to settle in other cities because of the economic situation we have," Mayor Lina Arista Lopez told AFP.

The district's residents rely largely on informal trade and agriculture, growing crops such as yuca, rice and corn.

"We have a harsh reality in Belen," Lopez said. "There is no work."

Ketsi Yahuarcani, a 23-year-old student, called the visit to Nanmoku "incredible,” citing the sense of warmth she felt.

"If I had the opportunity to settle here, I would," she said.

Sangama, the other student, said moving to the Japanese village could be "a better option" if it allowed them to build a brighter future and support their families back home.

Not being able to see her family regularly, however, would "certainly be a challenge", she conceded.

While municipalities near Nanmoku have accepted foreign workers, particularly caregivers, it has typically been via short-term programs for skilled workers and technical interns.

Mayor Hasegawa said his vision was different.

Rather than attracting people who stay only a few years for work, he hopes to welcome residents of Belen as fellow villagers ready to build long-term lives in Nanmoku.

"The approach of simply bringing in workers from an agency just because we're short-staffed isn't right for our village," he said.

Yuki Wanibuchi, 34, who moved to Nanmoku several years ago from the Kyoto area, said potential newcomers would face hurdles, including the language barrier.

"You cannot live here without a car, and getting a driver's license will require Japanese skills," Wanibuchi said.

"But personally, I think it's more interesting when people from different backgrounds come here to live."

Hiroshi Ihara, an 87-year-old villager, told AFP he had watched his community grow greyer and greyer, with young people, including his three children, moving to bigger cities to make a living.

"I want more younger people to come and live in the village," he said.

"The Japanese population is shrinking. I think it would be best if people from overseas could come here and do what they can to support us."

Varieties

India Capital Steps Up Air Pollution Controls Ahead of Winter

Effigies of Ravana are transported on a truck ahead of the Hindu festival of Dussehra in New Delhi, India, Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Channi Anand)
Effigies of Ravana are transported on a truck ahead of the Hindu festival of Dussehra in New Delhi, India, Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Channi Anand)
TT
TT

India Capital Steps Up Air Pollution Controls Ahead of Winter

Effigies of Ravana are transported on a truck ahead of the Hindu festival of Dussehra in New Delhi, India, Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Channi Anand)
Effigies of Ravana are transported on a truck ahead of the Hindu festival of Dussehra in New Delhi, India, Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Channi Anand)

India began annual measures on Thursday to tackle toxic air pollution in New Delhi, a megacity of 30 million people regularly ranked among the world's most polluted capitals.

Delhi's air quality deteriorates in winter, when cooler air traps pollutants close to the ground.

Major sources include coal-fired power plants, traffic, construction and farm stubble burning in neighboring areas.

The Delhi government on Wednesday announced a ban on open rubbish burning and ordered food stalls to stop using coal or firewood.

In previous years, such measures have failed to curb pollution, which peaks from November to January, when levels of cancer-causing PM 2.5 microparticles often hit more than 300 micrograms per cubic meter, 20 times the World Health Organization's recommended daily maximum.

Monitors recorded 233 micrograms per cubic meter early Thursday, about 15 times the limit.
The government's Commission for Air Quality Management has predicted air quality to remain "poor" the coming days.

A study in The Lancet Planetary Health in 2024 estimated that 3.8 million deaths in India between 2009 and 2019 were linked to pollution that exceeded India's own air quality guidelines.

Last year, pollution levels peaked at 846 micrograms per cubic meter, 56 times the WHO limit.
The UN children's agency warns that polluted air puts children at heightened risk of acute respiratory infections.

Further restrictions take effect on November 1, including doubled parking fees and work-from-home arrangements for government office staff, aimed at reducing traffic emissions.

Tighter construction rules will also begin then, followed by a complete ban on construction and demolition from December 10 to January 20.