Elham Ali: Saudi drama confirms its presence at the Red Sea Festival
In the fifth edition of the Red Sea Film Festival, the Saudi artist spoke spoke clearly and frankly about her career and her artistic experiences, stressing that success does not come by chance, and that every work has effort, preparation and deep study behind it.
She added that her artistic boldness is evident in choosing different characters, considering that a true artist is always looking for renewal and discovering new areas with the audience: She said, “The artist loves to be renewed. The goal is not only success, but exploration, searching for oneself, and new details.”
Fears before the second season
The artist touched on the second part of the “Al-Asha Street” series, which aroused the interest of the audience, stressing that it is a habit. She is afraid of works with multiple seasons because they require a high ability to renew without being contrived.
She said: “I was afraid of a second season for (Al-A’sha Street). What would we present? But during filming we had complete ideas for 30 episodes, and we saw that the new part was following a completely different line from the first.”
She explained that the first season introduced the audience to the character in general, while the second season sheds light on new stories that the character herself experiences, not just those around her. Red Sea Festival In the context of her talk about her participation in the Red Sea Festival, Elham expressed her great happiness at seeing Saudi cinema emerging from her land, after films had previously been shown abroad only: “We used to show our films by land…we work hard as beginners and participate in festivals.” Gulf, Arab or international. Today we present our works on our soil and we feel great support.” She considered that the fifth edition of the festival reveals the extent of development and passion in Saudi cinema, saying: "The amount of Saudi works participating today compared to the first edition is something to rejoice in. There is a state of passion and ambition among many artists. God willing, we will meet in the fiftieth edition.”
