While in Madinah, pilgrims like to embark on a tour of of the many historic sites in the region. The location of the Battle of Uhud, one of the most famous battles in the Islamic history, is one such ancient site.
On Tuesday morning, more than 10 buses brought visitors to the Shuhada Uhud (Martyrs of Uhud) area that overlooks the historic battlefield.
Pilgrims of different nationalities and ages toured the area that houses the martyrs’ graves.
“It’s the first time that I am visiting this historical site that witnessed the Muslims’ sacrifices for the sake of spreading the religion,” said Shshid Muhammad Akhtar from Pakistan, one of the the visitors who stood on the Rumat Mountain (arrow shooters’ mountain) with his camera.
Another Pakistani pilgrim, Muhammad Waqar, said he read and heard a lot about the historic battle but it is the first time for him to stand on the ‘shooters’ mountain.” Under the supervision of the chairman of the Madinah Haj Committee and the Madinah Gov. Prince Abdulaziz bin Majed bin Abdulaziz, all relevant authorities and private bodies are performing their duties in serving pilgrims arriving in the Prophet’s City around the clock. So far 145,484 pilgrims have arrived in Madinah through Prince Muhammad Bin Abdul Aziz International Airport and through land. About 3,598 left the city.
Most pilgrims in Madinah currently are Malaysians who number 28,765; while there are 28,155 Turkish pilgrims and 25,681 Indian pilgrims, according to the Madina Haj Committee’s secretary’s report on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Pakistan International Airlines has started running direct flights to Madinah from several Pakistani cities. Director of the company’s office in Madinah, Muhammad Shahid Hussien, said so far six flights were running and they will continue operation until Oct. 19.
Pilgrims visit historic Uhud battlefield
Pilgrims visit historic Uhud battlefield
Dev Patel at the RSIFF: ‘Monkey Man’ is love letter to India
JEDDAH: British actor Dev Patel has come a long way from his first appearance in hit teen TV drama “Skins,” all the way back in 2007. This year, the BAFTA-winning and Oscar-nominated actor — with an eclectic resume to show for it — graduated to filmmaker status with his directorial debut “Monkey Man,” in which he also stars.
On the sidelines of the Red Sea International Film Festival, Patel revealed that “Monkey Man” was his love letter to India, “the country that’s formed me most personally and professionally.”
An action revenge film that drew comparisons to the Keanu Reeves-starring “John Wick,” “Monkey Man” follows an anonymous young man (Patel) as he unleashes a campaign of vengeance against the corrupt leaders who murdered his mother — all while wearing a Hanuman (Hindu monkey deity) mask. The film, featuring heavy socio-political commentary about wider systemic issues in India, is still waiting to get a release in the country.
“With all relationships, there’s a push and pull, there’s a love and a hate, and you need to work through things. And part of the process of ‘Monkey Man’ was working through some of the anger and rage I felt, which was also mirrored by my some of my best friends and family members that live there,” Patel told Arab News.
“And one of the topics is, obviously, how religion can be weaponized and how you can mobilize a huge mass of people into a place of anger and conflict. And how it can not only be a deadly weapon, but it can also be a beautiful teacher and a source of empathy and, particularly for an uneducated child, that this iconography can be a huge inspiration,” he said.
Patel also wanted to use the movie to talk about violence against women in India. According to the latest data from the National Crime Records Bureau, the rate of crimes against women in India (calculated as crimes per 100,000 women) increased by 12.9 percent between 2018 and 2022.
“I knew someone that was actually killed in a horrible act of sexual violence. And I dated Frida (Pinto) when we did ‘Slumdog Millionaire,’ and I spent a lot of time in India. And during the time of the Nirbhaya incident, I’ve never, to this day, felt such rage. And so that was during the kind of birth of what I was writing, there was a lot of rage in there, too,” said Patel, referring to the 2012 Delhi gang rape and murder, commonly known as the Nirbhaya case.
“And then a lot of love came from my best friend Raghu who lives in Mumbai. He taught me about Indian classical music. And I was like, ‘Wow, this, this art form!’ I grew up listening to grime music, like rap and Arctic Monkeys and whatever. And so, to understand about Indian classical music… I was like, ‘OK, I want to write a training montage of this.’ And so there’s a lot of that in there. There’s Indian heavy metal music. There’s like, you know, my love of the auto rickshaw and ‘Batman’ put together in what I call the poor man’s ‘Batman Batmobile.’ It’s in there.”
Patel described the film also as a Trojan horse to introduce American viewers to “culture and flair,” along with some socio-political messaging.
“I’m a huge lover of action cinema. My first exposure to cinema in general is Bruce Lee, and I think that the seed of watching him in ‘Enter the Dragon’ has been percolating in my mind ever since I was a small boy. And I guess that in the inception of the idea, it was like, ‘How can we get a large audience in America … How can we feed them vegetables without them knowing it?’” he told Arab News.
“So, the film in itself is a sort of Trojan horse of, like, we can access these guys that watch the ‘John Wick’ movies and the action movies and actually give them a heavy dose of culture and flair, and actually some socio-political kind of subjects as well. Make it accessible. And there were a few things that I wanted to get off my chest, which I managed to put in there too,” he added, laughing.
Patel said that he was a “man possessed” during the making of the film, which he shot in the thick of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It required so much of me, birthing this little weird Gremlin baby movie thing. At times, I was like, ‘Oh, probably, I’m gonna die making this thing.’ It was so tough, and not only emotionally during the time of the pandemic, but physically, what I put myself through? And you’ve got over 500 people in a bubble on an island, and you’re dealing with a lot of humans going through a really rough time in history where we had no certainty of anything, and you’re trying to make a movie. And everything got thrown at me on it. And so, it was kind of life imitating art, in the sense of the movie being an underdog story, and the actual film itself being this unquenchable little flame that kept kind of existing. So, yeah, I’m really proud of it now, in hindsight, now that the dust has settled.”
Now that he has realized his childhood dream of making an action film, what’s next? “There’s quite a few stories that I’m excited to tell, all weird ones. I’ve been working on a creature feature about the immigrant journey via the lens of a beast. I’m working on a rally driving movie in Kenya that we’re developing. We’re doing a film in the Highlands of Scotland. There’s so much on the slate,” he said.
RSIFF 2024: Johnny Depp ‘resonates’ with Modigliani, subject of his latest directorial
- Hollywood superstar directing again after 27 years
- Praises Red Sea festival for giving artistic ‘freedom’
JEDDAH: After making “The Brave” in 1997, Hollywood star Johnny Depp is stepping behind the camera once again as a director for “Modi, Three Days on the Wing of Madness.”
The movie is about Italian bohemian artist Amedeo Modigliani on 72-hour whirlwind through the streets of Paris during the First World War.
In an engaging roundtable conversation held recently at Sharbatly Cultural House, ahead of the gala screening of his movie at the Red Sea International Film Festival, Depp said: “‘The Brave’ was an unhappy experience.
“But for this film, I have more freedom and I was able to feel free like a giant toddler. Actually, I feel fortunate to be given the opportunity, along with such a great cast and crew.”
Appearing in his signature style, a mix of vintage clothing, layered outfits and accessories, Depp told the journalists in the room that he was first approached about the project by actor Al Pacino.
He recalled Pacino saying: “‘Hey Johnny, do you remember that Modigliani project I was going to do? Why don’t you direct it?’ I never thought that I would ever direct again after 27 years. So, how could I refuse Pacino? For some reason, I said, ‘Why not?’”
When you are in AlUla or around the historical area here in Jeddah, that’s the stuff I want to film. I am really fascinated with Saudi Arabia’s culture and history.
Johnny Depp, ‘Modi’ director
“Definitely, it is a positive experience (making ‘Modi’),” he added.
The movie, which is supported through the Red Sea International Film Financing program, is based on a play by Dennis McIntyre and tells the story of the famous painter and sculptor Modigliani during his time in Paris in 1916.
The cast is led by actors Pacino, Riccardo Scamarcio, Stephen Graham, Antonia Desplat, Bruno Gouery, Ryan McParland and Luisa Ranieri.
Depp’s leading actor, Scamarcio, was full of praise for his direction, which he described as free-flowing and respectful. “It was so great working with Depp and (he) made us act in comfort with no limitations or restrictions,” said Scamarcio.
Asked by Arab News about what attracted him to Modigliani’s story, Depp said: “Modigliani was, of course, one of the great contemporary artists of all time. But he also represented an era and point of view where new possibilities still existed. His vision fascinates me.”
“I admit that everything Modigliani ever stood for, and continues to stand for, resonates deeply within me,” said Depp.
Speaking about his partnership with the Red Sea International Festival, Depp explained: “They have been very supportive and they have the ability to do films and allow the process to be as organic as you can imagine. They really gave me the freedom to do whatever I want,” he said.
He revealed that he has plans to paint with Saudi Arabia’s visual artist Ahmed Mater. “I really admire his work and last time we met in London, and also at his studio in Jeddah, we agreed to do some paintings together.”
He continued: “Listen, I am not a stranger to Saudi Arabia and I really enjoy a great relationship with Saudis. For future plans, I am hoping to capture in my upcoming films the beautiful landscape it has.
“When you are in AlUla or around the historical area here in Jeddah, that’s the stuff I want to film. I am really fascinated with Saudi Arabia’s culture and history.
“In addition, I really admire the warmth of Saudis who I consider a very kind and respectable people.”
Behind the scenes of ‘Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams’
- The French fashion house’s milliner Stephen Jones discusses the Riyadh exhibition
PARIS: The exhibition “Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams” — currently showing at Riyadh’s Saudi National Museum until April — is a tribute to the famed French fashion house’s long-running excellence. British milliner Stephen Jones, one of Dior’s master creators, was heavily involved in the creation of the exhibition.
Jones’ big break came in 1982, three years after graduating from Saint Martin's School of Art in London. He appeared in the video of UK pop group Culture Club’s hit single, “Do You Really Want To Hurt Me?” wearing a red velvet fez of his own design. This caught the eye of acclaimed French designer Jean Paul Gaultier, who invited Jones to Paris to design the hats for his womenswear collection.
“I took advantage of his long lunch break to draw like crazy,” Jones told Arab News. “When he came back, he selected 25 of my sketches.”
Jones’ hats proved a huge success and provided the then-28-year-old designer an entry into the Paris fashion stratosphere. He quickly found himself working with the likes of Thierry Mugler, Claude Montana, Azzedine Alaïa, Rei Kawakubo, and John Galliano.
It was the latter who intoduced Jones to the Christian Dior team in 1996. Dior is the only fashion house in the world to have an integrated haute mode (hat design) atelier, which Jones has directed for the past 28 years. . During that period, he has worked alongside Galliano (1996 to 2011), Raf Simons (2012 to 2015), Maria Grazia Chiuri (since 2016) and Kim Jones (since 2018).
“If there's a hat in Dior, I've had a hand in it!” he said with a smile.
With which of the designers at Dior have you had the most creative affinity?
I think each designer at Dior has had a completely different process, and a completely different view on hats, so I can’t compare them. For John Galliano, it was part of the storytelling; for Raf Simons it was a mid-century gesture; and for Maria Grazia Chiuri, my brief was to make a hat that every fashionable young girl in the world would want to wear. So, they’re all completely different briefs that cannot be compared.
Was your visit to Riyadh your first time in the Middle East? What were your impressions of Saudi Arabia?
I worked on the “Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams” exhibition in Doha in 2021. However, the selection of dresses is very different this time. I had been to Saudi Arabia once before, and I think it’s an extraordinary place. The people there are extremely hospitable and kind, and it is, of course, very hot compared to England. Some of the landscapes are extraordinary, especially the desert. I went to the Edge of the World, which is one of the most spectacular places I have ever visited in my life.
Were there any surprises during the installation of the exhibition, unearthing looks from past collections?
When we were installing the hats, some of the looks I remembered, some I didn't. But many have never been shown before, so it sometimes feels like I’m seeing them for the first time. I think the ultimate surprise for me was the Desert Beauty room, because there were many looks I had never seen before. Each and every one of them is so full of memories. It’s like asking me, “Tell me about your children.” Each one needs a specific set of skills, which was a story illuminated by the clothes. Each one reflected the designers’ approach to Christian Dior.
Do you remember every single hat you have designed?
More or less, yes. And when I remember it, I can really feel it, I can see the thought process behind it, I know the weight of it, the texture of it.
How many hats have you designed in the course of your career?
I would say about 100,000, at a conservative estimate.
Is there a hat in the exhibition that is particularly significant to you?
Obviously, the Bar suit hat (from Christian Dior’s first collection), because it was one of Dior’s favorite creations, and I continue to be astounded by its modernity.
Dior wrote in his 1954 “Little Dictionary of Fashion”: “Without hats, there is no civilization.” Would you agree?
Yes. A hat is transformational. A hat makes all the difference.
Steve McQueen’s ‘Blitz’ — old-school thrills in historical war drama
DUBAI: “Blitz” is a throwback in more ways than one. Acclaimed British director Steve McQueen’s latest movie, now streaming on Apple TV+ after a short cinema run, is a period piece anyway, set in London in World War II during the titular German saturation-bombing campaign, but the film itself — the narrative and pacing particularly — also seem to be from the past; a straightforward rip-roaring Boys’ Own adventure anchored by two excellent performances from newcomer Elliott Heffernan as nine-year-old mixed-race George and Saoirse Ronan as his single mother, Rita.
The chemistry between the two is utterly convincing, and crucial to the main storyline: George’s attempt to return home having joined the hundreds of thousands of children being evacuated — often without their parents — from the UK’s urban centers to the countryside to escape the Blitz.
On the morning of his evacuation, he pleads with Rita not to make him leave. And when she takes him to the train station, he tells her he hates her, then refuses to speak to her as she stands outside his carriage. Within a couple of hours, of course, he’s full of remorse and decides to jump off the train and head back home. So begins a journey fraught with danger, during which George meets a number of disparate characters who teach him about both the kindness of strangers and the danger of relying on that kindness as a given, and in which his courage and resourcefulness are tested to their limits.
Heffernan makes for a compelling central character — conveying George’s emotional confusion and stoic resolution well. Ronan, as usual, is pitch perfect (including vocally — Rita is a gifted singer, and a love for music is a constant thread throughout the film). McQueen tackles the movie’s darker themes (and some are very dark) with a light touch, not dwelling on them — a choice that also matches the retro, family-friendly feel — but not shrinking from them either. And visually “Blitz” is magnificent; some of the aerials shots of a bombed-out London are breathtaking.
“Blitz” doesn’t break any new ground, and feels like something of an outlier in McQueen’s catalogue in its lack of nuance. It is, though, gripping, moving and entertaining.
Northern Soul: Discovering the center of English pop culture
- Exploring England’s northwestern powerhouses, Manchester and Liverpool
DUBAI: London might be the UK’s capital, and the center of Britain’s financial and political power, but visitors seeking the true heart of England should head to the two great northern cities of Manchester and Liverpool. Here, two of the main pillars of English popular culture — football and music — take center stage.
As part of the British government’s attempts to raise awareness of tourism opportunities outside of London, Arab News went on a press trip in November that delved deep into the rich cultural history of both cities. The two have much in common. Each has two Premier League football teams — one red, one blue — and in each the red team has historically been far more successful (although in Manchester, that gap is narrowing rapidly). And both have been the focus of movements that have changed the face of pop music: the ‘Madchester’ scene of the late Eighties/early Nineties, and the Merseybeat scene of the Sixties, from which emerged the band often hailed as the greatest of all time, The Beatles — four Liverpool lads who grew up within a few miles of each other, three of whom, it turned out, were among the finest songwriters to have ever lived. (The other was Ringo Starr, who, to be fair, was a metronomic and creative drummer crucial to The Beatles’ sound).
In Liverpool, our base is the majestic Titanic hotel, named for the ill-fated liner, which was registered in Liverpool. Thankfully, it lives up to that name only in its impressive scale — even the corridors are enormous — and is anything but a disaster for its guests, providing service and accommodation that would be the envy of any luxury cruise ship.
It’s part of the regeneration of Liverpool’s docks, and sits just around the corner from Everton’s new stadium, which will be inaugurated at the start of next season (several of our taxi drivers joke that it will be the most impressive stadium in England’s second tier once Everton — Liverpool’s blue team — are relegated this year). But it’s Anfield, home of Liverpool FC, that is globally renowned. We attend the late kick-off against Aston Villa on Nov. 10, and experiencing a game live is the best way to truly understand just how much significance football holds in English culture. While you get a better view of the action watching on television, that’s more than compensated for by the atmosphere — tens of thousands of people gasping, groaning, singing and roaring in unison.
Most English football grounds are now far more welcoming than their reputation suggests — women and children commonly attend, and Liverpool can count many from the Arab world among their supporters thanks to the impact of Egyptian superstar Mo Salah — but the language remains industrial. So if you want to experience a Premier League stadium without the man in the seat in front of you advising the referee exactly where to put his whistle, maybe opt for a tour on a non-matchday. The Anfield one offers a comprehensive journey through Liverpool’s trophy-laden history, right up to the just-ended Jurgen Klopp era, with some great stories from knowledgeable guides and ex-players, visits to the home and away dressing rooms (the away one is considerably less fancy, of course), a pitch-side wander, and a trip to the executive boxes.
Manchester City’s Etihad stadium tour offers much the same experience, although with more focus on interactive experiences (a press conference with Pep!) — perhaps to compensate for the fact that the team’s history, until the last decade or so, is nothing like as golden as Liverpool’s. It’s an impressive setup though, and probably more fun for kids.
Back in Liverpool — and back to music — we visit the world-famous Cavern club, where The Beatles made their name. While it understandably plays up its historic links to the Fab Four, it’s still a thriving venue today, welcoming established international stars, local up-and-comers, and veteran cover bands, and is packed out most nights (mostly with tourists). It’s just one of dozens of bars and clubs in the city center that stage live shows in a city where the music scene continues to flourish.
To dive deeper into The Beatles’ history, Liver Tours offers a bespoke experience led by incredibly knowledgeable guides who will take you round the major landmarks associated with the band — from their childhood homes, through the church hall where John Lennon and Paul McCartney were first introduced, to places that inspired their songs (Penny Lane, Strawberry Fields, and more). It’s an exhaustive venture, highly recommended for Beatles’ lovers, but perhaps a little too much for casual fans, who may prefer the excellent Beatles Story on Albert Dock — a celebration of the band’s rise to world domination, a reminder of just how quickly it all happened (less than eight years between the release of their debut single and their final album), and a statement about how much the band did for their hometown.
In Manchester, we stayed in The Reach at Piccadilly, located just round the corner from the city’s main train station and a short walk from the Northern Quarter — home to several great independent shops and cafés and a favorite haunt of many of the city’s most famous musicians over the years; many of them are celebrated, if obliquely, in the area’s pavement art. Despite the Reach’s central location, it’s a very peaceful hotel with friendly staff and fantastic breakfasts.
Our Manchester music tour is a more scattered affair than the Liverpool one — less-focused on a single band (understandable, given how singular The Beatles are) but exploring the breathtaking array of talent spawned in, or coming to, the city and its suburbs, from the 165-year-old Hallé Orchestra; the Free Trade Hall, where Bob Dylan famously performed in the Sixties and the Sex Pistols infamously performed in the Seventies and inspired a legion of young Mancunians to pick up guitars and form bands of their own; on to Seventies rockers 10CC, Eighties miserabilists Joy Division and The Smiths, as well as the creators of one of the all-time-great debut albums The Stone Roses, and the Nineties Britrock behemoths Oasis (plus dozens of others in between). Our guide from Brit Music Tours, once again, carries a wealth of information in his head and doesn’t just reel off a list of facts, but tells numerous insightful and entertaining anecdotes.
And despite spending several hours on these tours over three days, it feels like we barely scratched the surface of the two cities’ culture — let alone their vibrant foodie scenes, shopping and nightlife. If you’re planning a trip to the UK and would like somewhere more relaxed than London, but with just as much — if not more — to offer, then head northwest.
