Fatima Al Hosani: We made a fashionista a heroine!

Cairo: Hany Kamal El Din

For years, she has occupied the seat of stardom on the map of Emirati art, and her weapon in that is her talent, her constant determination to succeed, and her constant search for everything that is distinctive and different in artistic roles. A television series, and despite the delay in this step, as she says, she sees it as a good indicator and an important incentive. To complete her artistic career, Zahrat Al-Khaleej visited her at her home. To present her with an honorary shield, this dialogue was:

• Within the “Zahrat Al Khaleej” initiative to honor Emirati art, you were chosen as one of the stars of the Emirati drama.. How did you receive this honor?

– I say to “Zahrat Al-Khaleej”: Thank you for this surprise, and I had hoped to be with the artists at the honoring ceremony, but unfortunately I was not present, as most of my works are in the State of Kuwait. This honor is generally a wonderful gesture. The Emirati artist deserves to be honored, even with a kind word.

• If we asked you to do this task on our behalf, who would you choose to honor among the UAE artists?

– Of course, the teacher whose favor I do not forget, Maryam Sultan; She is a capable artist who deserves to be honored. Because she gave a lot to theatre, media and television, and we grew up with her work, and we consider her our mother. As for the men, they are many, including: Professor Muhammad Saeed and Adel Ibrahim, as they are among the oppressed artists.

faces from abroad

• Are the new artists also wronged?

– They are not all oppressed, and the problem exists in general in the Gulf countries, and not only in the Emirates, as there has become a “shelalia” system, and we have a problem in marketing our work abroad, and the fault is not with the artist, as this happens when you bring a star from abroad and give him a starring role , while local artists deserve these roles. For example, why do I work in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, and Habib Ghuloom and Ahmed Al Jasmi as well? If we didn’t have the competence, we wouldn’t be working here. At the same time, you find that they want me here as a support for an artist who came from abroad, and this is what hurts the heart; When you have a capable and creative artist, why don’t you give him the opportunity? In fact, we, as institutions and as producers, have killed the local artist.

Is the fault of the producers only or of the Emirati artist as well? For not marketing himself through “social media” and the media?

– The artist, Jaber Nagmoush, does not market himself through “Social Media,” and he is well-known. Because it works every year, and there are artists of the same level. We are talking about the beginning, and it is not required that I market myself through “social media.” When I started, “social media” did not exist, and I continued on this path. Perhaps their atmosphere does not allow this, for example, the artist Abdullah Saleh does not suit him with “social media”, and here he is not working, and where is Saif Al-Ghanem from the artistic scene, for example?

• Is there no shortage of new faces in Emirati drama?

– There is no problem in discovering new faces, but the problem is to give “fashionista”, who has a large number of followers, a major role! .. One of them went out a year ago on “Social Media”, and she has two million followers; So you get the starring role. I am against this matter, so there is no objection to her being given a role that suits her, but she should not be preferred over those who have a history in this work. Today, with makeup, we can grow old and younger, and I know that I cannot go back in time 30 years, so I do not mind giving these groups roles to raise viewership, but without undermining the right of old actors. You may also bring in a star from abroad who plays five episodes, then dies, and there is no one to replace him. In general, our work is not displayed abroad, as it is not marketed as required.

Business to come

You presented hundreds of works. What points do you stand at when you review this process…positively or negatively?

– There are no actions that I regret, and although I regretted a lot because I was wronged in return, I am happy with the result. I may have done 90 or 100 works, of which I have 20 to remember. And after all these years in this field, only last year I got a championship in “Ali Al-Maqam”. And I said to them: Praise be to God that you felt and appreciated. In general, the negatives and positives exist in all fields, and my problem is that I am not good at courtesy or appeasement, as they say, and when you tell me to accept this job, and I see you on the job site, I preferred actors over others; This makes me very sad.

Tell us about the business you are preparing!

– I have “Bayt al-Qasid” by the artist Abdullah Saleh, written by Basil Shabo, and it is a play that has become a series. I also have “Al-Juzou’”, which is a heritage work.