Netflix continues to ramp up its Arabic originals, with a string of productions due to be released in the next few months.
From a thriller reuniting Nadine Labaki with her Capernaum star Zain Al Rafeea to a documentary series that pulls the curtain back on the Saudi Pro League, here are four to add to your Netflix watchlist.
Saudi Pro League: Kickoff
Within a few short years, the Saudi Pro League has gone from a relative unknown to becoming a staple of international sports headlines. Star players such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar and Karim Benzema have signed for clubs in the league. Curiosity has piqued as to the league’s ambitions, and yet it wasn’t always clear what was going on behind the scenes.
The documentary series Saudi Pro League: Kickoff will offer unprecedented access, both on and off the pitch. The series will chart the growth of the league, showing how the arrival of international football stars impacted the sport in the kingdom.
According to Netflix, it will be replete with “drama, passion and action”. The series will have appearances by the international players in the league, as well as local stars Salem Al Dawsari, Feras Al Buraikan, Talal Haji, and Abdulrahman Ghareeb. It will also feature interviews with managers and commentators.
Saudi Pro League: Kickoff will be released on November 21
Echoes of the Past
Set in Egypt, Echoes of the Past is a drama series steeped in suspense and duplicity. Asser Yassin stars as Yehia, a man who sets out to uncover the murder of his sister, played by Huda El Mufti. The show will unravel the dark secrets of the family as everyone soon becomes a suspect and betrayals are gradually revealed.
“Who can be trusted?” Netflix’s description teases. “The series will keep everyone guessing until the very end.”
Echoes of the Past will be released on December 6
The Sand Castle
In The Sand Castle, a family become stranded on an idyllic but eerie island. As the dark reality about the island emerges, the family try to keep these shocking secrets from their youngest member, Jana.
“As events spiral out of control and the line between reality and fiction blurs, the family is forced to confront harsh truths and difficult choices, testing their resilience and their hopes of making it back home,” the thriller’s synopsis reads.
The Sand Castle is directed by Matty Brown and is the US filmmaker’s debut feature. It features a stellar Arab cast, including Labaki and Ziad Bakri in the role of the parents. Capernaum stars Zain and Riman Al Rafeea will be playing the role of the children.
The Sand Castle will be released on January 24
The Exchange
The Exchange will return for its second season next year. The show was critically acclaimed for its depiction of the stock market in 1980s Kuwait, drawing inspiration from the true story of two women who proved themselves in the cut-throat business.
The second season will continue the story of Farida who, after divorcing her husband and seeking to provide for her daughter, joins her cousin Munira as the first women working at the Kuwaiti Stock Exchange. There, they face several challenges as they break the glass ceiling of the male-dominated financial market.
The series stars Rawan Mahdi and Mona Hussain, as well as Hussain Almahdi, Mohammed Al Mansour and Faisal Alamiri.
The Exchange is due to be released next year
Chef Nobu's advice for eating sushi
“One mistake people always make is adding extra wasabi. There is no need for this, because it should already be there between the rice and the fish.
“When eating nigiri, you must dip the fish – not the rice – in soy sauce, otherwise the rice will collapse. Also, don’t use too much soy sauce or it will make you thirsty. For sushi rolls, dip a little of the rice-covered roll lightly in soy sauce and eat in one bite.
“Chopsticks are acceptable, but really, I recommend using your fingers for sushi. Do use chopsticks for sashimi, though.
“The ginger should be eaten separately as a palette cleanser and used to clear the mouth when switching between different pieces of fish.”
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Company%C2%A0profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ETuhoon%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EYear%20started%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EJune%202021%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ECo-founders%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFares%20Ghandour%2C%20Dr%20Naif%20Almutawa%2C%20Aymane%20Sennoussi%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ERiyadh%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Ehealth%20care%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESize%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E15%20employees%2C%20%24250%2C000%20in%20revenue%0D%3Cbr%3EI%3Cstrong%3Envestment%20stage%3A%20s%3C%2Fstrong%3Eeed%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EWamda%20Capital%2C%20Nuwa%20Capital%2C%20angel%20investors%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The biog
Born: High Wycombe, England
Favourite vehicle: One with solid axels
Favourite camping spot: Anywhere I can get to.
Favourite road trip: My first trip to Kazakhstan-Kyrgyzstan. The desert they have over there is different and the language made it a bit more challenging.
Favourite spot in the UAE: Al Dhafra. It’s unique, natural, inaccessible, unspoilt.
Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
The years Ramadan fell in May
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
What is a Ponzi scheme?
A fraudulent investment operation where the scammer provides fake reports and generates returns for old investors through money paid by new investors, rather than through ligitimate business activities.
Rock in a Hard Place: Music and Mayhem in the Middle East
Orlando Crowcroft
Zed Books
Tonight's Chat on The National
Tonight's Chat is a series of online conversations on The National. The series features a diverse range of celebrities, politicians and business leaders from around the Arab world.
Tonight’s Chat host Ricardo Karam is a renowned author and broadcaster with a decades-long career in TV. He has previously interviewed Bill Gates, Carlos Ghosn, Andre Agassi and the late Zaha Hadid, among others. Karam is also the founder of Takreem.
Intellectually curious and thought-provoking, Tonight’s Chat moves the conversation forward.
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more from Janine di Giovanni
How green is the expo nursery?
Some 400,000 shrubs and 13,000 trees in the on-site nursery
An additional 450,000 shrubs and 4,000 trees to be delivered in the months leading up to the expo
Ghaf, date palm, acacia arabica, acacia tortilis, vitex or sage, techoma and the salvadora are just some heat tolerant native plants in the nursery
Approximately 340 species of shrubs and trees selected for diverse landscape
The nursery team works exclusively with organic fertilisers and pesticides
All shrubs and trees supplied by Dubai Municipality
Most sourced from farms, nurseries across the country
Plants and trees are re-potted when they arrive at nursery to give them room to grow
Some mature trees are in open areas or planted within the expo site
Green waste is recycled as compost
Treated sewage effluent supplied by Dubai Municipality is used to meet the majority of the nursery’s irrigation needs
Construction workforce peaked at 40,000 workers
About 65,000 people have signed up to volunteer
Main themes of expo is ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’ and three subthemes of opportunity, mobility and sustainability.
Expo 2020 Dubai to open in October 2020 and run for six months
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