Saudi filmmaker Ibrahim Alkhairallah couldn’t have scripted it better himself.
The man behind the smash-hit film Sattar was sitting in the audience of the star-studded 2024 Joy Awards, anxiously awaiting the final category of the night, Best Film, to be announced.
“We really weren’t sure we were going to win,” Alkhairallah tells The National. “There were several worthy contenders, so I was a bit worried, but then, to my total surprise, John Cena walked out on stage to present the award. In that moment, I said to myself, this is Sattar’s prize.”
The film, which premiered at the 2022 Red Sea International Film Festival, became a cultural phenomenon last year, opening bigger than Avatar 2 and then dominating the box office for the next four months.
By the end of its run, about one million tickets had been sold, and it became not only the highest-grossing Saudi film in history, but the third most popular film of all time in the kingdom, behind only Spider-Man: No Way Home and Top Gun: Maverick.
In retrospect, Sattar may feel tailor-made for the Saudi audience, but that’s because it was. Alkhairallah came up with the idea during the pandemic, trying to merge the sensibility of the blockbuster Egyptian comedy with the YouTube spirit he’d mastered with his collaborators at Telfaz11, the pioneering production company he co-founded.
It tells a story set in the fictional world of underground pro wrestling, inspired by Alkhairallah’s own fascination growing up with the sport, as well as its growing popularity in the kingdom, where WWE holds two large-scale premium live events each year.
Alkhairallah founded another production company to make the project, Shimaisi films, named after the street in Riyadh where he used to buy film and pro wrestling bootleg DVDs growing up, including those featuring one of his heroes, John Cena.
“When John Cena said the winner is Sattar, we literally jumped to the stage. I’m such a huge fan of him,” says Alkhairallah. “A part of me wanted to end my speech by saying ‘for the first time in history, someone can truly say to John Cena, ‘you can’t see me!’ but I resisted, not sure it was right for the moment.”
“Then, when we got backstage, I couldn’t contain myself. I went right up to John and said, ‘you can’t see me!’ and did the hand movement that he’s done for decades in WWE. He laughed so much!
“Then he got serious with me and he said, ‘you guys wrote the story of my life. You wrote the story of wrestlers.’ I said ‘we’re big fans, and a big part of why we wanted to tell a story in wrestling was because of you’.”
Cena then insisted that they go into the other room, pushing aside his bodyguards to make sure that the three of them, Alkhairallah, Cena and the film’s director Abdullah Al Arak, got a picture of the three of them doing Cena’s popular "you can’t see me" move together.
“Stand aside! I have an important picture to do with these gentlemen!” Cena said, before wishing Alkhairallah the best of luck and he left.
“He was very kind, by the way,” Alkhairallah adds.
Alkhairallah, who is currently in Dubai working on a yet-to-be announced project, also told The National that his win at the Joy Awards is one of the proudest of his career thus far.
“This really caps off a very long journey in a wonderful way. What an amazing night!”
'Munich: The Edge of War'
Director: Christian Schwochow
Starring: George MacKay, Jannis Niewohner, Jeremy Irons
Rating: 3/5
TECH%20SPECS%3A%20APPLE%20WATCH%20SE%20(second%20generation)
%3Cp%3EDisplay%3A%2040mm%2C%20324%20x%20394%3B%2044mm%2C%20368%20x%20448%3B%20Retina%20LTPO%20OLED%2C%20up%20to%201000%20nits%3B%20Ion-X%20glass%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EProcessor%3A%20Apple%20S8%2C%20W3%20wireless%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ECapacity%3A%2032GB%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EMemory%3A%201GB%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EPlatform%3A%20watchOS%209%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EHealth%20metrics%3A%202nd-gen%20heart%20rate%20sensor%2C%20workouts%2C%20fall%2Fcrash%20detection%3B%20emergency%20SOS%2C%20international%20emergency%20calling%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EConnectivity%3A%20GPS%2FGPS%20%2B%20cellular%3B%20Wi-Fi%2C%20LTE%2C%20Bluetooth%205.3%2C%20NFC%20(Apple%20Pay)%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EDurability%3A%20Water%20resistant%20up%20to%2050m%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EBattery%3A%20269mAh%20Li-ion%2C%20up%20to%2018h%2C%20wireless%20charging%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ECards%3A%20eSIM%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EFinishes%3A%20Aluminium%3B%20midnight%2C%20silver%2C%20starlight%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EIn%20the%20box%3A%20Watch%20SE%2C%20magnetic-to-USB-C%20charging%20cable%2C%20band%2Floop%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EPrice%3A%20Starts%20at%20Dh999%20(40mm)%20%2F%201%2C119%20(44mm)%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
Greatest of All Time
Starring: Vijay, Sneha, Prashanth, Prabhu Deva, Mohan
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
Roll of honour: Who won what in 2018/19?
West Asia Premiership: Winners – Bahrain; Runners-up – Dubai Exiles
UAE Premiership: Winners – Abu Dhabi Harlequins; Runners-up – Jebel Ali Dragons
Dubai Rugby Sevens: Winners – Dubai Hurricanes; Runners-up – Abu Dhabi Harlequins
UAE Conference: Winners – Dubai Tigers; Runners-up – Al Ain Amblers
Read more about the coronavirus
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
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Company%20profile
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THE%20SPECS
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Manchester City (0) v Liverpool (3)
Uefa Champions League, quarter-final, second leg
Where: Etihad Stadium
When: Tuesday, 10.45pm
Live on beIN Sports HD
