Danya M. Alhamrani (born c. 1975) is an American-Saudi television director and producer. Alhamrani, along with her partner Dania Nassief, were the first women in Saudi Arabia to receive permission to own and manage a production company without a male business partner.
Alhamrani was born in Bismarck, North Dakota, and raised in Bismarck and Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. She has an MA in TV and Film Production from San Diego State University. [1]
Alhamrani worked on the Emmy Award winning television series The Short List . [2]
In 2006 Alhamrani and her business partner Dania Nassief were the first women in Saudi Arabia to receive permission to own and manage a production company, Eggdancer Productions, without a male general manager. [3] [4] [5]
In 2008 she starred along with Anthony Bourdain in an episode of Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations featuring Jeddah. [4] [6] [5] [7]
Alhamrani produced a 2002 short-form documentary in 2002 that explored non-Muslims following a Ramadan fast. [1] She also produced The Straight Path, a film about a Saudi college student navigating work and religious obligations. [1]
With Eggdancer Alhamrani produced a long-form documentary Rise: The Journey of Women in Saudi Arabia which details the evolution of the empowerment of women in the country starting with the 1950s when women first started receiving educations. [7] The company also produced a pilot, Kalam Kabeer, which featured high school and college students discussing social issues. [1] It produced a 2008 IMAX film, Journey to Mecca, about the Haj. [1] [2] In 2009 it produced a 30-episode television series, Akla wa Hikaya, exploring Saudi Arabian culture and traditional cuisine. [2] It produced a 2018 documentary, A Silent Revolution:The Journey of Women in Saudi Arabia, which featured 25 Saudi women who pioneered women's rights in the country, including the first Saudi women Olympic athletes, the first national newspaper publisher, and other female leaders. [8] [9]
Alhamrani is married. [10]
Jeddah, alternatively transliterated as Jedda, Jiddah or Jidda, is a port city in Makkah Province, Saudi Arabia, located along the Red Sea coast in the Hejaz region. Jeddah is the commercial center of the country. It is not known when Jeddah was founded, but Jeddah's prominence grew in 647 when the Caliph Uthman made it a travel hub serving Muslim travelers going to the holy city of Mecca for Islamic pilgrimage. Since those times, Jeddah has served as the gateway for millions of pilgrims who have arrived in Saudi Arabia, traditionally by sea and recently by air.
Al-Balad, also known as Jeddah Historic District, is the historical area of Jeddah, the second largest city of Saudi Arabia. Al-Balad can literally be translated to "The Town". Al-Balad is the historic center of the City of Jeddah.
Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations is an American travel and food show that originally aired on the Travel Channel in the United States and on Discovery Travel & Living internationally. In it, host Anthony Bourdain visits various countries and cities, as well as places within the U.S., where he explores local culture and cuisine. The format and content of the show is similar to Bourdain's 2001–2002 Food Network series, A Cook's Tour. The show premiered in 2005 and concluded its nine-season run with the series finale episode (Brooklyn) on November 5, 2012.
Public education in Saudi Arabia—from primary education through college—is open to every Saudi citizen. Education is the second-largest sector of government spending in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia spends 8.8% of its gross domestic product on education, which is nearly double the global average of 4.6%. Saudi Arabia is an Islamic country and therefore Islam is interwoven in every part of society, also in education. Islamic studies are part of the education system alongside scientific and social studies that vary from educational institution to another. Important goals of education in Saudi Arabia are to teach the students the economic, religious and social norms of the country. They also want to reduce the high illiteracy. The education system consists of 3 levels: primary education, intermediate education and secondary education.
Sumou Towers (formerly Lamar Towers) are a pair of skyscrapers currently under construction in the city of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Located on Jeddah Corniche, Sumou Towers consists of two towers, the southern tower 71 floors and the northern 62 floors. The project also includes a number of commercial offices and at the same time it includes a commercial shopping center (mall) that includes the most luxurious shops and international restaurants, in addition to a sports center, spa and multiple areas for luxury.
The cinema of Saudi Arabia is a fairly small industry that only produces a few feature films and documentaries every year. Theaters were closed after religious activism in the 1980s. With the exception of one IMAX theater in Khobar, there were no cinemas in Saudi Arabia from 1983 to 2018, although there was occasionally talk of opening movie theaters, and in 2008 conference rooms were rented to show the comedy Mennahi. Saudis wishing to watch films have done so via satellite, DVD, or video. Cinemas were banned for 35 years until the first cinema in Saudi Arabia opened on 18 April 2018 in Riyadh. AMC Theatres planned to open up to 40 cinemas in some 15 Saudi cities over the following five years. The government hopes that by 2030, Saudi Arabia will have more than 300 theaters with over 2,000 movie screens. Cinema of Saudi Arabia, whether locally-produced or foreign-sourced, is subject to Saudi censorship.
Saudi Arabia is the second biggest tourist destination in the Middle East with over 16 million visiting in 2017. Although most tourism in Saudi Arabia still largely involves religious pilgrimages, there is growth in the leisure tourism sector. As the tourism sector has been largely boosted lately, the sector is expected to a significant industry for Saudi Arabia, reducing its dependence on oil revenues. This is proved as tourism sector is expected to generate $25 billion in 2019. Potential tourist areas include the Hijaz and Sarawat Mountains, Red Sea diving and a number of ancient ruins.
Filipinos in Saudi Arabia are migrants or descendants of the Philippines who live in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia is currently the largest employer of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs), and has the largest Filipino population in the Middle East. Filipinos make up the fourth-largest group of foreigners in Saudi Arabia, and are the second-largest source of remittances to the Philippines.
The Haramain High Speed Railway, is a passenger railway serving the Mecca and Medina provinces in western Saudi Arabia. The 449.2-kilometre-long (279.1 mi) main line directly connects the Islamic holy cities of Mecca and Medina, via Jeddah and the King Abdullah Economic City. A 3.75-kilometre (2.33 mi) branch line provides connections to the King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah. It opened to the public on 11 October 2018.
Dania Nassief is an independent film producer and managing partner in the Saudi company Eggdancer Productions. Nassief and her partner Danya M. Alhamrani are the first women in Saudi Arabia allowed to own and manage a production company without a male business manager.
The Petromin Corporation is a Saudi Arabian lubricants and automotive services company, operating in lubricant oils including manufacturer, industrial, and automotive oils and lubricants, car servicing, fuel retailing and car dealerships. The company is one of the "Major Leading Players" of the lubricating grease Industry.
Until June 2018, Saudi Arabia was the only country in the world in which women were forbidden from driving motor vehicles. The Women to Drive Movement was a campaign by Saudi women, whom the government denies many rights to which men are entitled, for the right to drive motor vehicles on public roads. Dozens of women drove in Riyadh in 1990 and were arrested and had their passports confiscated. In 2007, Wajeha al-Huwaider and other women petitioned King Abdullah for the right to drive, and a film of al-Huwaider driving on International Women's Day 2008 attracted international media attention.
The national federation was created in 1956 and became a FIFA affiliate in 1956. However women's football is not included in the country's FIFA coordinated Goals! project. By 2011, inside the Saudi Arabia Football Federation, there has been an effort to create women's football programs at universities. Input had been sought on how to do this from other national federations including ones from the United States, Germany, Brazil and the United Kingdom.
There has been an increase in public galleries exhibiting modern art in Saudi Arabia. This is supported by the influx of commercial galleries in the country and a growing grass-roots movement of artists which have acquired international status. Saudi Arabia is making its mark on the contemporary art scene and at the centre of this are women. These artists are noted for pushing at existing boundaries in the socially conservative country. Their work is largely feminist in nature—posing questions on the current political climate and women's rights. They question existing parameters and challenge proposed gender roles and social norms and use art to express injustices in order to give voice to an otherwise marginalized group.
Abortion in Saudi Arabia is only legal in cases of risk to a woman’s life, fetal impairment, or to protect her physical and mental health. Pregnancy arising from incest or rape also qualifies for a legal abortion under the mental health exemption. The fetus must be less than four months old, and if longer, requires a panel of approved specialists to declare that the pregnancy will result in the death of the woman or serious damage to her health. Any approved abortion requires consent from three physicians as well as the patient and her partner. If an abortion is performed on a woman for any other reason, the violator may be required to pay blood money to the unborn child's family. Laws explicitly deny abortion to families who fear financial instability or an inability to provide the child with education. The selling of pills which are used for the process of abortion is illegal and can result in arrest.
Danya Cebus is an Israeli construction company. It is a subsidiary of Africa Israel Investments. It was founded in 1997. It is active in Russia, Romania, and Israel.
Sameera Aziz is a Saudi media personality, social worker, radio host, and businesswoman. She is a Jeddah-based Saudi national. Her companies are Sameera Aziz Group and Sameera Aziz Entertainment, the latter of which was the first Saudi production house in India. Aziz is the first Saudi female director in Bollywood. Her events company holds a Guinness World Record for making world's largest human-picture mosaic in 2017.
Marwa Zein is a Sudanese film director, scriptwriter and film producer. She is the author of the 2019 documentary, Khartoum Offside, and an advocate of women's rights through her work. She is the founder of ORE Production, a Khartoum-based film production company and one of the seven young filmmakers selected from around the world to attend the Cannes Film Festival 2019 by the International Emerging Film Talent Association (IEFTA).
Germany–Saudi Arabia relations refers to the international relations between Germany and Saudi Arabia. Both countries have established a pragmatic partnership centered mainly on economic interests. Saudi Arabia is the second most important trading partner for Germany in the Middle East. The German government regards Saudi Arabia as a partner, as the country can be a moderating influence on radical forces in the Middle East conflict.
The Saudi Women's Premier League is the top flight of women's association football in Saudi Arabia.