A discussion between two young creative women who are both from Saudi Arabia and now residing in Los Angeles.
Rotana Tarabzouni is a singer and songwriter. She recently released her debut single, "Daddy."
Dina Shihabi is a theatre and film actor.
Theme music composed and performed by Henry Lyons.
Illustration by Grace Hauck.
Recorded at APG Studios in Hollywood.
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L I S T E N
N O T A B L E Q U O T E S
“I moved here as a Saudi woman because I believed that I could be an individual here and that diversity would always cut through all the bullshit, and always be embraced. Today there is a true threat to that.”
TARABZOUNI
“We have the power to affect people.”
SHIHABI
“When people are angry, when people are offended, it is because you are awakening a part of themselves that they are not ready to meet. Good!”
TARABZOUNI
“Music is no longer the main product. Music has become a marketing tool for the larger entity, that being the artist, that being the brand.”
TARABZOUNI
“If you go against what Saudi culture things is the way to live a successful life, then - because religion is culture - you’re going against God. But what’s wrong with that? What’s wrong with challenging it?”
SHIHABI
“There isn’t one way of being a Saudi woman. There isn’t one way of being a Music. There isn’t one way of believing in God – if you believe in God. There isn’t one way of being good to your family.”
SHIHABI
“There’s definitely an artistic renaissance happening in Saudi Arabia and the Arab world.”
TARABZOUNI
“I want to do something that’s not about being a woman in a head scarf, or being a woman with an accent, and that’s all she represents. That’s her role in the story, just to be the other. I want to play someone complex and layered, who wants something.”