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The National
3 hours ago
- The National
Nadeen Ayoub on representing Palestine at Miss Universe: 'We should never be silenced'
This November, as Nadeen Ayoub steps on to the Miss Universe stage alongside contestants from over 120 countries, she will do more than make history as Palestine 's first participant – she will carry the courage and spirit of her people on a global stage. 'When you have that power, you have a responsibility to speak out. And I feel a huge responsibility,' she tells The National. 'Miss Universe is a huge platform, and there's a big responsibility in speaking out about what's happening in the Gaza. No one should be silent about the injustice that's happening. This is the time when Palestine needs to be represented on all platforms everywhere.' Crowned Miss Palestine in 2022, Ayoub, 27, made history that year when she represented her country for the first time at the Miss Earth pageant, where she was one of the top five finalists. But she had to put her future plans as a title holder on hold after conflict broke out in Gaza in 2023. 'There hasn't been another Miss Palestine since 2022 because of the genocide,' she says. 'After Miss Earth, I was supposed go to Miss Universe. But I postponed it because I did not want to go when genocide was happening. I wanted to focus more on staying behind the scenes because the spotlight was supposed to be on the people in Palestine who are suffering, rather than me.' But as violence raged and the humanitarian crises in Palestine worsens, Ayoub felt compelled to use her platform and voice to raise awareness about her people's plight. 'Palestinian people's voices need to be heard, not only the women and children, but everyone,' she says. 'The Palestinian woman is a beautiful woman who has a voice that is strong, that's resilient, that is powerful and that is angelic. And I want to show the world that side of Palestine.' A certified wellness and nutrition coach with a degree in literature and psychology, Ayoub was raised between Palestine, the US and Canada by her father who's a lawyer and her mother, an educator. She currently splits her time between her hometown of Ramallah, Amman and Dubai, where she founded Olive Green Academy, which promotes sustainability through training and awareness programmes. She also works for Sayidat Falasteen, the philanthropic and media platform of the Miss Palestine Organisation that works to uplift women by sharing their stories, supporting their businesses and showcasing their impact across Palestine and the diaspora. 'In a way, I love being an international citizen – a Palestinian international citizen,' she says. 'I like to mix what I learn internationally with me being Palestinian. This combination is almost like my art.' The long-running Miss Universe pageant is one of the most popular annual beauty competitions in the world, watched by an estimated global audience of 500 million. This year, the 74th event will be held in Pak Kret, central Thailand, with the finals on November 21. The road to the Miss Universe has not been easy, Ayoub says. 'It's a long process … a lot of interviews, a lot of applications. This is the first time in history that Palestine is being represented, but they were not going to just accept my entry. They have a lot of requirements in order to qualify as a contestant. It took me, honestly, years to get here.' With the support of the Miss Palestine Organisation as well as well-wishers and supporters, she says she's managed to pull together a team to help her prepare for the big stage in November. 'When we went to Miss Earth, it was almost like a one-woman show,' she says. 'I didn't have a big agency behind me so I had to really work hard and prepare myself because we lack these tools in Palestine. We don't have as much opportunity as other countries, because we have other causes that need more attention. 'But we have had the most positive reactions to our announcement and people have been so amazing and supportive. I have a team in the Philippines and in Palestine and other places, and all these people want to support me, because they love Palestine. And this is the most beautiful thing about it – they are so happy that Palestine is being represented at this time.' That huge responsibility is not lost on Ayoub who says she's going to give it her all and hopes to make a mark, from her fashion choices to the messages she will speak about on stage at multiple events. 'I will definitely be wearing designs from more than one designer in the competition, because I want to support as many Palestinian designers as possible. And I'm also using designs from international designers as well, and I think it's a great way to express my Palestinian identity and also my international identity,' she says. 'And as I've said before, we should never be silenced when there is injustice happening in the world. And we always should speak up for the people in Palestine, for the women and children that are starving right now, for people that are suffering for no fault of their own. And to be truly a queen is to talk about this. This is really my message.'
The National
3 days ago
- The National
After a decade under lights, Amna Al Qubaisi steers her career in a new direction
Emirati racing driver Amna Al Qubaisi didn't realise the impact of her story until she saw it through the eyes of others. From the day she first took the driver's seat at 14, her dream was to finish what her father, Khaled Al Qubaisi – the first Emirati to reach a podium at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in France – had started. She wanted to win, to hear the UAE's national anthem play where it had never been heard before. 'I was always just trying to represent my country in a really good manner,' she tells The National. 'I was focused only on results. I wanted to prove to the world that we were not there just to participate – but to win.' In those early days, as she began turning heads on the track, she was unaware of the effect she was having. 'When I was 14, my dad was very strict with my social media. He took full control – I barely even had a phone. And I'm glad he did, because of him I thought everything was normal.' It wasn't until years later, when she began running her own accounts, that she realised she had both changed perceptions of what a racing driver could look like – and of what an Emirati woman could be. 'A lot of girls were messaging me,' she says. 'One thing that really caught my eye was when they told me their bond with their father became much better because they saw my dad supporting me. 'They told me, 'Our father is now supporting us because we showed them: look, her dad's supporting her in motorsports, he's always there for her.' Now they're getting the same reciprocation from their dads.' Starring in Netflix's F1: The Academy Since then, Al Qubaisi has grown increasingly aware of the effect that her story can have. In May, along with her younger sister Hamda, she was one of the central stars of the Netflix docuseries F1: The Academy, which chronicled her final season racing for Red Bull in the all-female F1 Academy championship. 'We were really happy that we were a part of it,' says Al Qubaisi. 'We got to share our personality, our side of our story, and how seriously we and our dad take this.' At the same time, she was disappointed that her family was portrayed, from her point of view, as the wealthy upstarts compared to the seemingly more humble European drivers – even though virtually everyone gets there as the result of massive financial investment into their talent. Al Qubaisi explains: 'When we say we're Emirati, automatically, people think we have a mansion made of gold and an endless fleet of cars. But racing is very expensive and those costs apply to all racing drivers. Anyone who's joining in motorsport has the money. 'The way they made the other drivers look like they were selling stuff to be able to race is completely inaccurate. It's kind of sad that they singled us out and made it look like we were the only ones who had it easy.' She believes, whether on screen or off, that the deck was stacked against her through the second year of her F1 Academy experience – in which she dropped to 15th in the standings a year after she had placed sixth overall, collecting two wins in her first season. 'The first year was less political, as it was the first championship to be held. My sister and I finished very strong. In the second year, it felt like they didn't want a Middle Eastern person to win. I got an engine that was around seven to 10 kilometres slower down the straights and I couldn't do much about it. I talked to Red Bull about it, and they told me, 'just deal with it'.' When she realised winning was near-impossible, she started paying more attention to the Netflix cameras following their every move – and grew more involved in how her story was being told. 'In the first few rounds, I would tell them, 'I don't want to do anything. I'm too focused. But then I thought I might as well just take advantage of it and try to give myself some exposure for future sponsors. I said, 'I've got nothing to lose', and I gave them full access.' That strategy, which made her one of the show's most visible stars, proved emotionally challenging as her struggles mounted. 'We were still there to win,' she explains. 'So having them film me at my most vulnerable, and at my worst, was hard. I didn't want the world to know. It was a big fear of mine. But now that it's out there, I think people can relate. 'And if there's criticism against my driving ability, I don't mind. My sister takes it more personally than I do. I have a fan account that I created that I will use to start roasting them back,' Al Qubaisi laughs. Why she moved to endurance racing In the wake of her F1 Academy experience, Al Qubaisi, who had previously raced in Formula 4, has decided to give up on her Formula One dreams. Instead, she's charting a new course in endurance racing that has allowed her to rediscover what she loved about racing in the first place. Moreso than in Formula racing, endurance racing tests the durability of equipment and participants. Teams of multiple drivers using the same car in shifts attempt to cover a large distance in a single event. 'When it comes to Formula racing, it's too expensive. Because of our budget, we were constantly behind the pack. 'So this year, we decided to move into endurance racing, where it's much cheaper and the costs are split between drivers. When I moved into endurance racing, it was the first time I felt like I was actually enjoying driving in a long time.' In some ways, her path to endurance racing mirrors the fictional journey of Brad Pitt's Sonny Hayes in F1 The Movie, in which Hayes finds himself constantly at the back of the pack and has to figure out a way to turn that to his advantage. 'In F1 Academy, I was always starting from the back and I took that as practice for overtaking,' Al Qubaisi explains. 'I learnt to get through traffic and find a gap. Now, in endurance, I'm always catching up to the guys up front, because I know how it's done. 'In endurance racing, you have to really plan – you have tyre management, fuel consumption and overtaking through traffic – because you're racing with different categories. 'It's so much more enjoyable. In single seaters, you're just praying and hoping for something to happen. But in endurance racing, anything can happen. Someone can be leading a race and then have a problem and you have a whole hour to strategise.' Al Qubaisi and her sister will continue their new path towards endurance racing on August 22 and 23 the Spa – Francorchamps Heat as part of the 2025 Ligier European Series. The series marks the third tier on the endurance racing ladder of Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO), the company behind the 24 Hours of Le Mans race. 'Sharing a car, we work together and help each other. We go through data together and strategise together. Having each other makes this decision easier, as we're both really good and we know each other, so we have an advantage.' What is the future of women in F1? Back in Formula racing, Al Qubaisi is rooting for the many young women working towards a spot in F1 but believes the sport as not a level playing field. 'It's very difficult to have a female in Formula One, no matter how good she is, no matter how big her achievements are. The Formula One teams need to have really big trust in those female drivers. 'They will need to invest in women drivers from a young age. I think they just need to start trusting women more to be able to reach that point too. 'Because now, all the girls who are working so hard in single seaters, who've made it to the top 10, who won races, nothing is done for them. No opportunity is provided and then they end up on the sidelines as a development driver or reserve driver, which isn't enough. If it was a male competitor, he would immediately have support, a test drive in a Formula One car.' Basic engineering was also an issue. Al Qubaisi faced difficulty with singer-seater cars that were built only for male bodies – 'we can't fit in that car' – which caused her and other women drivers to complain to the FIA regulatory body to ensure cars were built for both men and women. That issue was fixed, but Al Qubaisi feels it's symbolic of the inequality that exists in the sport. Telling her own story As she sets off on a new racing journey with her sister, Al Qubaisi feels that every bump along the way has prepared her for the difficulties ahead – not just as a racing driver, but as a public figure. She will rely less on how others tell her story and start to take an even greater hand in telling her own. 'I have a cameraman and we're doing our own YouTube docuseries for the racing championship. Every race weekend we show everything from our perspective and it's very authentic and very natural,' she says. 'I've learnt that I don't need anything polished and professional. These days, I just have to be real.'
The National
3 days ago
- The National
Amr Youssef on how Darwish brings old-school Egyptian cinema back to the big screen
If playing a villain is the most fun an actor can have, playing a sleek con man might be one of the most challenging roles to take on, says actor Amr Youssef. The Egyptian star, 44, recalls preparing the titular role as a con artist in Darwish, whose attempt to steal a rare jewel in one last job before going straight goes disastrously wrong. Youssef recalls preparing for the role as similar to a writer crafting a novel. "The villain is really a straightforward matter and can be one-dimensional at times that often violence is used to project power and to ensure that everyone else knows where he stands," he tells The National. "A con artist is a different thing altogether. The actor really has to draw the character, so to speak, on screen in detail, build those emotional details in a subtle way and then instead of power, you need charisma. There is a lot going on that you have to keep mindful of." Out in Egyptian cinemas on Thursday and in UAE cinemas on August 28, the film features a stellar Egyptian cast including Tara Emad, Dina El Sherbiny and Mohamed Shahin. Youssef describes his character as a man torn between living his code of 'think fast and act faster' and getting acquainted with a newfound domestic life after being caught in the lives of two women (Emad and El Sherbiny) who have their own secrets to hide. "One of the things that drew the character in was that he found himself in a home with children and responsibilities when he absolutely didn't want to. Then he starts enjoying them," Youssef explains. "It then moves quickly, full of events and shifting loyalties and you want to know what happens next – to Darwish, to the women in his life, to everyone caught in his web." Youssef shares plenty of naturally zippy exchanges with El Sherbiny, something honed from more than a decade of working together in various projects such as Grand Hotel, a 2016 television series based on the popular Spanish telenovela, as well as the 2016 romcom Kedbet Kol Youm. The latest film marks the ninth time they have worked together, and Youssef says he is not surprised by their on-screen chemistry. "We have come to understand each other immediately on set," he says. "And in Darwish, Dina is doing something different in that there is a real sharpness to her character that she captures perfectly." While they share a close friendship, getting that chemistry relies on more than personal rapport, he explains. "It comes from truly believing the other actor and you are both not just reading the lines. You are really turning the words on paper into flesh and blood." As for the reported friendly rivalry between the two, Youssef says people are looking at it through the wrong lens. "I don't really believe that the stronger actor steals the scene," he notes. "I think it's the opposite – the better the actor opposite you, the stronger you become." It's a collaborative approach that he learnt starring alongside Egyptian actor Nour El Sherif in the 2007 drama series El Daly. In his screen debut as the adopted son of a business tycoon played by El Sherif, Youssef recalls how the veteran actor ensured everyone on set felt valued. "And even if you weren't part of the production, he made you feel special," he says. "I remember one evening after a particularly long shoot, we were all exhausted. A family approached him in the street wanting photos. He was tired, we all were, but he stopped and spent time with them – asked about their children, made them laugh." The lesson stayed with him. "Later I asked him about it, and Nour – may God bless him – said, 'Never say no to someone who likes your work. They're the reason we do this.' I learnt more by just watching him than being told." A keen observer of regional industry trends, Youssef says Darwish is a throwback to a kind of Egyptian cinema lost amid the seemingly unending waves of superhero blockbusters from the past decade. "The saturation of these superhero films over the years has really affected all film industries, not just Hollywood," Youssef notes. "You're even getting big directors like Martin Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino frustrated at how American cinema has narrowed." The comparison to Egyptian cinema is telling. "If you look at Egyptian films from the 1950s and '60s – films like The Nightingale's Prayer or Cairo Station – they were simple stories, beautifully told, with characters you cared about. That's what has been gradually disappearing." This is what ultimately drew Youssef to Darwish, it has that connection to earlier tradition, because its commercial appeal is backed by substance. "It reminded me of the films I loved watching years ago. It has the warmth, elegance and attention to detail and a certain generosity towards the audience,' he says. 'But at its core, it's about character and consequence, not explosions or special effects. That's the kind of story worth telling."
