A new show following the lives of Saudi students pursuing filmmaking in the United States is now on air! MBC recently premiered “Cut,” a sitcom involving Saudi satirist and TV star Nasser al-Qasabi in its production, and directed by Osama Alkhurayji, a Producer and Director at Majal Art.
Fahad Al-Butairi, who stars in the show and who is already a well-known Saudi YouTube personality, told Arab News that the sitcom “follows the lives of five Saudi students and everything they go through, not only as Saudi students in the US, but also as students studying filmmaking and who are coming from a country that doesn’t have cinema […] It explores the dynamics of cultural identity and family relations, and there’s also a romantic subplot.”
Al-Butairi explained that the show attempts to touch on the rich spectrum of Saudi cultural identities within a global context, featuring different characters who speak to different audience personalities, such as conservative types, more liberal characters, and even one who is half-American.
Although he has no acting role in the show, 55-year-old Nasser al-Qasabi is renowned in the region for his comedic screen presence and more recently for his 2015 role in an MBC-produced Ramadan special, a sketch comedy show named “Selfie,” which took aim ISIS. Al-Qasabi was accused of apostasy by a preacher and received a string of online death threats from Islamic State sympathizers after the episode aired.
Qasabi responded to the threats saying, “My Twitter is overflowing with people cursing at me, threatening me and hating on me. I’d like for them to calm down a little. Come on, Ramadan is just beginning!”
"God is my protector. I'm an artist, and the artist's essential role is to reveal society's challenges even if he pays a price," he said in an interview with Saudi-owned Al Arabiya TV. "Warning the people about ISIS is the true jihad, because we're fighting them with art not war."
