Al Rawabi School for Girls is the newest, greatest, limited Arabic series recently launched on Netflix. It is everything we expected and so much more.
Akin to the Mean Girls franchise, the show Al Rawabi School for Girls also tells a riveting, Gen Z tale that delves deep into the world of bullying, teenage psychology, betrayal and religion. And while this may seem like too many themes to interweave together, the director Tima Shomali managed to pull off the perfect representation of these tales.
We got the chance to sit down and talk to the cast, as well as the genius behind it all (Tina Shomali) to discuss the casting process, the characters, and the chemistry between the girls.
Scroll down to read more…
On Tima’s journey from a YouTuber to a producer-director…
“Everything I’ve done before this project has prepared me and was a huge step towards this series. In terms of calibre, in terms of production, in terms of quality. It’s a dream for my work to go from local and regional to an international audience. I’m very excited,” Tima beams.
On what the cast learned from Tima…
Noor Taher who plays ‘Layan’ says “apart from the fact that she created the characters and created each one so carefully, for me personally, I learnt how to show more than one side of a character. And that’s the moral of the story in general, not everything you see is the truth. For every single character there is another side and I think Tima helped us portray the other side in a realistic and beautiful way.”
Salsabiela who plays Layan’s bestie ‘Ruqayya’ also added,“well we’ve done a lot of rehearsals together, so it was good, we’ve learned a lot from her.”
On working with first-timers…
In case you didn’t know, most of Al Rawabi’s cast were fresh faces onto our silver screens (love that for them.) And so did Tima.
The director explained that “as writers, when we write the story we get really involved in it, we live in it, so we got very attached to the characters and it was a very important thing to choose the cast to play these characters. They’re three-dimensional characters, with their own good sides and bad sides, so working with new talents was a challenge that I loved. It was a process for me, and they’re young and very close to that age. I felt that it gave the show something special, real and raw.”
She adds: “to be honest, the journey with them, their talent and dedication – it was so inspiring for me and I’m so proud of them.”
They’re so sweet.
On character relatability…
The cast confidently agreed that they felt a sense of affinity towards their characters. Rakeen Saad who plays edgy ‘Noaf’ explained, “when I was in school I remember I was like Noaf where I was rooting for the good, so I relate to her like that.” While Yara Mustafa (Dina) revealed, “what I love about Dina is that it’s almost as if she lives in her own world with her K-Pop, her music and her style. Even her hair is different. She goes through a tough time in the show and it was really difficult for me to get into character because I wanted her to really be relatable.
I got bullied in middle school, not so much high school, so I passed that experience on to her. I really hope I did her justice.”
On off-screen relationships…
It’s no secret that the cast’s relationship on-screen is *insane* (whether they’re fighting against one another or together,) so naturally, their off-screen chemistry is just as impressive.
“I don’t know if it’s just me but when the cast was chosen and all six of us were there, it already sort of felt like we clicked, like we were a family,” gushed Yara. “We even taught Rakeen all the TikTok dances.”
Now if that isn’t goals, then we don’t know what is.
@Netflix – can we have a season two ASAP please?