Lamar Faden’s career happened almost by chance, when she encountered filmmaker Shahad Ameen at Red Sea International Film Festival in 2022, and they exchanged contact details. Faden was attending as an audience member and approached Ameen having seen her short films and 2019 debut feature Scales. When Ameen was working on her second film Hijra, she cast Faden in her first screen role, setting the young actress on her current trajectory.
An avid film lover, the Jeddah-based 14-year-old has wanted to pursue an acting career as long as she can remember. “It has been my childhood dream,” she says. The profession has become a more acceptable career path for the younger generations since the advent of cinemas in Saudi.
“My family is supportive and happy with my success. This career choice was my own decision,” says Faden. “At the same time, I am continuing my studies.”
In Hijra, Faden plays a dutiful granddaughter who leads her elder on a search for her missing sister. It premiered at Venice Film Festival earlier this year, and is Saudi Arabia’s submission to the Academy Awards’ international feature race.
Asked where she hopes her career will take her, Faden replies confidently: “I see myself working in the Middle East and also in Europe or the US. Cinema will be my main focus, but I also want to be part of good TV projects.”
Coming from a close family, Faden likes to spend time at home when she is not working or at school. Her older sister Renad acted as chaperone on the Hijra shoot and during the film’s festival journey. Faden’s other favourite pastime is watching movies, as she seeks to “learn new things about the world of cinema”.
She is “proud” of Hijra being Saudi Arabia’s Oscar submission, describing it as “a success for me and for Saudi cinema”. The upside of the exposure, she says, is that “more people now know who Lamar is and recognise my acting”. And the downside? “I need to be more careful about my actions.”
Contact: Renad Ahmed Faden
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