Salma Hayek wants more Arab women in Hollywood films

Believes directors are not able to approach Arab women for fear of unintended humiliation.

One of the leading ladies of Hollywood, Salma Hayek believes Arab women are not getting enough representation in film and has vowed to ensure that she can improve the situation, reported  Al-Arabiya News.

The actor added that a major reason why Arab woman are absent from foreign films is because directors are not able to approach them due to the “fear of causing her problems or causing unintended humiliation.”



She added that filmmakers prefer to cast an Arab actor in a negative role rather than having a female Arab actor play the heroine.

As a person of Mexican origin, Hayek said she faced similar hardships whilst get involved in the issue, however, she stressed upon the importance of thinking about the role that Arab women should portray in foreign drama.

Hayek, who recently produced an animated film adaption of the Khalil Gibran’s fiction book The Prophet, screened it in the Doha-based Ajyal Youth Film Festival earlier this month.

The actor, who has appeared in notable films such as Puss in Boots, Desperado and Frida, said that the casting for her new film was partly financed by the Doha Film Institute and commended them for making the film production possible despite being opposed on religious and political grounds.

She explained why she wanted people from the Middle-Eastern region to be involved with the project stating, “For us, it was very important to have in the project someone who was also from the region,” she added.

“As international as this film is, it does have the Middle East at its core, and this was and is important for us,” remarked the actor-turned-producer.

The movie had nine directors from around the globe with each director having the freedom to produce the chapter of the story they pleased. Hayek has also accepted to play the role of an Egyptian woman in a new movie, but further details about the movie have not yet been made public.



This is not the first instance of the actor transitioning into producing content inspired from literature or events from foreign countries as earlier this year the actor produced a documentary Humaira: The Game Changer, which chronicled the life of Pakistani education advocate Humaira Bachal.

The actor is slated to voice a character in another animated film titled, Sausage party which tells the story of a group of foods who want to be purchased but get lost and need to return to their aisles before July 4.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 15^th,  2014.

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