Documentary host tells how she was forced to flee country just for talking about jailed female activist

met at university in Egypt. My dad is a doctor and my family moved to Saudi Arabia for his work.”

Basma was born there in 1989 and lived in the capital, Riyadh, until her dad took a placement in Northern Ireland and the family moved to the UK when she was three.

She moved to Dumfries when she was 13 and studied at university in Glasgow after leaving school.

Basma said: “My aunts live in Saudi and always encouraged me to go over. That was the purpose of my film – to figure out where I started and if I could live there. I wasn’t going there to tear Saudi Arabia apart.” ev idence, including audio recordings, that prove the journalist was killed by Saudi agents acting on orders from the highest level. Eleven unnamed individuals are facing trial over his death. including not wearing a headscarf carf in a shopping mall and dancing to music from a car radio while standing on a public street.

The documentary sees her make an emotional first trip to Mecca and visit a magazine launch party where men and d women are allowed to mix x socially.

She also searches the internet et for boyfriends on Jeddah Tinder. er. discussingdisc her with Jess, who was in SaudiSa with me filming.

“In hindsight, we should have read the articlea once we got back home and not in such close proximity to our ggovernment fixers.