The Road Inland

They leave the coast behind. Inland from Jeddah, the coral-white city gives way to an entirely different Saudi Arabia — an old district built from raw earth and mud-brick, ochre walls carved with triangular light, palm groves in a dry valley. A local family pulls them in for a floor-seated feast: a whole roast lamb on a mountain of spiced rice, eaten by hand, no ceremony. Then gahwa and dates as the sun drops — and Ali quietly sets the camera down and doesn't pick it back up. Episode 3 of HAJIMETE, a continuing anime series shot vertically in 25-second films, following a first journey across Saudi Arabia. Japanese audio. Subtitles in Arabic, English, Spanish and Turkish.