Saudi Film Festival: celebration of Gulf filmmakers begins at Ithra

The eight annual event will run until June 9

The Saudi Film Festival runs at the King Abdulaziz Centre for World Culture (Ithra), in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, until June 9. AFP

The eighth Saudi Film Festival is underway at the King Abdulaziz Centre for World Culture (Ithra) in Dhahran.

Under the theme of poetic cinema, the event will honour Sheik Khalil Al-Rawaf, known as the first Arab star in Hollywood, and director Khalid Al Siddiq, a veteran of Kuwaiti cinema.

The Saudi Film Festival, which runs until June 9, aims to empower and develop regional talent through workshops and seminars, helping filmmakers hone their craft and develop scripts through networking opportunities with industry professionals.

It is set to attract a host of stars, with local celebrities, artists, scriptwriters, producers, investors and actors, including Yasir Alsaggaf, Ibrahim Al Hajjaj and Sarah Taibah, due to attend.

The eight-day festival is organised by the Cinema Association, in partnership with Ithra and the Saudi Film Commission.

The festival will show titles submitted from across the GCC, with more than 80 to be screened in two categories — Saudi and Gulf Films — in addition to holding the Golden Palm competition.

Feature films from the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar will be showcased, with 36 participating in the competition.

Ali Saeed’s Ithra-produced short film Old Phone Number opened the festival. The film was shown at the Cannes Film Festival’s Short Film Corner in May, with Raneem Almohandis’s Swing.

Other releases this season include Iees by first-time director Abdullah Saharty; Anti-Cinema by Ali Saeed and Hassan Saeed; Khalid Fahad’s Valley Road and Sea of Sands by celebrated Egyptian screenwriter and producer Mohamed Hefzy and director AB Shawky.

The festival will host competitions, as well as physical and virtual programmes, including a 30-minute stop-motion workshop on animated filmmaking.

Indie director James Savoca, producer Habib Attia, filmmaker Hossam Elouan and entertainment lawyer Matti Rockenbauch will be giving masterclasses, seminars and workshops on a range of filmmaking topics.

Major film producers will attend the Production Market and filmmakers will be able to pitch their ideas in person and virtually.

“We provide a purposeful and technological space for the kingdom’s film talent to hone their skills and show their work, and we are eager to share our new productions for this year and 2023,” says Majed Z Samman, head of performing arts and cinema at Ithra.

Launched in 2008 by the Saudi Arabian Society for Culture and Arts, Ithra has been the strategic partner for the Saudi Film Festival annually since 2019.