Saudi Arabia is fast becoming the Middle East’s new film industry powerhouse. Led by Vision 2030, there has been a dramatic shift in promoting culture and entertainment in KSA, and thanks to government investment, the arts scene is flourishing as the country leaps to embrace cinema and theater.
Coming back for its eighth edition, The Saudi Film Festival shows just how thriving the film industry is. Launched by the Saudi Arabian Society for Culture and Arts in partnership with the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture (Ithra), the Saudi Film Festival is a national initiative created to develop and enrich the Saudi film industry. The event continues to grow as a hub for filmmakers to share work, develop talent and connect with industry professionals and stakeholders. The aim is to ‘provide opportunities for Saudi artists interested in the filmmaking industry and to celebrate their best film projects.’
This year’s theme was ‘Poetic Cinema’, with the event being held at the King Abdulaziz Centre for World Culture, in Dhahran in June. Over 80 Saudi, regional and international films took to the stage, proving to be a fantastic showcase of talent.
This year’s edition of the Saudi Film Festival grabbed headlines as local celebrities, scriptwriters, producers, investors, and movie lovers descended for the workshops, seminars, and awards. Each year, the line-up of talent continues to grow, and here are some of the notable workshops that took place:
- The Saudi Novel in Cinema, presented by Saad Al-Dosari
- The Concept of Saudi Film, presented by Marwa Ihsan Fakih
- Cinema and its aesthetics, presented by Suha Al-Aal
The winners were announced on the final day of the festival with the event being broadcast live on YouTube. Qawareer, a movie led by 5 female filmmakers - Ragheed Al Nahdi, Norah Almowald, Ruba Khafagy, Fatma Alhazmi, and Noor Alameer - was the big winner of this year’s festival, snatching the prestigious Golden Palm Tree for best film, and the prize for best director(s).
The Kingdom continues to invest and reap the benefits of a budding arts industry, especially in the cinema sector. The General Entertainment Authority (GEA) had previously said that it believes investment into entertainment infrastructure will reach $64 billion over the next decade, adding nearly $5 billion to GDP and generating 224,000 new jobs by 2030. According to Comscore, this is already paying off, with box-office market revenues in Saudi Arabia rising to $238 million in 2021 — a 95% increase from 2020.
“This is the right time — and film is the best way — to tell our story,” says Ahmed Al Mulla, director of the Saudi Film Festival. “In cinema, you have it all: poetry, music, costumes, food, literature. You can tell the full story of life through film.”
With the Government investing billions in building a film industry with international and regional ambitions, the Saudi Film Festival is just the start.
