01:56 PM
Sunday, April 28, 2024
Written by Mona Al-Moji:
The Saudi Film Festival, organized by the Cinema Association in partnership with the King Abdulaziz “Ithra” World Cultural Center, with the support of the Ministry of Culture’s Film Authority, will begin on the evening of Thursday, May 2, for 8 days , at the “Ithra” Center in Dhahran, where the festival will end this year.
The new session of the festival comes after 10 sessions that were full of programs and films, with about 1,444 films participating, more than 2,000 unfulfilled positions, and 289 projects in the production market, as well as 155 cinematic awards, which helped support filmmakers and advance Saudi cinema.
Movie opening
The festival has chosen the opening film of the tenth session to be “Underground” by Saudi director Abdul Rahman Sundakji, which is a feature-length documentary that sheds light on the musical talent in the Kingdom and reviews the reality of the local music industry. one of the films that participated in the documentary film competition in the tenth session.
The activities of this session will include the screening of 76 films, with 53 of them competing for 36 awards On the sidelines of the events, 10 training workshops will be held, including two workshops dedicated to participants in the production market and short and long screen development laboratories. , as well as seminars on film screenings, the production of feature films in Saudi cinema, and the concept of… Saudi film and the poetry and aesthetics of cinema, as well as a “Master Class” seminar ” on legal matters in global broadcasting platforms, honoring several personalities.
Film encyclopedia
During the festival, the Cinema Association publishes the “Saudi Encyclopedia of Cinema,” which contains 20 books ranging from psychology, criticism and translation. Book signing sessions are also held as one of the events on the days of the festival. In addition, the new session includes the “Festival Museum”, which presents the history of the festival from its founding to the current tenth session, highlighting notable moments and exhibitions historical such as photos, videos, posters, etc.
Film shows
The film screening programs in the new session include a group of programs, namely: Films Competition (a program for films nominated to compete for festival awards in film competitions), and Parallel Films (a the program presents a selection of unannounced films to compete in film competitions, with the aim of supporting emerging filmmakers and maintaining a climate of communication among the greater part of them).
In addition to science fiction cinema, which is at the heart of the tenth session (the program aims to present a group of international short films, as well as training workshops on the subject of science fiction and fantasy), and about at the end of the children’s program (this The program was designed to give children an interactive experience with cinema through film screenings and meet Saudi film stars. In addition to taking them on an educational tour of the Ithra Center, screenings of the present this program to school students and children in general who visit the centre).
It is worth noting that the Saudi Film Festival comes as a continuation of the role of the “Ithra” Center in promoting the Saudi film industry and supporting its fields, and ensuring the development of national talents according to the efforts and direction of the Kingdom in creating. a prominent place for cinema in the fields of acting, directing, screenwriting, and related matters in the film industry.
