When asked to name her organization’s biggest accomplishment so far, Charlene Deleon-Jones, the executive director for Film AlUla, doesn’t hesitate to name-check Norah, the first Saudi film to crack the Cannes lineup. The Tawfik Alzaidi-helmed indie movie, which will compete in the fest’s Un Certain Regard section, was shot in AlUla, the country’s 200,000-year-old “living museum” and first Unesco World Heritage Site, with a crew that was 40 percent Saudi and includes an all-Saudi cast. The latter includes teenager Maria Bahrawi in her debut role as the titular Norah, an orphaned girl who develops a nurturing bond with Nader, an artist and new teacher in her village, played by Saudi actor Yagoub Alfarhan. “That they were able to get to this stage is really impressive,” Deleon-Jones says. “Often, people can be very focused on what is seen as their ‘international piece,’ but what I love is how beautiful Norah is,...
- 5/19/2024
- by Becky Lucas
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
It’s a momentous Cannes for Cairo-based film professionals Alaa Karkouti and Maher Diab as they mark the 15th anniversary of the creation of marketing and distribution company Mad Solutions and the 10th anniversary of spin-off the Arab Cinema Center (Acc).
Under these banners, the pair have been at the forefront of promoting Arab cinema internationally and played a part in growing its prominence on the world stage.
Acc kicks off its 10th Cannes program on Friday with a panel entitled “The Arab New Wave: The Actors” on the market’s Plage des Palmes venue.
Speakers on the panel will include iconic Egyptian actress Yousra, Mbc Studios Saudi Arabia General Manager Zeinab Abu Alsamh, top Lebanese TV presenter Raya Abi Rashed, Egyptian superstar Ahmed Malek and Yagoub Alfarhan, star of Saudi Arabia’s first film in Official Selection Norah as well as casting director Cassandra Han.
The swanky location and...
Under these banners, the pair have been at the forefront of promoting Arab cinema internationally and played a part in growing its prominence on the world stage.
Acc kicks off its 10th Cannes program on Friday with a panel entitled “The Arab New Wave: The Actors” on the market’s Plage des Palmes venue.
Speakers on the panel will include iconic Egyptian actress Yousra, Mbc Studios Saudi Arabia General Manager Zeinab Abu Alsamh, top Lebanese TV presenter Raya Abi Rashed, Egyptian superstar Ahmed Malek and Yagoub Alfarhan, star of Saudi Arabia’s first film in Official Selection Norah as well as casting director Cassandra Han.
The swanky location and...
- 5/17/2024
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Production has now started on “AlGaid,” the latest feature from fast-rising Saudi Arabian production house Telfaz11, which smashed local box office records with their first two local releases, “Sattar” and “Mandoob.”
Directed by Hussam Alhulwah and shooting in the sprawling production hub of Neom, “AlGaid” unfolds against the backdrop of the early 20th-century Arabia desert and is described as blending the revenge genre with Bedouin soap opera tropes. The film was penned by Saudi novelist and writer Ahmed Alhokail.
Among the newly-announced ensemble cast for the feature is renowned actor Yagoub Alfarhan, recently seen in the Red Sea Film Festival-winning film “Norah” but best known for the mini-series “Rashash.” Joining Alfarhan is Saad Alshatti and Khalid Abdulaziz (“Head to Head”), plus Husam AlHarthi (“The Matchmaker”) Asem Alawad (“Raven Song”), Ayman Mutahar (“Rashash”) and Fahad Bin Salem (“Mandoob”).
AlGaid
Behind the camera are director of photography Son Doan (“Sofia”), production designer...
Directed by Hussam Alhulwah and shooting in the sprawling production hub of Neom, “AlGaid” unfolds against the backdrop of the early 20th-century Arabia desert and is described as blending the revenge genre with Bedouin soap opera tropes. The film was penned by Saudi novelist and writer Ahmed Alhokail.
Among the newly-announced ensemble cast for the feature is renowned actor Yagoub Alfarhan, recently seen in the Red Sea Film Festival-winning film “Norah” but best known for the mini-series “Rashash.” Joining Alfarhan is Saad Alshatti and Khalid Abdulaziz (“Head to Head”), plus Husam AlHarthi (“The Matchmaker”) Asem Alawad (“Raven Song”), Ayman Mutahar (“Rashash”) and Fahad Bin Salem (“Mandoob”).
AlGaid
Behind the camera are director of photography Son Doan (“Sofia”), production designer...
- 1/16/2024
- by Alex Ritman
- Variety Film + TV
“Your Story, Your Festival,” is the theme for this year‘s Red Sea International Film Festival, with organizers promising “a unique and powerful platform for celebrating film, connecting cultures and expanding horizons while welcoming stories from all walks of life.”
The festival’s third edition will take place Nov. 30-Dec. 9 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Alongside an international line-up that includes Michael Mann’s Ferrari, Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla, Ava Duvernay’s Origin and Hayao Miyazaki’s The Boy and the Heron, the Red Sea festival is a showcase for new Arab cinema.
Here’s The Hollywood Reporter‘s pick of six new titles from across the region that expand the image of Arab movies, ranging from a jinn fantasy romance and a coming-of-age drama to an adventure thriller featuring a vengeance-seeking camel.
Hwjn, opening film
A local Saudi Arabian movie will raise the curtain on the Red Sea Festival for the first time this year,...
The festival’s third edition will take place Nov. 30-Dec. 9 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Alongside an international line-up that includes Michael Mann’s Ferrari, Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla, Ava Duvernay’s Origin and Hayao Miyazaki’s The Boy and the Heron, the Red Sea festival is a showcase for new Arab cinema.
Here’s The Hollywood Reporter‘s pick of six new titles from across the region that expand the image of Arab movies, ranging from a jinn fantasy romance and a coming-of-age drama to an adventure thriller featuring a vengeance-seeking camel.
Hwjn, opening film
A local Saudi Arabian movie will raise the curtain on the Red Sea Festival for the first time this year,...
- 11/29/2023
- by Georg Szalai
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The Saudi Film Commission (Sfc) has announced that four feature film project that are winners of its Daw Film Competition to discover new local talent and champion the next generation of filmmakers have finished principal photography.
These works, which are likely to surface on the festival circuit, are a tangible sign that Saudi Arabia’s nascent local industry is fostering local films with potential to travel as well as to play for local audiences.
The films are:
“Within Sand,” a first work by Moe Alatawi inspired by the true story of a 23-year-old tobacco merchant ambushed by thieves in the desert who leave him to fend for himself with only a dagger. The film, produced by Reem Alatawi and Riyadh-based Alsarid Films, features an all-Saudi cast, while 70 of its film crew hails from Saudi Arabia. This is the first homegrown production to shoot in the unique landscapes of Neom, the...
These works, which are likely to surface on the festival circuit, are a tangible sign that Saudi Arabia’s nascent local industry is fostering local films with potential to travel as well as to play for local audiences.
The films are:
“Within Sand,” a first work by Moe Alatawi inspired by the true story of a 23-year-old tobacco merchant ambushed by thieves in the desert who leave him to fend for himself with only a dagger. The film, produced by Reem Alatawi and Riyadh-based Alsarid Films, features an all-Saudi cast, while 70 of its film crew hails from Saudi Arabia. This is the first homegrown production to shoot in the unique landscapes of Neom, the...
- 9/6/2022
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Moviegoers not far removed from the isolating strains of lockdown may find The Loneliest Whale: The Search for 52 strikes a chord. Distributor Bleecker Street and director Joshua Zeman hope so as the doc, a shift from the helmer’s true crime roots, opens in 75 theaters.
Digital release is set for July 16.
The film is a cinematic quest for the 52 Hertz Whale, which scientists believe has spent its entire life in solitude calling out at a frequency that is different from any other of its species. The whale, discovered in 1989, became a global sensation over the past three decades — including songs about it by British indie rock band Amber Run and K-pop’s BTS.
Zeman, who said he had childhood ambitions to be a marine biologist and loved Jacques Cousteau, was floored by the story and spent ten years trying to make the...
Digital release is set for July 16.
The film is a cinematic quest for the 52 Hertz Whale, which scientists believe has spent its entire life in solitude calling out at a frequency that is different from any other of its species. The whale, discovered in 1989, became a global sensation over the past three decades — including songs about it by British indie rock band Amber Run and K-pop’s BTS.
Zeman, who said he had childhood ambitions to be a marine biologist and loved Jacques Cousteau, was floored by the story and spent ten years trying to make the...
- 7/9/2021
- by Jill Goldsmith
- Deadline Film + TV
The position of Saudi women as second-class citizens receives a potent metaphoric visualization in Saudi helmer-writer Shahad Ameen’s parable-like debut drama, “Scales.” Revealing more through imagery than dialogue, the tale unfolds on a barren island where tradition dictates that each family sacrifice a daughter to the sea maidens to ensure the local fishermen a good catch. , with the taut first third particularly strong. But the narrative’s momentum and clarity dissipate in the middle and final sections even as the visuals continue to impress. Still, the boldly inventive “Scales” marks Ameen as a talent to watch.
Variance Films is releasing “Scales” in New York and Los Angeles on July 9. A wider rollout will follow. The 2019 production had a prize-winning festival run and was chosen as the Saudi entry for the best international feature Oscar.
In the harsh, dystopian world that Ameen creates, femininity is repressed and masculinity is all powerful.
Variance Films is releasing “Scales” in New York and Los Angeles on July 9. A wider rollout will follow. The 2019 production had a prize-winning festival run and was chosen as the Saudi entry for the best international feature Oscar.
In the harsh, dystopian world that Ameen creates, femininity is repressed and masculinity is all powerful.
- 7/8/2021
- by Alissa Simon
- Variety Film + TV
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