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Cultural Development Fund Concludes Participation in 10th Saudi Film Festival

The Saudi Film Festival is a prominent annual event featuring and celebrating diverse films and screenplays that have witnessed remarkable development over the years - SPA
The Saudi Film Festival is a prominent annual event featuring and celebrating diverse films and screenplays that have witnessed remarkable development over the years - SPA
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Cultural Development Fund Concludes Participation in 10th Saudi Film Festival

The Saudi Film Festival is a prominent annual event featuring and celebrating diverse films and screenplays that have witnessed remarkable development over the years - SPA
The Saudi Film Festival is a prominent annual event featuring and celebrating diverse films and screenplays that have witnessed remarkable development over the years - SPA

The Cultural Development Fund (CDF) wrapped up its participation in the 10th annual Saudi Film Festival (SFF). The fund's third consecutive sponsorship of the Saudi Film Festival has come to solidify its role as a key supporter and financial enabler to enrich and stimulate the growth of a vibrant Saudi film sector, according to a CDF news release.
According to the statement, the festival which is celebrating its 10th anniversary was organized by the Saudi Cinema Association in collaboration with the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture (Ithra) and with the support of the Film Commission. It took place from May 2nd to May 9th in Dhahran.
According to SPA, the fund's active participation in the eight-day Festival featured a pavilion within the Production Market Exhibition, welcoming guests and film enthusiasts and showcasing its financing and non-financing solutions.
Leading the conversation was the "Film Sector Financing Program," a cornerstone initiative through which the fund supports entities across the film sector. This initiative encompasses everything from film and TV content development to infrastructure, heavy equipment, filming equipment, sound, makeup, and more.
Additionally, the fund showcased its suite of non-financing solutions, including its "Consultations" and "Vouchers" services, which enable creatives to enhance their projects' readiness.
As an integral part of its participation in the Production Market, the CDF engaged in a thought-provoking dialogue session titled "Saudi Support Funds" alongside Ithra and the Red Sea Fund. Faris Alaskar, the fund's representative, took centre stage, shedding light on the comprehensive support extended by the Film Sector Financing Program to industry businesses while exploring the promising opportunities within the Kingdom's burgeoning film industry.
The Production Market's closing ceremony witnessed a tribute to the Cultural Development Fund, acknowledging its invaluable sponsorship of the festival and its pivotal role in championing and supporting the film industry.
The Saudi Film Festival is a prominent annual event featuring and celebrating diverse films and screenplays that have witnessed remarkable development over the years. In this year's edition, the film funded by CDF, "Ahlam Alasr," a cinematic creation by the talented Godus Brothers, competed in the "Feature Film" category, captivating audiences as part of the festival's film screening schedule.
The CDF was founded in 2021 to enhance the cultural landscape within Saudi Arabia further. It is organizationally linked to the National Development Fund to promote the development of a self-reliant cultural sector. The fund actively supports various cultural activities and projects, facilitates investment, and seeks to improve the domestic cultural sector's profitability in alignment with the National Culture Strategy and Saudi Vision 2030.

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Australia Bans Uranium Mining at Indigenous Site

A view shows a sign at the Energy Resources Australia (ERA) Ranger Project Area in Kakadu National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Northern Territory, Australia, July 11, 2024. (Reuters)
A view shows a sign at the Energy Resources Australia (ERA) Ranger Project Area in Kakadu National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Northern Territory, Australia, July 11, 2024. (Reuters)
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Australia Bans Uranium Mining at Indigenous Site

A view shows a sign at the Energy Resources Australia (ERA) Ranger Project Area in Kakadu National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Northern Territory, Australia, July 11, 2024. (Reuters)
A view shows a sign at the Energy Resources Australia (ERA) Ranger Project Area in Kakadu National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Northern Territory, Australia, July 11, 2024. (Reuters)

Australia moved Saturday to ban mining at one of the world's largest high-grade uranium deposits, highlighting the site's "enduring connection" to Indigenous Australians.

The Jabiluka deposit in northern Australia is surrounded by the heritage-listed Kakadu national park, a tropical expanse of gorges and waterfalls featured in the first "Crocodile Dundee" film.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the national park would be extended to include the Jabiluka site -- which has never been mined -- honoring the decades-long desires of the Mirrar people.

"They were seeking a guarantee that there would never be uranium mining on their land," Albanese told a crowd of Labor Party supporters in Sydney.

"This means there will never be mining at Jabiluka," he added.

Archaeologists discovered a buried trove of stone axes and tools near the Jabiluka site in 2017, which they dated at tens of thousands of years old.

The find was "proof of the extraordinary and enduring connection Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander have had with our land", Albanese said.

"The Mirrar people have loved and cared for their land for more than 60,000 years.

"That beautiful part of Australia is home to some of the oldest rock art in the world," he added.

Discovered in the early 1970s, efforts to exploit the Jabiluka deposit have for decades been tied-up in legal wrangling between Indigenous custodians and mining companies.

It is one of the world's largest unexploited high-grade uranium deposits, according to the World Nuclear Association.

Rio Tinto-controlled company Energy Resources of Australia previously held mining leases at Jabiluka.

The conservation of Indigenous sites has come under intense scrutiny in Australia after mining company Rio Tinto blew up the 46,000-year-old Juukan Gorge rock shelters in 2020.

Australia's conservative opposition has vowed to build nuclear power plants across the country if it wins the next election, overturning a 26-year nuclear ban.