Saudi Film 'Noura' Screened at Cannes Film Festival

A person walks past the Cannes film festival logo during preparations for the 77th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Monday, May 13, 2024. The Cannes film festival runs from May 14 until May 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)
A person walks past the Cannes film festival logo during preparations for the 77th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Monday, May 13, 2024. The Cannes film festival runs from May 14 until May 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)
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Saudi Film 'Noura' Screened at Cannes Film Festival

A person walks past the Cannes film festival logo during preparations for the 77th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Monday, May 13, 2024. The Cannes film festival runs from May 14 until May 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)
A person walks past the Cannes film festival logo during preparations for the 77th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Monday, May 13, 2024. The Cannes film festival runs from May 14 until May 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

The Red Sea Fund of the Red Sea Film Foundation screened the Saudi film “Noura” at the Un Certain Regard, “a certain look,” section of the 77th annual Cannes Film Festival, making it the first Saudi film to be on the official list of the world's most prestigious film gathering, SPA reported.

Noura was supported by the Red Sea Fund and was filmed entirely in the city of art and history, AlUla, located in the northwest of the Kingdom, with 40% of its crew being Saudis, demonstrating the great support that the film industry enjoys.
The film, which has received international distribution, is scheduled to premiere in Saudi and international theaters on June 20, 2024.



'Barbie' Director Gerwig Honored by 'Terrifying' Movie Industry

Greta Gerwig was honored at the Will Rogers Motion Picture Pioneers Foundation gala, which raises funds to support movie industry workers suffering injury or illness. Amy Sussman / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP
Greta Gerwig was honored at the Will Rogers Motion Picture Pioneers Foundation gala, which raises funds to support movie industry workers suffering injury or illness. Amy Sussman / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP
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'Barbie' Director Gerwig Honored by 'Terrifying' Movie Industry

Greta Gerwig was honored at the Will Rogers Motion Picture Pioneers Foundation gala, which raises funds to support movie industry workers suffering injury or illness. Amy Sussman / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP
Greta Gerwig was honored at the Will Rogers Motion Picture Pioneers Foundation gala, which raises funds to support movie industry workers suffering injury or illness. Amy Sussman / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP

"Barbie" director Greta Gerwig paid tribute to risk-takers in the "terrifying" entertainment industry as she was honored for her pioneering filmmaking at a prestigious Hollywood gala on Wednesday.
Gerwig, 41, is the first-ever female director to make a $1 billion movie, and all three of her solo directorial movies to date -- "Lady Bird,Little Women" and "Barbie" -- have been nominated for best picture at the Oscars.
"A showperson is the only person I've ever wanted to be," she said, as she was named Pioneer of the Year at the Will Rogers Motion Picture Pioneers Foundation gala in Beverly Hills, AFP said.
"I wanted to be one of those people who are a little bit wild, a little bit on the edge and filled with a kind of joyful madness.
"I think pioneer is the right word."
Gerwig's most recent artistic gamble paid off as her $1.4 billion-grossing feminist satire "Barbie" became the top-grossing movie of 2023.
Improbably based on the popular doll franchise, but given unusual creative license, the film's success came at a crucial time for an increasingly risk-averse industry reeling from the pandemic, strikes and swingeing job cuts.
The film, alongside Christopher Nolan's Oscar-sweeping "Oppenheimer," was widely credited with keeping the movie theater industry afloat last year.
Gerwig is reportedly set to write and direct two Netflix film adaptations of C.S. Lewis's "The Chronicles of Narnia."
"There are easier ways to make money, and there are less terrifying businesses, but there are none that are more exciting and filled with as much joy and wonder," she said.
Wednesday's Pioneer of the Year gala raises funds to support movie industry workers suffering injury or illness.