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Saudi Arabia’s Film AlUla Continues to Attract More Int’l, Local Productions

Film AlUla provides a package of services that attract many filmmakers from around the world.
Film AlUla provides a package of services that attract many filmmakers from around the world.
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Saudi Arabia’s Film AlUla Continues to Attract More Int’l, Local Productions

Film AlUla provides a package of services that attract many filmmakers from around the world.
Film AlUla provides a package of services that attract many filmmakers from around the world.

Film AlUla, the film commission located in Saudi Arabia’s northwestern governorate of AlUla, is continuing to attract more international and local movie and television productions.

Film AlUla had tremendous success filming scenes of the American movie, “Cherry”, which was the first Hollywood movie by two world-class directors, Anthony and Joe Russo (Avengers: Endgame) to shoot scenes in Saudi Arabia and the debut accomplishment for Film Alula. The scenes for “Cherry” were shot in the capital, Riyadh, in cooperation with Saudi Aramco, as well as multiple locations in AlUla.

Since Saudi Arabia started issuing tourist visas around the world, it has been visited by movie and television production companies that are exploring shooting in AlUla and all throughout the country. With incredible untapped locations, it is a unique and historic location to film.

Recently, another Hollywood production signed a joint agreement with Film AlUla to shoot in the province that is to be directed, produced and starring some of the brightest Hollywood stars. In additional to the increase of international productions, Film AlUla continues to support and build local productions.

Amongst the many local projects to announce, it will support the filming of two Saudi films, namely “Bayn Al-Rimal” (Between the Sand) by Muhammad Al-Atawi and “Noura” by Tawfiq Al-Zaidi, which won Daw' (Light) Film Competition. Film AlUla, a department of the Royal Commission for AlUla, will finance the two films, and provide and coordinate all the filming requirements in AlUla.

The Film Commission was established within 11 cultural commissions in February 2020 and whose Board of Directors is chaired by the Minister of Culture. It is responsible for developing and supporting the film sector in the Kingdom and encouraging individuals, institutions and companies to produce and develop content, among other responsibilities.

To attract international filmmakers, the administration of Film AlUla counts on the governorate’s attraction sites that position it among the best filming locations in the world. This is to implement their vision of leading the creative industries in the Kingdom, establish AlUla as international filming and content destination, and create a film infrastructure in northwestern Saudi Arabia.

Film AlUla provides a package of services that attract many filmmakers from around the world. This includes an already established team of film experts in AlUla to help facilitate the production of international films and building a suitable ecosystem for filmmaking. It handles the issuing of film crew visas, securing ground and air transportation and accommodations between Riyadh and AlUla, granting permits, facilitating the import and export of camera equipment and other production equipment, the information and relationships to help crew productions, and so much more.

In addition to its heritage and cultural depth dating back to more than 200,000 years of human history and 7,000 years of successive civilizations, AlUla has a unique diversity of terrains extending over more than 22,500 km of charming valleys, in which sandstones coexist with black volcanic rocks and amazing rock formations created by wind and water over millions of years. The governorate’s villages, farms, and cities with their old and modern buildings and hotel infrastructures offer a variety of options for filmmakers.

Film AlUla works to support and stimulate local film productions, in partnership with government agencies, based on the Royal Commission’s endeavor to contribute to the realization of Saudi Vision 2030 and empower national talents in the film industry.

Through their strategic partnership, the Film Commission and Film AlUla administration seek to create and develop a sustainable film sector in northwestern Saudi Arabia by facilitating internal investment, attracting international and regional films, television shows and documentaries for filming in AlUla, as well as developing local and regional businesses to serve the film sector. This is in addition to employing and training local talents, creating job opportunities in the film sector, and establishing an industrial value chain throughout the area as part of the filmmaking ecosystem.

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Kris Kristofferson, Influential Singer-Songwriter, Dies at 88

US actor musician Kris Kristofferson attends the premiere of "Dreamer" at the Mann Village theater on October 9, 2005 in Westwood, California. (AFP)
US actor musician Kris Kristofferson attends the premiere of "Dreamer" at the Mann Village theater on October 9, 2005 in Westwood, California. (AFP)
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Kris Kristofferson, Influential Singer-Songwriter, Dies at 88

US actor musician Kris Kristofferson attends the premiere of "Dreamer" at the Mann Village theater on October 9, 2005 in Westwood, California. (AFP)
US actor musician Kris Kristofferson attends the premiere of "Dreamer" at the Mann Village theater on October 9, 2005 in Westwood, California. (AFP)

Kris Kristofferson, who became one of the most influential American singer-songwriters of his time with works such as "Me and Bobby McGee," as well as becoming a successful actor, died Saturday at the age of 88, according to a family statement.

Kristofferson had been suffering from memory loss since he was in his 70s. A family spokesperson said in a statement that Kristofferson died peacefully at his home in Maui, Hawaii, surrounded by family, but a cause of death was not listed.

Kristofferson was a Renaissance man - an athlete with a poet's sensibilities, a former Army officer and helicopter pilot, a Rhodes scholar who took a job as a janitor in what turned out to be a brilliant career move.

Kristofferson first established himself in the music world as a songwriter in the country music capital of Nashville - writing hits such as the Grammy-winning "Help Me Make It Through the Night,For the Good Times," and one-time girlfriend Janis Joplin's plaintive No. 1 hit, "Me and Bobby McGee."

In the early 1970s he became well-known as a performer with a rumbling, unpolished baritone, as well as an in-demand actor, notably opposite Barbra Streisand in "A Star Is Born," one of the most popular films of 1976.

Kristofferson was born in Brownsville, Texas, on June 22, 1936, and moved frequently because his father was a general in the Air Force. After graduating from Pomona College in California, where he played football and rugby, Kristofferson attended Oxford University on a Rhodes scholarship and then fulfilled the family tradition by joining the Army.

He went through the Army's elite Ranger School, learned to pilot helicopters and reached the rank of captain. In 1965 Kristofferson was offered a position teaching English - he was enthralled by the works of poet William Blake - at the US Military Academy in West Point, New York, but he turned it down in order to head to Nashville.

Kristofferson became a janitor at the Columbia Records studio because it would give him a chance to offer his songs to the big-name stars recording there. He also worked as a helicopter pilot ferrying workers between Louisiana oilfields and offshore drilling rigs.

During that time Kristofferson wrote some of his most memorable songs, including "Help Me Make It Through the Night," which he said he penned atop an oil platform.

"NOTHING LEFT TO LOSE"

Kristofferson's best songs were filled with seekers, wastrels and broken souls trying to find love, redemption or relief from the hangover that life had given them. The broken-hearted narrator of "Bobby McGee," a song Kristofferson said was inspired by the Federico Fellini film "La Strada," summed it up with the line, "Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose."

"Kris brought (country music) kind of from the dark ages up to the present-day time, made it acceptable and brought great lyrics - I mean, the best possible lyrics," Willie Nelson, an early role model for Kristofferson, told CBS's "60 Minutes" in a 1999 interview. "Simple but profound."

Kristofferson recorded four albums with Rita Coolidge, the second of his three wives, in the 1970s and joined Nelson, Cash and Waylon Jennings in the country music super group the Highwaymen in the 1980s and '90s.

Kristofferson's rugged good looks led to roles in movies such as "Cisco Pike,Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid,The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea,Convoy,Heaven's Gate,Lone Star" and "Blade."

After his initial stardom, Kristofferson took on causes such as the United Farm Workers and spoke out against US government involvement in Nicaragua and El Salvador in the 1980s.

Kristofferson began experiencing debilitating memory loss in his mid-70s and his performances suffered for it. Doctors told him it appeared to be the onset of Alzheimer's disease or dementia, possibly brought on by blows to the head while boxing and playing football and rugby in his younger days.

But in 2016, his wife, Lisa, told Rolling Stone magazine that Kristofferson had been diagnosed with Lyme disease, which can cause memory problems, and that after treatment and stopping Alzheimer's medication, his memory began to return partially.

Kristofferson kept active with a 2016 tour that included performances with Nelson and stops in Europe. That year he also marked his 80th birthday by releasing "The Cedar Creek Sessions," an album featuring live versions of his best-known songs.

Kristofferson and his third wife, Lisa, whom he married in 1983, lived on the Hawaiian island of Maui for more than 30 years. He had eight children.