Saudi Film Festival Brightens Future of Cinema in the Kingdom

The 7th edition of the Saudi Film Festival has kicked off on Friday and will run until July 7. The event is managed and organized by Ahmed Al Mulla.

The Saudi Film Festival is one of two cinema-related events in the Kingdom. The other is the Red Sea International Film Festival, and it's scheduled for November. The first is dedicated to Saudi cinema and aims at developing the movie industry, and enhancing the cultural activity in the country, by sponsoring all sorts of cinema-related activities, movies, forums, and books.

The festival is set to screen a large number of works including short, small, narrative, and non-narrative films, aiming at offering "opportunities for Saudi young talents interested in movie making, and celebrating them."

The jury is composed of five members: Saudi Ali Alkalthami (head of the jury), Egyptian actress Bushra, Tunisian director Kawthar bin Haniyeh, Jordanian producer Monzer al-Rayahneh, and American critic Deborah Young.

The festival also organizes a scriptwriting contest featuring 254 participants, 14 of them already reached the finals (six long film scenarios, and eight short films scenarios). The jury of this contest is composed of Saad al-Dossari (president), and members Mohammed al-Bashir, and Raja Sayer Al-Mutairi.

The festival celebrates two cinema stars, Maamoun Hassan (who was head of production at the British Film Institute for several years), and Bahraini director Bassam al-Thawadi.

The Saudi Film Festival was launched in 2008, but its second edition was held in 2015, followed by two successive editions in 2016 and 2017, and then it returned in a sophisticated edition in 2019. Last year, the event went virtual due to the coronavirus pandemic.

This year, the Saudi Film Festival is back with more momentum, purpose, and a team that insists on maintaining progress. It is held in the same location as the past years, at the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture's Ithra Hall, Dammam. A large, beautifully designed venue surrounded by vast gardens, and housing a massive library, two screening halls, and a conference hall that could accommodate a wide audience.

The festival's manager, Ahmed Al Mulla has given special attention to the health measures imposed by the concerned authorities. In a conference he attended a few days ago, he discussed health concerns, and praised "the huge efforts the wise leadership and concerned authorities made to combat the pandemic, enabling the center to organize the event, and host a large audience with all the necessary health precautions."

This is not all. In an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat, Al Mulla answered six questions and revealed further details about the festival and the importance of this edition for the Saudi cinema.

• When you look at the past editions and the current one, how do you see the progress? And does it meet your aspirations?

The Saudi Film Festival has faced many challenges since its launch in 2008, especially the compulsive interruption that separated its first and second editions. The festival has faced many challenges, and the pandemic was the latest but not the last one. We didn't give up, and we redesigned its programs virtually. The digital edition was an adventure, but it achieved remarkable success and reach, which enhanced the plans of the current edition. This year, we managed to organize a live event with a huge audience and keep the virtual platform to ensure that the largest number of spectators watch the festival.

Yes, we dreamed of a wide prospect, we hoped to receive a merited appreciation, and called for support…and our dreams have become true. Our biggest goal was to make a Saudi film with an artistic value that highlights the aesthetics of the country, heritage, and history. In this edition, I feel I am closer to this dream, and I see it approaching for the first time.

• The festival is growing quickly. I attended the 5th edition, and I noticed great organization and planning that I didn't see in other Arab festivals. This makes me ask: What are your ambitions for the coming editions?

My ambition is to see the festival maintain the focus on its main goal: Competition and Saudi movies. I want it to include more diverse programs that inspire movie makers. This will help the movie industry keep growing with constant leaps, similar to those we saw since its debut. I hope the festival will always be a knowledge platform that inspires art and beauty.

• How did the festival benefit moviemakers in the Kingdom so far?

Moviemakers can speak better about the benefits they gained from the festival. For me, the ultimate gain is their gathering at the same place and time in an environment where they can exchange views, and enhance connections. Then there is motivation, decent competition, and development of tools through rich programs providing workshops, forums, books, and regular discussions.

• How did the festival come to light? And who was behind the idea and its implementation?

In 2006, I was a member of the literary club in the Eastern Province and its executive manager. I was also responsible for the events it organizes. Driven by my interest in cinema, I suggested organizing a weekly cinema night, and I chose the movies that were screened during it. The idea lured a great audience of young Saudis who formed a team of movie fans (some opposed the idea). After a lot of negotiations, the club and the Culture and Arts Association in Dammam agreed to organize the first festival. Those who participated in the organization were many, but I won't say names because I don't want to forget anyone.

• Did other Arab film festivals support Saudi films? And how?

Of course, they did. Before, within, and after the Saudi Film Festival, every Saudi movie that partakes in an Arab or international contest will bring many advantages for moviemakers and colleagues. It would contribute to developing the content, encourage others, mark a presence in other festivals, and leave a beautiful trace in the audience's imagination about the Saudi movie.

• A number of Saudi movies will be screened at the Red Sea International Film Festival. How do the Saudi Movie Festival, and moviemakers benefit from this participation?

The Red Sea International Film Festival is an important platform that plays a major role in Saudi Arabia's aspirations for the future because it seeks to fulfill Arab and international ambitions and motivate Saudi movie makers to exert more effort. The festival has already launched several support and development programs, along with its upcoming edition in November. I believe the integration between the two festivals is possible and is actually happening.

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt have reached a divorce settlement, her lawyer said Monday, bringing an apparent end to one of the longest and most contentious divorces in Hollywood history.
Jolie's attorney James Simon confirmed to The Associated Press that the couple had come to a deal. News of the settlement was first reported by People magazine.
“More than eight years ago, Angelina filed for divorce from Mr. Pitt,” Simon said in a statement. “She and the children left all of the properties they had shared with Mr. Pitt, and since that time she has focused on finding peace and healing for their family. This is just one part of a long ongoing process that started eight years ago. Frankly, Angelina is exhausted, but she is relieved this one part is over.”
No court documents have been filed yet, and a judge will need to sign off on the agreement. An email late Monday night to Pitt's attorney seeking comment was not immediately answered.
Jolie, 49, and Pitt, 61, were among Hollywood’s most prominent pairings for 12 years, two of them as a married couple. The Oscar winners have six children together.
Jolie filed for divorce in 2016, after a private jet flight from Europe during which she said Pitt was abusive toward her and their children. The FBI and the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services investigated Pitt's actions on the flight and deemed no action needed to be taken against him.
A judge in 2019 declared them divorced and single, but the splitting of assets and child custody needed to be separately settled.
Soon after, a private judge that the two had hired to handle the case reached a decision that included equal custody of their children, but Jolie filed to have him removed from the case over an unreported conflict of interest. An appeals court agreed, the judge was removed, and the couple had to start the process over.
During the long divorce fight, four of the couple's six children became adults, negating the need for a custody agreement for them. The only two that remain minors are 16-year-old twins Knox and Vivienne. In June, one of their daughters, then known as Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt, successfully petitioned to remove Pitt's name from hers.
Their other children are 23-year-old Maddox, 21-year-old Pax and 19-year-old Zahara.
No details of the agreement were immediately revealed, and the couple's use of the private judge — an increasingly common move among splitting celebrities in recent years — has kept the proceedings largely under wraps. There have been no official court actions in the case in nearly a year, and no indication that the two had been nearing an agreement.
Some details on their disputes, however, have been revealed through a separate lawsuit filed by Pitt in which he alleged Jolie reneged on an agreement that she would sell him her half of a French winery the two owned together. Jolie instead sold her part of the winery, Chateau Miraval, to the Tenute del Mondo wine group, a subsidiary of the Stoli Group., which Pitt said was a “vindictive” move that ruined a private space that had been a second home.
Jolie's attorneys said the winery sale agreement broke down over Pitt's demand that as part of the deal she sign a wide-ranging non-disclosure agreement about him. In court documents, she called that an attempt to cover up his physical abuse of her, which she said turned toward the children on the 2016 flight.
Along with the federal and L.A. County officials, the initial judge in the case heard testimony on the allegations before deciding to give Pitt equal custody of the children.
It's not clear how the divorce agreement will affect the winery lawsuit.
Publicly, both Pitt and Jolie have been extremely tight-lipped on everything surrounding their split, despite robust promotional tours and many media appearances for various projects.
Pitt said in a 2017 interview with GQ that he had had a drinking problem at the time of the plane incident and the split, but had since become sober and was going to therapy. He has not defended his behavior on the family flight.
Jolie has also declined to make any public statements about the family issues or the divorce, though she has sought a broader examination and airing of his behavior by the courts in both the divorce and winery cases.

Saudi Film Festival Brightens Future of Cinema in the Kingdom