Egyptian Director Amr Salama Expects New Generation of Saudi Filmmakers

Egyptian director Amr Salama - Facebook
Egyptian director Amr Salama - Facebook
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Egyptian Director Amr Salama Expects New Generation of Saudi Filmmakers

Egyptian director Amr Salama - Facebook
Egyptian director Amr Salama - Facebook

In his latest movie "Barra El Manhag” that took part in the first edition of Saudi Arabia's Red Sea International Film Festival, Egyptian director Amr Salama recalls childhood memories with the story of a 13-year-old orphan who wins his peers' respect when he courageously enters an abandoned house nearby his school. There, he meets an old man hiding, and the two build a friendship that takes them on a journey of self-exploration.

Maged El-Kedwany, Ahmed Amine, Ahmed Khaled Saleh, and child Omar Sherif starred in the movie.

In an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat, Salama said his movie "is an emotional story." "I hope it could please the audience. It’s inspired by true events that I lived, and always wanted to tell."

Speaking about his childhood interests, Salama says: "I think it's mainly related to psychological reasons. I believe childhood is characterized by an innocence that ensures easy communication. I also love the maturity theme, during which a person grows and turns from a child into a man."

The Egyptian director chose Majed al-Kadwani to star in “Barra El Mahag” alongside the kid Omar Sherif. "I thought about Majed for this role since I had the idea of the movie 10 years ago. And after I wrote the script, I realized he was the best fit for the character, but choosing the child was challenging, but after seeing many kids I eventually settled on Omar Sherif," explains Salama.

Although he wrote the script of his film, Salama denies his bias to the "screenwriter cinema," saying: "It doesn't necessarily mean that I support the scriptwriter cinema, it's just a coincidence. I might have many ideas that I would like to write and direct, but that doesn't mean I won't direct works of other screenwriters. I am an open-minded person, and I directed many productions by other screenwriters like 'Taye'’ and ‘Bimbo,’ scheduled to screen soon on Shahid platform."

The young director said he was delighted to partake in the Red Sea Film Festival, noting that "a film festival held in Saudi Arabia is a major step for cinema in the Arab world in general.

"This will lead to a significant boost in the Arabic cinematic and cultural scene. Saudi Arabia has a great cinema audience and I expect a new generation of young Saudi filmmakers who will uplift the Arabic cinema industry within the few coming years."

Salama has recently entered a production partnership with screenwriter and producer Mohamed Hefzi, however, he said his works won’t be exclusively produced by his company. "This doesn't mean I will be working exclusively with this company, and it won't necessarily produce all my works. Yes, the production experience is tough, and I am not sure I can handle it perfectly, but I am learning a lot from it, as it makes me see the direction from a different perspective. This will be a good experience even if it seemed challenging in the beginning."

Many of Salama's works have been streamed on digital platforms including "Paranormal" on Netflix, and Bimbo, scheduled to be aired son on Shahid. The young director does not fear the streaming platforms' experience, stressing that "such platforms will never replace cinema.

"The same thing was said when the television emerged, and then with the satellite and digital streaming outlets. The charm of cinema will never fade, but the digital platforms offer a different experience. Some stories are better seen on these platforms, others fit the cinema theater, while others are television material. The choices are many and this would contribute to the prosperity of the cinema industry."



Video Game Performers Will Go on Strike Over Artificial Intelligence Concerns 

SAG-AFTRA signage is seen on the side of the headquarters in Los Angeles on Friday, Nov. 10, 2023. (AP)
SAG-AFTRA signage is seen on the side of the headquarters in Los Angeles on Friday, Nov. 10, 2023. (AP)
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Video Game Performers Will Go on Strike Over Artificial Intelligence Concerns 

SAG-AFTRA signage is seen on the side of the headquarters in Los Angeles on Friday, Nov. 10, 2023. (AP)
SAG-AFTRA signage is seen on the side of the headquarters in Los Angeles on Friday, Nov. 10, 2023. (AP)

Hollywood's video game performers announced they would go on strike Thursday, throwing part of the entertainment industry into another work stoppage after talks for a new contract with major game studios broke down over artificial intelligence protections.

The strike — the second for video game voice actors and motion capture performers under the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists — will begin at 12:01 a.m. Friday. The move comes after nearly two years of negotiations with gaming giants, including divisions of Activision, Warner Bros. and Walt Disney Co., over a new interactive media agreement.

SAG-AFTRA negotiators say gains have been made over wages and job safety in the video game contract, but that the two sides remained split over the regulation of generative AI. A spokesperson for the video game producers, Audrey Cooling, said the studios offered AI protections, but SAG-AFTRA’s negotiating committee said that the studios’ definition of who constitutes a "performer" is key to understanding the issue of who would be protected.

"The industry has told us point blank that they do not necessarily consider everyone who is rendering movement performance to be a performer that is covered by the collective bargaining agreement," SAG-AFTRA Chief Contracts Officer Ray Rodriguez said at a news conference Thursday afternoon. He said some physical performances are being treated as "data."

Without guardrails, game companies could train AI to replicate an actor’s voice, or create a digital replica of their likeness without consent or fair compensation, the union said.

"We strike as a matter of last resort. We have given this process absolutely as much time as we responsibly can," Rodriguez told reporters. "We have exhausted the other possibilities, and that is why we’re doing it now."

Cooling said the companies' offer "extends meaningful AI protections."

"We are disappointed the union has chosen to walk away when we are so close to a deal, and we remain prepared to resume negotiations," she said.

Andi Norris, an actor and member of the union's negotiating committee, said that those who do stunt work or creature performances would still be at risk under the game companies' offer.

"The performers who bring their body of work to these games create a whole variety of characters, and all of that work must be covered. Their proposal would carve out anything that doesn’t look and sound identical to me as I sit here, when, in truth, on any given week I am a zombie, I am a soldier, I am a zombie soldier," Norris said. "We cannot and will not accept that a stunt or movement performer giving a full performance on stage next to a voice actor isn’t a performer."

The global video game industry generates well over $100 billion dollars in profit annually, according to game market forecaster Newzoo. The people who design and bring those games to life are the driving force behind that success, SAG-AFTRA said.

Members voted overwhelmingly last year to give leadership the authority to strike. Concerns about how movie studios will use AI helped fuel last year’s film and television strikes by the union, which lasted four months.

The last interactive contract, which expired in November 2022, did not provide protections around AI but secured a bonus compensation structure for voice actors and performance capture artists after an 11-month strike that began in October 2016. That work stoppage marked the first major labor action from SAG-AFTRA following the merger of Hollywood’s two largest actors unions in 2012.

The video game agreement covers more than 2,500 "off-camera (voiceover) performers, on-camera (motion capture, stunt) performers, stunt coordinators, singers, dancers, puppeteers, and background performers," according to the union.

Amid the tense interactive negotiations, SAG-AFTRA created a separate contract in February that covered independent and lower-budget video game projects. The tiered-budget independent interactive media agreement contains some of the protections on AI that video game industry titans have rejected. Games signed to an interim interactive media agreement, tiered-budget independent interactive agreement or interim interactive localization agreement are not part of the strike, the union said.