Saudi Film Festival to be Organized by Saudi Cinema Association as of 2022

An actor poses with a replica of a vintage cinema camera as visitors enter an invitation-only screening, at the King Abdullah Financial District Theater, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Wednesday, April 18, 2018. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)
An actor poses with a replica of a vintage cinema camera as visitors enter an invitation-only screening, at the King Abdullah Financial District Theater, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Wednesday, April 18, 2018. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)
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Saudi Film Festival to be Organized by Saudi Cinema Association as of 2022

An actor poses with a replica of a vintage cinema camera as visitors enter an invitation-only screening, at the King Abdullah Financial District Theater, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Wednesday, April 18, 2018. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)
An actor poses with a replica of a vintage cinema camera as visitors enter an invitation-only screening, at the King Abdullah Financial District Theater, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Wednesday, April 18, 2018. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)

The committee responsible for organizing the Saudi Film Festival has decided to assign all the rights, mechanisms, and commitments of the coming editions of the festival to the Saudi Cinema Association as of the 8th edition scheduled on June 9-2, in partnership with the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture (Ithra), and with the support of the film committee at the Ministry of Culture.

The agreement was signed on April 16 by the chairman of the board of directors at the Culture and Arts Association Dammam, Abdulaziz Ismail, and chairman of the board of directors at the Saudi Cinema Association Ahmed Al Mulla at the headquarters of the Culture and Arts Association Dammam.

The Association, in partnership with the Dammam Literary Club, organized the first seven editions of the Festival, since its debut in 2008.

The Saudi Film Festival is one of the programs carried on by the national initiative for developing local filmmaking aimed at creating opportunities for the Saudi talents, celebrating best productions, and supporting the Kingdom’s goal to establish a specialized cinema association.
The Saudi Cinema Association was founded in 2021, as a body specializing in filmmaking and cinema productions.

Hana Al-Omair, chairwoman of the new Saudi Cinema Association, hailed the major role played by the Culture and Arts Association Dammam, and how it created a prestigious event that the Association will keep promoting, in addition to improving the filmmaking and cinema industry in Saudi Arabia, and preserving the history and archive of the Saudi Film Festival.

“Today, we have placed the Saudi Film Festival in its new cinema-focused frame and left it in good hands that have always been eager to promote it. The Culture and Arts Association Dammam, in cooperation with the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture and the Culture Ministry, managed to grow this festival and support it until it reached its current position,” said Ismail.

“The festival is known worldwide as the top incubator of talents in the Kingdom and the Arabian Gulf region. Behind these huge efforts stand many great names that dedicated their time and potentials to the festival since its launch and are ready to further support it in its new aspect in cooperation with the cinema association…This makes us happy and reassured that the festival will keep advancing,” he added.



Captain Cook Statue in Sydney Defaced Ahead of Australia’s National Day 

A statue of Captain James Cook is covered in red paint after being vandalized, in Randwick, Sydney, Australia, 24 January 2025. It is the second time in 12 months that the statue has been vandalized. (EPA)
A statue of Captain James Cook is covered in red paint after being vandalized, in Randwick, Sydney, Australia, 24 January 2025. It is the second time in 12 months that the statue has been vandalized. (EPA)
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Captain Cook Statue in Sydney Defaced Ahead of Australia’s National Day 

A statue of Captain James Cook is covered in red paint after being vandalized, in Randwick, Sydney, Australia, 24 January 2025. It is the second time in 12 months that the statue has been vandalized. (EPA)
A statue of Captain James Cook is covered in red paint after being vandalized, in Randwick, Sydney, Australia, 24 January 2025. It is the second time in 12 months that the statue has been vandalized. (EPA)

A statue in Sydney of British explorer James Cook, captain of the first Western ship to reach the east coast of Australia, was sprayed with red paint and damaged two days before Australia's national day, authorities said on Friday.

It was the second time the statue has been defaced and vandalized in the last year. Police said that they had begun an investigation and that several items had been found near the statue.

Local councilor Carolyn Martin said the vandals may have scaled a fence around the statue using a ladder, which they left behind.

"It's an absolute mess," Martin told radio station 2GB. "They have splattered paint all over it, then they have managed to get to the top of the statue and they've knocked his hand off and also part of his face and nose."

For many Indigenous Australians, who trace their lineage on the continent back 50,000 years and make up about 4% of the country's population of 27 million, the Australia Day holiday is known as Invasion Day, symbolizing the destruction of their cultures by European settlers.

Many Indigenous groups want Australia to drop celebrations or move the date, which marks the anniversary of the arrival of the British First Fleet in 1788.

Every year on Jan. 26, protesters rally against the mistreatment of Indigenous people, who are by most socio-economic measures the most disadvantaged people in the country.

A survey by the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper on Friday showed the support to keep Jan. 26 as Australia's national day surged to 61% from 47% over the past two years, signaling a shift in voters' sentiment.