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AlUla Hosts Creative Boot Camp to Develop Saudi Cinematic Talents

The program is designed to prepare and train Saudi talents at the hands of a group of professional expertise (Film AlUla)
The program is designed to prepare and train Saudi talents at the hands of a group of professional expertise (Film AlUla)
    AlUla (Saudi Arabia) - Asharq Al-Awsat
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AlUla Hosts Creative Boot Camp to Develop Saudi Cinematic Talents

The program is designed to prepare and train Saudi talents at the hands of a group of professional expertise (Film AlUla)
The program is designed to prepare and train Saudi talents at the hands of a group of professional expertise (Film AlUla)

Saudi Arabia’s AlUla is preparing to host a creative boot camp to train a generation of cinematic talents, empower them with knowledge and practical experiences, and develop the film industry in the Kingdom.

This comes as part of AlUla’s endeavor to promote its transformation to a new cinematic destination, after it opened its doors to local and international productions in 2020.

Film AlUla, the Royal Commission for AlUla’s film agency, has partnered with the UK’s industry-led Creative Media Skills Institute to host a 10-day hands-on boot camp led by award-winning film professionals who will head to AlUla in north-west Saudi Arabia to pass on their invaluable knowledge and expertise to a new generation of local filmmakers.

The two organizations have teamed up to give 25 local trainees from AlUla the opportunity to pave their way into the world of cinema.

The training program, which will be held in AlUla, Saudi Arabia’s northwestern region, will prepare talents for employment in production, assistant directing, and the art, locations, costume, make-up and hair departments.

Aspiring talented and committed creatives will have the unique opportunity of developing new skills to build a career in the film industry from top screen professionals from the Creative Media Skills Institute which is based in the heart of the world-famous Pinewood Studios in the UK.

Charlene Jones, Executive Director at Film AlUla, has affirmed that Saudi Arabia’s film industry is beginning to flourish, and developing local film professionals is crucial to the success of building film production in AlUla.
The Kingdom, according to Jones, is home to a large pool of creative and technical talent.

Jones also noted that the Creative Media Skills Institute has a team of highly experienced screen industry professionals that will be sharing their expertise with a new generation of a young film crew to help them break into the industry and ensure they are set ready for more Film and TV production coming to the region.  

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Landmark Nepal Survey Estimates Nearly 400 Elusive Snow Leopards

A snow leopard walks in its enclosure at the RZSS Highland Wildlife Park near Kincraig Scotland, Britain, February 12, 2016. (Reuters)
A snow leopard walks in its enclosure at the RZSS Highland Wildlife Park near Kincraig Scotland, Britain, February 12, 2016. (Reuters)
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Landmark Nepal Survey Estimates Nearly 400 Elusive Snow Leopards

A snow leopard walks in its enclosure at the RZSS Highland Wildlife Park near Kincraig Scotland, Britain, February 12, 2016. (Reuters)
A snow leopard walks in its enclosure at the RZSS Highland Wildlife Park near Kincraig Scotland, Britain, February 12, 2016. (Reuters)

Nepal's first nationwide survey of the threatened snow leopard estimated nearly 400 of the elusive big cats in the Himalayan nation, wildlife officials said Tuesday.

Habitat loss, climate change and poaching have greatly impacted snow leopard populations across Asia, listed as a "vulnerable" species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

But the survey offers a rare shot of hope, confirming numbers lie at the upper end of the previous estimates.

With thick grey fur dotted with dark spots, and large paws that act as natural snow shoes, the species are difficult to spot and quick to hide, making field research challenging.

"This is a historic step in Nepal's snow leopard conservation journey," Haribhadra Acharya, senior ecologist at the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation, told AFP.

"This is the first time we are getting authentic data with the great effort of researchers," he said.

An estimated total of 397 snow leopards were counted, determined through motion-sensor camera and genetic analysis in seven key areas.

It offers the most comprehensive national estimate of snow leopards -- also known as the "ghosts of mountains" -- previously estimated by the IUCN to be in the range of 301-400.

Snow leopards are the least studied of the big cats globally due to their low population density and remote mountain habitats they inhabit.

"Nepal has only two percent of the size of the snow leopard habitats globally, (yet) we host 10 percent of the total estimated population", Ghana S Gurung, country representative of WWF Nepal, told AFP.

"More importantly, we are the second smallest country in terms of snow leopard habitat size after Bhutan, (but) we hold the fourth largest population," he added.

The Snow Leopard Trust, a US-based conservation group, says the exact total number is not known but that "there may be as few as 3,920 and probably no more than 6,390" across 12 countries in Asia.

Although conservationists have welcomed the new population estimate, many remain concerned about the threats posed by climate change and infrastructure development.

"New road construction, installation of transmission lines, and increased human activity in search of herbs are disrupting snow leopards' habitats in the Himalayas," said Acharya, one of the lead researchers.

Experts say the increasing avalanches in the mountains -- where climate change is exacerbating extremes of weather patterns -- are another threat.

Nepal has been praised worldwide for its efforts to protect wildlife which have helped several species, including tigers and rhinos, to return from the brink of local extinction.

The country's conservation efforts have helped to triple its tiger population to 355 since 2010 and to increase one-horned rhinoceros from around 100 in the 1960s to 752 in 2021.