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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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Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Survivor, Who Devoted His Life for Peace, Dies at 93

Shigemi Fukahori is interviewed at the Urakami Cathedral in Nagasaki, southern Japan, on July 29, 2020. (Kyodo News via AP, File)
Shigemi Fukahori is interviewed at the Urakami Cathedral in Nagasaki, southern Japan, on July 29, 2020. (Kyodo News via AP, File)
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Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Survivor, Who Devoted His Life for Peace, Dies at 93

Shigemi Fukahori is interviewed at the Urakami Cathedral in Nagasaki, southern Japan, on July 29, 2020. (Kyodo News via AP, File)
Shigemi Fukahori is interviewed at the Urakami Cathedral in Nagasaki, southern Japan, on July 29, 2020. (Kyodo News via AP, File)

Shigemi Fukahori, a survivor of the 1945 Nagasaki atomic bombing, who devoted his life to advocating for peace has died. He was 93.

Fukahori died at a hospital in Nagasaki, southwestern Japan, on Jan. 3, the Urakami Catholic Church, where he prayed almost daily until last year, said on Sunday. Local media reported he died of old age.

The church, located about 500 meters from ground zero and near the Nagasaki Peace Park, is widely seen as a symbol of hope and peace, as its bell tower and some statues and survived the nuclear bombing.

Fukahori was only 14 when the US dropped the bomb on Nagasaki on Aug. 9, 1945, killing tens of thousands of people, including his family. That came three days after the nuclear attack on Hiroshima, which killed 140,000 people. Japan surrendered days later, ending World War II and the country's nearly half-century of aggression across Asia.

Fukahori, who worked at a shipyard about 3 kilometers (2 miles) from where the bomb dropped, couldn’t talk about what happened for years, not only because of the painful memories but also how powerless he felt then.

About 15 years ago, he became more outspoken after encountering, during a visit to Spain, a man who experienced the bombing of Guernica in 1937 during the Spanish Civil War when he was also 14 years old. The shared experience helped Fukahori open up.

“On the day the bomb dropped, I heard a voice asking for help. When I walked over and held out my hand, the person’s skin melted. I still remember how that felt,” Fukahori told Japan’s national broadcaster NHK in 2019.

He often addressed students, hoping they take on what he called “the baton of peace,” in reference to his advocacy.

When Pope Francis visited Nagasaki in 2019, Fukahori was the one who handed him a wreath of white flowers. The following year, Fukahori represented the bomb victims at a ceremony, making his “pledge for peace,” saying: “I am determined to send our message to make Nagasaki the final place where an atomic bomb is ever dropped.”

A wake is scheduled for Sunday, and funeral services on Monday at Urakami Church, where his daughter will represent the family.