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)
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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.  



World War II Sergeant Whose Plane Was Shot Down over Germany Honored with Reburial in California

This 1944 photo provided by Honoring Our Fallen shows WWII veteran US Army Air Force Tech. Sgt. Donald V. Banta from Los Angeles. Banta, 21, was killed in action in early 1944 when his plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire over Gotha, Germany. On Thursday, July 25, 2024 community members lined the roads to honor Banta as he was brought from Ontario International Airport in southern California to a burial home. (Honoring Our Fallen via AP)
This 1944 photo provided by Honoring Our Fallen shows WWII veteran US Army Air Force Tech. Sgt. Donald V. Banta from Los Angeles. Banta, 21, was killed in action in early 1944 when his plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire over Gotha, Germany. On Thursday, July 25, 2024 community members lined the roads to honor Banta as he was brought from Ontario International Airport in southern California to a burial home. (Honoring Our Fallen via AP)
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World War II Sergeant Whose Plane Was Shot Down over Germany Honored with Reburial in California

This 1944 photo provided by Honoring Our Fallen shows WWII veteran US Army Air Force Tech. Sgt. Donald V. Banta from Los Angeles. Banta, 21, was killed in action in early 1944 when his plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire over Gotha, Germany. On Thursday, July 25, 2024 community members lined the roads to honor Banta as he was brought from Ontario International Airport in southern California to a burial home. (Honoring Our Fallen via AP)
This 1944 photo provided by Honoring Our Fallen shows WWII veteran US Army Air Force Tech. Sgt. Donald V. Banta from Los Angeles. Banta, 21, was killed in action in early 1944 when his plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire over Gotha, Germany. On Thursday, July 25, 2024 community members lined the roads to honor Banta as he was brought from Ontario International Airport in southern California to a burial home. (Honoring Our Fallen via AP)

After 80 years, a World War II sergeant killed in Germany has returned home to California.

On Thursday, community members lined the roads to honor US Army Air Force Tech. Sgt. Donald V. Banta as he was brought from Ontario International Airport to a burial home in Riverside, California, The AP reported.

Banta, 21, was killed in action in early 1944 when his plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire over Gotha, Germany, according to Honoring Our Fallen, an organization that provides support to families of fallen military and first responders.

One of the surviving crewmembers saw the plane was on fire, then fell in a steep dive before exploding on the ground. After the crash, German troops buried the remains of one soldier at a local cemetery, while the other six crewmembers, including Banta, were unaccounted for.

Banta was married and had four sisters and a brother. He joined the military because of his older brother Floyd Jack Banta, who searched for Donald Banta his whole life but passed away before he was found.

Donald Banta's niece was present at the planeside honors ceremony at the Ontario airport coordinated by Honoring Our Fallen.

The remains from the plane crash were initially recovered in 1952, but they could not be identified at the time and were buried in Belgium. Banta was accounted for Sept. 26, 2023, following efforts by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency within the US Department of Defense and the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System.