Red Sea Film Foundation Partners with Diriyah Biennale to Present 'Cinema Nights'

17:32-13 March 2024 AD ـ 03 Ramadan 1445 AH

Red Sea Film Foundation Partners with Diriyah Biennale to Present 'Cinema Nights'

The Red Sea Film Foundation announced on Wednesday that it will partner with the Diriyah Biennale Foundation to launch the “Cinema Nights” series that will be held on the sidelines of the Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale 2024 in the JAX District in Diriyah from March 7 to May 23.

This partnership aims to enrich the cinematic and cultural landscape by providing a platform for dialogue through a series of exclusive screenings of local and international films and discussions with filmmakers, "offering a unique opportunity for art and culture enthusiasts to dive into captivating narrative worlds and explore unique cinematic horizons," the Red Sea Film Foundation said in a statement.

The “Cinema Nights” program will present a selected series of exclusive film screenings, including the Saudi film “Hajjan,” by director Abu Bakr Shawky, which tells the story of a boy named Omar and his relationship with his camel “Haffara” that develops over the days. The film highlights a collection of intricately designed scenes against the backdrop of Saudi Arabia’s expansive deserts, starring several stars such as Azzam Namr, Abdulmohsen Alnemer, and rising talent Omar Atawi.

Visitors can watch the anticipated Saudi film “Noura” by Saudi director and writer Tawfiq Al-Zaidi, starring Saudi Arabia’s Yaqoub Alfarhan, and the esteemed Abdullah Al-Sadhan in his first big-screen appearance.

The event will also host a series of international cinematic screenings, including the Japanese film “Evil Does Not Exist” and “Behind the Mountains” by Tunisian director Mohamed Ben Attia, along with many international and local short films.

Red Sea Film Foundation CEO Mohammed Al Turki said: “We are proud of this partnership with the Diriyah Biennale Foundation, which reflects our dedication at the Red Sea Film Foundation to enriching the cultural and cinematic scene in the Kingdom. It also highlights our continuous commitment to fostering partnerships with cultural entities that align with our shared objectives."

He added: “Cinema Nights is not just a cinematic event, but also a cultural platform that celebrates storytelling and creativity and enhances the cultural exchange between peoples.”

Diriyah Biennale Foundation CEO Aya Al-Bakree said: “We are excited to partner with the Red Sea Film Foundation to offer a rich cinematic experience to our visitors. We strongly believe in the role that film plays in highlighting unique stories and igniting new dialogue between different cultures and generations.”

“Through our second edition of the Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale we aim to create a thought-provoking, immersive, and multi-sensory cultural journey for visitors of all ages and backgrounds, and we believe our collaboration with the Red Sea Film Foundation is an important step in achieving that goal,” she added.

The program offers a curated selection of ten feature films every Thursday from March 7 to May 23. Furthermore, local and international short films will be shown on May 10 and 11 at the Diriyah Biennale Foundation in Riyadh, providing visitors with an immersive cinematic experience using the latest sound and image technologies. Arabic and English subtitles are available for all the scheduled film screenings.

“This partnership between the Red Sea Film Foundation and the Diriyah Biennale Foundation reflects a shared commitment to enhancing the cultural and cinematic landscape in the Kingdom, and to fostering artistic and creative expression through platforms that attract promising artistic and cinematic talents," said the statement.

Perry Bamonte, Keyboardist and Guitarist for The Cure, Dies at 65

Perry Bamonte of The Cure performs at North Island Credit Union Amphitheater on May 20, 2023 in Chula Vista, California. (Getty Images/AFP)

08:50-27 December 2025 AD ـ 07 Rajab 1447 AH

Perry Bamonte, Keyboardist and Guitarist for The Cure, Dies at 65

Perry Bamonte of The Cure performs at North Island Credit Union Amphitheater on May 20, 2023 in Chula Vista, California. (Getty Images/AFP)

Perry Bamonte, keyboardist and guitarist in The Cure, has died at 65, the English indie rock band confirmed through their official website on Friday.

In a statement, the band wrote that Bamonte died "after a short illness at home" on Christmas Day.

"It is with enormous sadness that ‌we confirm ‌the death of our ‌great ⁠friend and ‌bandmate Perry Bamonte who passed away after a short illness at home over Christmas," the statement said, adding he was a "vital part of The Cure story."

The statement said Bamonte was ⁠a full-time member of The Cure since 1990, ‌playing guitar, six-string bass, ‍and keyboards, and ‍performed in more than 400 shows.

Bamonte, ‍born in London, England, in 1960, joined the band's road crew in 1984, working alongside his younger brother Daryl, who worked as tour manager for The Cure.

Bamonte first worked as ⁠an assistant to co-founder and lead vocalist, Robert Smith, before becoming a full member after keyboardist Roger O'Donnell left the band in 1990.

Bamonte's first album with The Cure was "Wish" in 1992. He continued to work with them on the next three albums.

He also had various acting ‌roles in movies: "Judge Dredd,About Time" and "The Crow."

Entertainment

First Bond Game in a Decade Hit by Two-month Delay

'007 First Light' depicts a younger Bond earning his license to kill. Ina FASSBENDER / AFP

Asharq Al Awsat

07:47-25 December 2025 AD ـ 05 Rajab 1447 AH

Asharq Al Awsat

07:47-25 December 2025 AD ـ 05 Rajab 1447 AH

First Bond Game in a Decade Hit by Two-month Delay

'007 First Light' depicts a younger Bond earning his license to kill. Ina FASSBENDER / AFP

A Danish video game studio said it was delaying the release of the first James Bond video game in over a decade by two months to "refine the experience".

Fans will now have to wait until May 27 to play "007 First Light" featuring Ian Fleming's world-famous spy, after IO Interactive said on Tuesday it was postponing the launch to add some final touches.

"007 First Light is our most ambitious project to date, and the team has been fully focused on delivering an unforgettable James Bond experience," the Danish studio wrote on X.

Describing the game as "fully playable", IO Interactive said the two additional months would allow their team "to further polish and refine the experience", giving players "the strongest possible version at launch".

The game, which depicts a younger Bond earning his license to kill, is set to feature "globe-trotting, spycraft, gadgets, car chases, and more", IO Interactive added.

It has been more than a decade since a video game inspired by Bond was released. The initial release date was scheduled for March 27.

Entertainment

Movie Review: An Electric Timothee Chalamet Is the Consummate Striver in Propulsive ‘Marty Supreme’

Timothee Chalamet attends the premiere of "Marty Supreme" at Regal Times Square on Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025, in New York. (AP)

16:57-22 December 2025 AD ـ 02 Rajab 1447 AH

Movie Review: An Electric Timothee Chalamet Is the Consummate Striver in Propulsive ‘Marty Supreme’

Timothee Chalamet attends the premiere of "Marty Supreme" at Regal Times Square on Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025, in New York. (AP)

“Everybody wants to rule the world,” goes the Tears for Fears song we hear at a key point in “Marty Supreme,” Josh Safdie’s nerve-busting adrenaline jolt of a movie starring a never-better Timothee Chalamet.

But here’s the thing: everybody may want to rule the world, but not everybody truly believes they CAN. This, one could argue, is what separates the true strivers from the rest of us.

And Marty — played by Chalamet in a delicious synergy of actor, role and whatever fairy dust makes a performance feel both preordained and magically fresh — is a striver. With every fiber of his restless, wiry body. They should add him to the dictionary definition.

Needless to say, Marty is a New Yorker.

Also needless to say, Chalamet is a New Yorker.

And so is Safdie, a writer-director Chalamet has called “the street poet of New York.” So, where else could this story be set?

It’s 1952, on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. Marty Mauser is a salesman in his uncle’s shoe store, escaping to the storeroom for a hot tryst with his (married) girlfriend. This witty opening sequence won’t be the only thing recalling “Uncut Gems,” co-directed by Safdie with his brother Benny before the two split for solo projects. That film, which feels much like the precursor to “Marty Supreme,” began as a trip through the shiny innards of a rare opal, only to wind up inside Adam Sandler’s colon, mid-colonoscopy.

Sandler’s Howard Ratner was a New York striver, too, but sadder, and more troubled. Marty is young, determined, brash — with an eye always to the future. He’s a great salesman: “I could sell shoes to an amputee,” he boasts, crassly. But what he’s plotting to unveil to the world has nothing to do with shoes. It’s about table tennis.

How likely is it that this Jewish kid from the Lower East Side can become the very face of a sport in America, soon to be “staring at you from the cover of a Wheaties box?”

To Marty, perfectly likely. Still, he knows nobody in the US cares about table tennis. He’s so determined to prove everyone wrong, starting at the British Open in London, that when there’s a snag obtaining cash for his trip, he brandishes a gun at a colleague to get it.

Shaking off that sorta-armed robbery thing, Marty arrives in London, where he fast-talks his way into a suite at the Ritz. Here, he spies fellow guest Kay Stone (Gwyneth Paltrow, in a wise, stylish return to the screen), a former movie star married to an insufferable tycoon (“Shark Tank” personality Kevin O’Leary, one of many nonactors here.)

Kay’s skeptical, but Marty finds a way to woo her. Really, all he has to say is: “Come watch me.” Once she sees him play, she’s sneaking into his room in a lace corselet.

This would be a good time to stop and consider Chalamet’s subtly transformed appearance. He is stick-thin — duh, he never stops moving. His mustache is skimpy. His skin is acne-scarred — just enough to erase any movie-star sheen. Most strikingly, his eyes, behind the round spectacles, are beady — and smaller. Definitely not those movie-star eyes.

But then, nearly all the faces in “Marty Supreme” are extraordinary. In a movie with more than 100 characters, we have known actors (Fran Drescher, Abel Ferrara); nonacting personalities (O’Leary, and an excellent Tyler Okonma (Tyler, The Creator) as Marty’s friend Wally); and exciting newcomers like Odessa A’Zion as Marty’s feisty girlfriend Rachel.

There are also a slew of nonactors in small parts, plus cameos from the likes of David Mamet and even high wire artist Philippe Petit. The dizzying array makes one curious how it all came together — is casting director Jennifer Venditti taking interns? Production notes tell us that for one hustling scene at a bowling alley, young men were recruited from a sports trading-card convention.

Elsewhere on the creative team, composer Daniel Lopatin succeeds in channeling both Marty’s beating heart and the ricochet of pingpong balls in his propulsive score. The script by Safdie and cowriter Ronald Bronstein, loosely based on real-life table tennis hustler Marty Reisman, beats with its own, never-stopping pulse. The same breakneck aesthetic applies to camera work by Darius Khondji.

Back now to London, where Marty makes the finals against Japanese player Koto Endo (Koto Kawaguchi, like his character a deaf table tennis champion). “I’ll be dropping a third atom bomb on them,” he brags — not his only questionable World War II quip. But Endo, with his unorthodox paddle and grip, prevails.

After a stint as a side act with the Harlem Globetrotters, including pingpong games with a seal — you’ll have to take our word for this, folks, we’re running low on space — Marty returns home, determined to make the imminent world championships in Tokyo.

But he's in trouble — remember he took cash at gunpoint? Worse, he has no money.

So Marty’s on the run. And he’ll do anything, however messy or dangerous, to get to Japan. Even if he has to totally debase himself (mark our words), or endanger friends — or abandon loyal and brave Rachel.

Is there something else for Marty, besides his obsessive goal? If so, he doesn’t know it yet. But the lyrics of another song used in the film are instructive here: “Everybody’s got to learn sometime.”

So can a single-minded striver ultimately learn something new about his own life?

We'll have to see. As Marty might say: “Come watch me.”

Red Sea Film Foundation Partners with Diriyah Biennale to Present 'Cinema Nights'