Saudi Film Commission Participates in 2024 Toronto International Film Festival

The Saudi Film Commission logo
The Saudi Film Commission logo
TT

Saudi Film Commission Participates in 2024 Toronto International Film Festival

The Saudi Film Commission logo
The Saudi Film Commission logo

The Saudi Film Commission is participating in the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), held from September 5 to 15.

TIFF is one of the world’s most prestigious film festivals, drawing filmmakers, critics, and audiences globally and serving as a premier platform for showcasing global cinema.

‏This year, the commission will feature a dedicated pavilion highlighting prominent Saudi film projects and initiatives, providing visitors with a unique experience to explore the Kingdom's vast history and vibrant creativity in the film industry.

In addition, a delegation from the commission, along with a group of Saudi filmmakers, will be attending to represent the diverse talents and voices of the Saudi film community.

‏The pavilion embodies the commission’s commitment to advancing the film industry in Saudi Arabia, showcasing recent achievements and highlighting opportunities for international‏ collaboration and partnerships. It aims to attract global interest in Saudi stories and productions while strengthening connections with filmmakers from around the world.

‏The Saudi Film Commission's participation in the Toronto International Film Festival aligns with its strategy to elevate Saudi cinema on the global stage, support Saudi talent, and contribute to the growth of the global film industry.



China Says its Astronauts Complete Record-breaking Spacewalk

File Photo: Astronaut Liu Yang waves as she is out of a return capsule of the Shenzhou-14 spacecraft, following a six-month mission on China's space station, at the Dongfeng landing site in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China December 4, 2022. China Daily via REUTERS
File Photo: Astronaut Liu Yang waves as she is out of a return capsule of the Shenzhou-14 spacecraft, following a six-month mission on China's space station, at the Dongfeng landing site in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China December 4, 2022. China Daily via REUTERS
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China Says its Astronauts Complete Record-breaking Spacewalk

File Photo: Astronaut Liu Yang waves as she is out of a return capsule of the Shenzhou-14 spacecraft, following a six-month mission on China's space station, at the Dongfeng landing site in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China December 4, 2022. China Daily via REUTERS
File Photo: Astronaut Liu Yang waves as she is out of a return capsule of the Shenzhou-14 spacecraft, following a six-month mission on China's space station, at the Dongfeng landing site in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China December 4, 2022. China Daily via REUTERS

Two Chinese astronauts this week completed a world-record spacewalk of more than nine hours, according to a statement from China's Manned Space Agency, marking another milestone for Beijing's rapidly expanding space program.

The spacewalk, carried out by Cai Xuzhe and Song Lingdong outside the Tiangong space station in low-Earth orbit on Tuesday, was at least four minutes longer than the last record set by NASA astronauts James Voss and Susan Helms in 2001, according to Reuters.

The two astronauts of China's Shenzhou-19 mission donned their Feitian spacesuits to carry out an array of tasks on the station's exterior, including the installation of space-debris protection devices, China's space agency said.

"They successfully completed all the planned tasks and felt very excited about it," Wu Hao, a staffer from the China Astronaut Research and Training Center, told China Central Television, a state broadcaster.

The former Soviet Union in 1965 became the first nation to carry out a spacewalk. Since then, Russia and the United States have conducted hundreds of such missions, primarily outside the International Space Station for tasks ranging from solar panel installations to materials research.

The first spacewalk by a Chinese astronaut occurred in 2008.

China's spacewalking milestone this week comes amid a flurry of other recent cosmic achievements that have boosted Beijing's competitive footing with the United States.

China landed its first rover on Mars in 2021 and earlier this year became the first country to retrieve rock samples from the moon's treacherous far side in its Chang'e-6 mission.

Beijing is targeting 2030 to land its first astronauts on the moon to become the second country after the US to put humans there. Beijing has courted roughly a dozen countries for its International Lunar Research Station program, an effort to build a moon base on the moon's south pole.

That program rivals NASA's Artemis program, which aims to return US astronauts to the moon for the first time since the final Apollo mission of 1972.