‘Mosque attack’ headlines Saudi fest – Modest festival to feature 70 productions in competition

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 A picture taken on March 21, 2016 shows employees working outside the Saudi Cultural Center in Dammam, some 400 kms east of the capital Riyadh, two days before the opening of the film festival. (AFP)

A picture taken on March 21, 2016 shows employees working outside the Saudi Cultural Center in Dammam, some 400 kms east of the capital Riyadh, two days before the opening of the film festival. (AFP)

RIYADH, March 22, (Agencies): A drama about an attack on a mosque is headlining the third Saudi Film Festival, which opens Thursday amid hopes the conservative kingdom may finally allow public cinemas. The modest festival, which will feature 70 productions in competition, is a far cry from the glitz and glamour of Western counterparts.

The austere version of Islam practised in Saudi Arabia bans cinemas and other entertainment venues.

But organisers hope the event, which will see screenings take place at an arts and cultural centre in the Gulf coast city of Dammam, will help develop the country’s nascent film industry.

“We try to raise the standards, to make it better,” festival director Ahmed Al Mulla told AFP.

The festival will culminate on Monday night with winners of the juried competition receiving its Golden Palm Tree awards.

It is the second consecutive annual festival after the event resumed last year following an absence of seven years.

Quality

AlMulla said this year’s festival has more entries than in 2015, and of a higher quality. They will be shown on a bigger screen with an improved sound system.

Rakan Al Harbi’s four-minute drama “Their Stained Hearts” will be one of three short films shown to hundreds of guests expected at the red-carpet opening gala.

The film tells the story of a museum for “terrorists” — where a visitor engages in a conversation with the attacker of a mosque.

Saudi Arabia has suffered a series of shootings and bombings of mosques belonging to the country’s Shiite minority which have killed some 40 people since late 2014. The Islamic State group claimed many of the attacks.

AlMulla said the films in competition address a range of topics, from extremism and war to health, human rights and social issues.

Some of the films provide a forum for the kingdom’s youth who “raise their voice about how they are living,” he said.

The festival, which could not have gone ahead without government endorsement, has helped raise hopes that official attitudes to cinema might be changing, AlMulla said.

One indicator came in an agreement to allow seven short films from the 2015 festival to be shown on the final day of the Riyadh International Book Fair last weekend.

Interest in filmmaking has continued to grow, with the 70 productions chosen for this year’s festival coming from 112 entries in the drama, documentary and student categories.

Last year 66 productions were in competition from 104 entries.

Many of the films will be shown for the first time and all the competitors are Saudi.

Pursue

Fifty-five scripts not yet in production will also be judged, up from 34 last time. Festival winners receive grants to help them pursue their cinematic passions.

Workshops on production, cinematography and acting, to be conducted in conjunction with the festival, were deluged with applicants.

“In six hours we had more than 600 registered,” AlMulla said.

The non-profit festival is organised by the kingdom’s Society for Culture and Arts.

While cinemas are banned, Saudis are voracious viewers of online videos and rank among the highest watchers of YouTube in the world.

Saudi films have also been shown in major international festivals and in 2013 Haifaa Al-Mansour’s “Wadjda” became the kingdom’s first film to be listed as a candidate for a foreign-language Oscar.

It told the story of a rebellious girl who dreams of owning a bicycle in a country where women’s rights are severely restricted.

Despite resistance from conservatives, the public has a “thirst” for cinema, as shown by the number of Saudis visiting theatres in neighbouring Gulf countries, newspaper columnist Samar Al-Muqrin wrote recently.

“We are eagerly waiting for the day when people in the kingdom would be able to go to the cinema,” she said in a January column, saying she believed “it would not take long” for a decision to be made.

 In cooperation with the US Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the New York Film Academy Foundation, in collaboration with the New York Film Academy College of Visual & Performing Arts (NYFA), is facilitating a series of filmmaking educational activities supported by the Saudi American Education and Cultural Grants Initiative Grants Program. The NYFA programming commences in mid-March 2016.

“The New York Film Academy has been the academic institution of choice to numerous students from Saudi Arabia, many of whom have returned to their country and are deeply attached to the Kingdom’s blossoming creative community,” said NYFA President, Michael Young. “We are very proud to be part of their achievements as visual storytellers, and we are honored to partner with the US Embassy to develop the exceptional talent emerging from Saudi Arabia today.”

To continue its close association with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s education, arts, and cultural communities, NYFA will be hosting a series of workshops at the 3rd Annual Saudi Film Festival (“Dammam Film Festival”) held in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia from March 24th — 28th. Working with the Saudi Arabia Society for Culture and Arts (SASCA), Jonathan Whittaker, NYFA Chair of Short-term Programs and Professor of Director’s Craft, Screen writing, and cinematography, will be conducting a three-day intensive and hands-on Master class workshop in cinematography for up-and-coming Saudi filmmakers attending the Film Festival. At the closing ceremony of the festival NYFA will be presenting the “NYFA Award For Emerging Talent”-a full tuition scholarship to NYFA-to the winner in the “Best Student Film” category.

In partnership with renowned King Saud University (KSU) in Riyadh, NYFA will hold a Master class workshop titled, “Cultural Identity: Through a Lens,” which intends to have young Saudi filmmakers, selected by KSU, to make short films that portray a personal view of some aspect of Saudi culture. Whit taker, along with the workshop’s associate faculty instructor, Aymen Khoja, a Saudi filmmaker and NYFA alumnus, will work with 20 participant-storytellers through a six day program that aims to provide students with the opportunity to write, produce, shoot and edit his or her own film, and will finalize with four final productions that will be shared through social media.

NYFA will support the launch of the “1st Youth Film Festival,” and on March 30 will conduct a “Directing the Performance” class and lecture to approximately 70 Embassy youth club members at the US Embassy in Riyadh.

Throughout all of NYFA’s March program activities in Saudi Arabia,Whittaker and Khoja will be assisted by a group of Saudi teacher assistants who are alumni of NYFA. A documentary short film will be shot and produced so that this exciting initiative can be shared with the world.

New York Film Academy College of Visual & Performing Arts (NYFA) is listed as a recommended school by the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Higher Education and is considered the best hands-on film school in the world by many of today’s top filmmakers.

New York Film Academy College of Visual & Performing Arts is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD) and provides students with a variety of options to access a performing and visual arts education. With locations all around the world, the New York Film Academy has grown into an international film and performing arts school with a focus on learning by doing, providing its students with hands-on instruction. Students can choose to enroll in one of the Academy’s MFA, MA, BFA, BA, and AFA US Accredited degree programs, conservatory programs, and short term workshops in filmmaking, acting for film, photography, producing, 3D animation, cinematography, screen writing, documentary filmmaking, game design, musical theatre, broadcast journalism, music video, graphic design, illustration, and digital editing.

With more than 6,000 students from 108 countries this past academic year, NYFA offers courses all around the world, including New York City, Los Angeles, South Beach, Abu Dhabi, Sydney, Gold Coast, Florence, Paris and more.

The Academy is also known for hosting one of the most exclusive Guest Speaker Series in the world, which has delivered guest lectures from industry elites such as Al Pacino, Ron Howard, Kevin Spacey and Saudi Arabian-born producer, Mohammed Al Turki.

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