JEDDAH, 14 July 2006 — The Kingdom’s first film festival that opened here on Wednesday continued on the second day yesterday. The event being held at the Jeddah Science and Technology Center will be open to families only on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays for the next four weeks, organizers said yesterday.
After paying 20 riyals for a ticket, a visitor can watch all the movies scheduled for the day and also have the chance to view the exhibits on display at the center.
“It’s not fair to exclude us from such a historic event,” said 20-year-old law student Naif Al-Rashid. He said that the only chance to watch the movies with his friend is to come along with their families. Center officials said earlier there might be special arrangements for singles.
“The center’s main aim is to encourage families to come along with their children and teenagers,” said deputy manager of the center Mohammad Salam. The 16 movies to be screened are short films with duration ranging between 5 minutes and an hour.
The Rowad Media Company, organizers of the festival, divided the 16 films to be screened on three days: On Wednesdays they are going to show Taxi, The Last Piece, Sida, The Lost Dream and Hijab and The Inherited Treasures. On Thursdays they will show Cinema 500 Km, Spirits, Sarah’s Secrets, Around Us, Ordinary Day. And finally on Fridays they are going to screen the 6 remaining movies, Under The Sun, Neglected, Tuwa Ushba, Road Dreamer, Ameen and Fear.
Everyday there will be four different timings for the shows. The four show timings are: 7:30 p.m., 9:30 p.m., 10:30 p.m. and the last one at 12:00 a.m. For more information the center can be contacted at 6992784 or 6991236.
