JEDDAH, 31 January 2007 — Fourteen Saudi productions are slated to be shown along with 46 other films from the Gulf Region at the Sixth Annual Emirates Film Competition in Abu Dhabi on March 7-13. These films aren’t likely to get much attention from the country where they are produced. In fact, only two of the films have been viewed publicly inside Saudi Arabia so far.
The Saudi projects include seven fiction works, four documentaries, two animations and one experimental piece. The film competition aims to promote young Arab filmmakers from the region.
In 2005, the first year that the competition expanded their selections to include the entire Gulf region (previously it was for Emirati films only), three Saudi works were given kudos: Saudi director Haifa Al-Mansour was given an award for best movie for “Women Without Shadows” and two jury selection certificates were given to “The Last Piece” by Mohammad Bazeid and the animation film “Sida” by Khaled Al-Dakhil. A total of ten Saudi works were presented that year.
Only two of the Saudi movies competing in March have been shown in the Kingdom: “Democracy” by Misheal Al-Enazi and “Child of Heaven” by Ali Al-Amir. Both were shown at the Riyadh Literary Club last month.
Bazeid in particular has been an advocate for the film competition, saying that it helps open doors for aspiring directors by providing the right atmosphere for them to get in touch with others in the industry. Out of the fourteen Saudi submissions, one comes from a young lady named Farah Arif, a ninth-grade student who is submitting an animation short titled “The Past Returns.”
Since the Kingdom hasn’t had movie theaters in over 20 years, it’s unlikely that very many Saudis will get a chance to view these works inside the Kingdom. The best chance for Saudis to view the works of their fellow citizens at a public venue will be in Abu Dhabi in March.