Italian Consul-General Simone Petroni said that the festival reflected the passion for art and cinema alive in Europe. It remained, he believed, a powerful medium in which to express ideas as well as help cultural exchange.

European films tend to be different in structure and content from Hollywood productions. This stems from a long history of avant-garde and experimental filmmaking.

European films have long been a source for a number of Hollywood re-makes. US film critic Eric Pape recently wrote that in the last year five American re-hashes of French films have been released. “Even the small Swedish film scene sparked a Hollywood bidding war in 2010 to adapt the drug-world film ‘Snabba Cash’ into ‘Easy Money’ (with Zac Efron), while a popular Swedish vampire film was recently remade into ‘Let Me In’ — not to mention the Millennium Trilogy film adaptations.”

The Jeddah event, however, presents the films in their original language with English sub-titles.

The Argentinian film El “Secreto de Sus Ojos” (The Secret in Her Eyes), which won the Oscar for Best Foreign Film in 2010, was screened on Saturday.

On Monday, April 11, the French romantic comedy “L’Arnacoeur” (Heartbreaker) will be shown. (For booking and information: [email protected])

On Wednesday, April 13, the Saudi short film “Jeddah-Where Cultures Meet” will be screened as the first film in the German evening that features the 2001 Sandra Nettlebeck film “Bella Martha” (For booking and information: [email protected]; tel. 02 699 6436 205)

Perhaps the most commercial of the entries is the 2010 Oscar and BAFTA awards winner “The Young Victoria,” a sweeping costume drama about the early life of the young Queen Victoria. (For booking and information: [email protected]; tel. 02 657 6200 Ext. 108)