Members from the New York Film Academy who met with a number of Saudi youths and visited universities and high schools to select students for their graduate programs in filmmaking, acting, screenwriting, animation and game design say they are highly impressed with young Saudis’ passion for films.

The Academy’s Jack Newman, director of outreach and development, and Tami Alexander, director of enrollment service, are visiting the Kingdom on a five-day tour, in which they met with Saudi boys and girls in Jeddah’s Qasar Al-Sharq on Sunday and are scheduled to meet others in Riyadh on Friday in the Riyadh International Convention and Exhibition Center.

The meeting and seminar are open for both male and female students.

Newman said that he was very impressed by the passion of Saudi youth and observed that many Saudi females are also interested in filmmaking.

He said this was their third visit to Jeddah, and noticed that many Saudi students and youngsters are uploading their films on YouTube and are participating in different film festivals around the world.

“We are seeking partnership with universities and schools for training and education. Saudis are very talented, and are visionaries in their work, they need support and we will provide them that support and education,” he said.

“There is a lot of scope for Saudi filmmakers; it is just that they need the right direction and right push and that’s what we are providing. We need passionate students who know what they want to do in their life,” said Newman.

He said working with Saudi youth made him feel young. “They have wonderful ideas and they are so talented.”

Alexander said she loves to come to Saudi Arabia and meet with Saudi youth because “their potential is very high.”

“I want to show them the right way and welcome them to the US so that we can develop their careers. We want to turn their passion into reality. There is a lot of talent and scope for a film academy in Saudi Arabia,” she said.

Mouthar Mukthar a student of King Abdulaziz University’s engineering department, said he is very much “into theater and acting.”

“This is my last year in college. My love for theater brought me here to meet them and to find answers to my questions. Unfortunately, we don’t have any professional training for theater or films,” said Mukthar.

Mukthar said he wants to join the New York Film Academy because he believes that “that is what I want in my life,” although he is an engineering student and has a business to run.

Faris Bitat, another young Saudi, told Arab News that he wants to study cinematography in the New York Film Academy.

“I work a lot on YouTube. Here in Saudi Arabia we don’t have many opportunities and entertainment activities and that is why many youth end up with YouTube,” said Bitat.