Future Generation Art Prize unveils 2024 winner

Future Generation Art Prize unveils 2024 winner
The main $100,000 prize was granted to Dhaka-based artist, Ashfika Rahman. (Supplied)
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Updated 31 October 2024
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Future Generation Art Prize unveils 2024 winner

Future Generation Art Prize unveils 2024 winner

DUBAI: The Future Generation Art Prize, one of the art world’s most prestigious prizes initiated in Ukraine in 2009, has announced its 2024 winners. Among the recipients are multidisciplinary artists who are associated with the Arab world.

The main $100,000 prize was granted to Dhaka-based artist, Ashfika Rahman. Other “Special Prize” winners include Iraqi-Kurdish artist, Tara Abdullah Mohammed Sharif, Palestinian artist Dina Mimi, Pakistani artist Hira Nabi, Indonesian-born artist Ipeh Nur, and Zhang Xu Zhan, who was born in Taiwan.

Special Prize winners will share a $20,000 pot between them to support the development of their projects.




Ashfika Rahman. (Supplied)

The prize’s 21 shortlisted artists are displaying their works at the PinchukArtCenter in Kyiv until Jan. 19, 2025 amid a recovering domestic art scene following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

“A lot of artists are still actively present. Obviously, many artists in the beginning of the war have escaped but many also stayed,” artistic director of PinchukArtCenter and jury member, Björn Geldhof, told Arab News. “What is important is that from the very start of the war, artists were looking for ways to engage, and when I say ‘engage’, I don’t only mean through art, but how can they be functional in a situation like this? How can they serve their country?”




Ashfika Rahman. (Supplied)

The prize’s participants this year are exploring a thoughtful range of topics, expressed through immersive installations. According to a press release, what is “recurring through the exhibition is the exploration of local histories and mythologies to overcome historical trauma and the long-lasting effects of wars, as well as the process of liberation from the oppression of colonial influence.”

What sets the Future Generation Art Prize apart from others in the field is its focus on championing up-and-coming artists who are 35 years old or younger from around the world.




The curators of the exhibition. (Supplied)

One of the main issues facing emerging artists is a lack of access to curators, galleries and museum professionals to help boost their careers and encourage their artistic practice, according to Geldhof.  

“We want to really speak to an emerging generation with the strong belief that they kind of imagine the future,” he said. “They are dealing with concerns differently than the middle generation, so to speak. . . They imagine, in a very different way, how the world can look like.”


‘Everyone has such dynamic stories to tell,’ Emily Blunt says at Red Sea Film Festival

‘Everyone has such dynamic stories to tell,’ Emily Blunt says at Red Sea Film Festival
Updated 06 December 2024
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‘Everyone has such dynamic stories to tell,’ Emily Blunt says at Red Sea Film Festival

‘Everyone has such dynamic stories to tell,’ Emily Blunt says at Red Sea Film Festival

JEDDAH: Academy Award nominee Emily Blunt touched down in Saudi Arabia recently to attend the opening ceremony of the fourth Red Sea International Film Festival — where she was named an honoree — and also had the chance to speak about the art of storytelling.

Arab News caught up with “The Fall Guy” actress to find out more about her time in the Kingdom, and why she believes it is vital that Arab filmmakers tell their own stories.

She said it was a “complete pleasure to be here, and I’ve never been to Saudi Arabia before,” and found Jeddah to be a “beautiful, vibrant city.”

“It’s just been very moving for me to get the reception here because I think sometimes Hollywood can feel like a bubble, where I live in Brooklyn can feel like a bubble, and then you come here and the whole world sort of opens up to you.”

Blunt is known for her breakthrough role in “The Devil Wears Prada,” which earned BAFTA and Golden Globe nominations, while her performances in “A Quiet Place” and “Mary Poppins Returns” showcased her range.

She had words of wisdom for young Saudi actors.

“Act all the time whenever you can. It is really about just putting yourself out there as much as you can — be inventive, use the internet, use this way of conveying your abilities to the world,” she said.

Blunt, who is set to star in the upcoming action-adventure film “The Smashing Machine,” acknowledged the difficulties of her profession.

“And I think being an actor is such a precarious job sometimes, you know, you kind of have to wear a helmet for it. It’s not always for the faint of heart, but it’s a really beautiful occupation and there are many ways you can do it.”

Reflecting on the nation’s blooming cultural scene with numerous opportunities for budding filmmakers, musicians and artists, she said: “Well, everyone has such dynamic stories to tell.

“It’s how we move each other, it’s how we learn about each other … and I think in order to broaden our horizons and orient us towards a different way of thinking about the world and about each other, films are a really powerful conduit for that.”

She added: “I’m so excited by what’s happening in Saudi Arabia culturally, artistically. It just seems to be just exploding here in a really wonderful way.”


Review: At RSIFF, ‘The Tale of Daye’s Family’ is disappointing despite sparkling performances

Review: At RSIFF, ‘The Tale of Daye’s Family’ is disappointing despite sparkling performances
Updated 06 December 2024
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Review: At RSIFF, ‘The Tale of Daye’s Family’ is disappointing despite sparkling performances

Review: At RSIFF, ‘The Tale of Daye’s Family’ is disappointing despite sparkling performances

JEDDAH: “The Tale of Daye's Family,” which did the opening honors at the fourth edition of the Red Sea International Film Festival in Jeddah, threw away the initial potential it had about exploring human prejudices. Veteran Egyptian director Karim El-Shenawy — who gave us fascinating movies like “Nawwara” (2015) and “Gunshot” (2018) — this time presents a portrait of a family and Daye, a young Nubian albino.

Scripted by Haitham Dabbour, the Saudi Egyptian production in Arabic captures the resilience of the human spirit and the eternal strength of love. A compelling storyline and outstanding performances by Saudi actress Aseel Omran, who is marking her debut in Egyptian cinema, Sudanese actress Islam Mubarak, and Egyptian actors Haneen Said and Badr Mohamed lift the movie, but below average production values apply the brakes. Lackluster editing and poor cinematography do not help the plot to progress beyond a point.

Tracing the agony of Daye, whose skin discolouration makes him the butt of jokes among his peers, the film turns out to be disappointing after showing initial promise. Agreeing to fulfil the boy's wishes, his mother takes him to a singing competition. Gifted as he is with a magnetic voice, he wants to follow in the footsteps of his idol, Mohamed Mounir. However, the family's journey from Aswan to Cairo in Egypt turns out to be a nightmare.

“The Tale of Daye’s Family” examines the intricacies of life, love, and shocks that can create an emotional storm in one's life. Balancing tears with laughter and the complexities of human relationships with a simpler form of existence, I found the work too melodramatic at times.


Director Hassan El-Hejaili talks filming with kids — and eggs — as short premieres at RSIFF

Director Hassan El-Hejaili talks filming with kids — and eggs — as short premieres at RSIFF
Updated 06 December 2024
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Director Hassan El-Hejaili talks filming with kids — and eggs — as short premieres at RSIFF

Director Hassan El-Hejaili talks filming with kids — and eggs — as short premieres at RSIFF

ALULA: Saudi filmmaker Hassan El-Hejaili offers a quirky, nostalgic portrayal of childhood mischief in his seven-minute short, “The Extraordinary Misadventures of the Amazing Boy Super-Blurry,” now screening at Jeddah’s Red Sea International Film Festival.

The story follows a bored young Saudi, Zezo, who discovers that he can put his hand into boiling tea without being hurt.

“Tea is part of our culture … we drink it so much that it’s like it’s in our veins,” El-Hejaili told Arab News while sipping a cup of tea, explaining why he chose to begin the story with the beverage.

The audience is invited along on Zezo’s adventures — or misadventures — with his siblings as the situation in their dysfunctional home escalates and his superpowers become even more impressive.

Filmed in black and white — aside from a saturated red tint in the tea — the aesthetic, which has shadows and different gradients, pays homage to classic cinema.

“I consider myself a cinema-lover,” said El-Hejaili, who has written multiple books on cinema in Arabic, adding that he drew inspiration from vintage filmmakers such as Georges Melies, who died in 1938.

 El-Hejaili chose a kitchen and bathroom as the primary settings, spaces not often seen in Saudi films.

“Those rooms are the heart of the home,” he said, “but every time the family in the film gathers there, something goes wrong.” The film’s tight quarters create a sense of closeness and chaotic spontaneity, capturing playful sibling rivalries, while the distracted parents are too absorbed in their smartphones to notice.

The portrayal of children in the film diverges from typical Saudi cinema and doesn’t spoon-feed everything to the audience — El-Hejaili trusts that they will be able to pour their own cups of tea and join in.

 “In most Saudi films, kids are wise beyond their years,” El-Hejaili explained. “I wanted them to lie, fight and break stuff — not in a way that destroys the world, but in a cute, real way. Siblings fight. It’s natural.”

One of the most memorable scenes during the two-day shoot was an egg fight sequence. “It was fun to film but a nightmare to clean,” he said, laughing. “This was the first and last experiment and experience filming with kids — and eggs.”


The must-see acts at Soundstorm 2024: Riyadh music festival boasts superstar acts

The must-see acts at Soundstorm 2024: Riyadh music festival boasts superstar acts
Updated 06 December 2024
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The must-see acts at Soundstorm 2024: Riyadh music festival boasts superstar acts

The must-see acts at Soundstorm 2024: Riyadh music festival boasts superstar acts
  • Some highlights from the lineup for MDLBEAST’s three-day music festival in Riyadh, which starts Dec. 12 

RIYADH: In just a few years since its launch in 2019, MDLBEAST Soundstorm has established itself as the Gulf’s biggest music festival, but also staked a claim to being the world’s largest rave — last year’s event reportedly drew in 730,000 attendees. This year’s edition, the fifth, will likely be even bigger, with more than 150 artists performing in 10 different areas around the festival venue. Once again, the focus in on electronic dance music, with the vast majority of performers being DJ-producers — from global A-listers like David Guetta and Armin Van Buuren to local luminaries like Baloo and Biirdperson. But there’s plenty of variety on show too, from hip-hop legends to rock stars. Here are just a few of the can’t-be-missed sets to catch next weekend.  

Featured acts 

This year’s headliners on the Big Beast stage are an impressively eclectic bunch of genuine superstars. The hugely influential US rapper Eminem, who did much to popularize hip-hop in America — particularly among white people — performs on Thursday night, as do rock-rap pioneers Linkin Park, back on the road this year for the first time since their original co-lead vocalist Chester Bennington’s death in 2017. His replacement is Emily Armstrong, co-founder of the LA rock outfit Dead Sara. Early reviews of the new lineup — which also includes drummer Colin Brittain stepping in to replace Rob Bourdon — have been promising: “Armstrong makes each Linkin Park classic her own without changing their shape, from the hulking ‘Given Up’ and its screaming breakdown to the raw beauty of ‘Breaking the Habit,’” the Guardian wrote of their London performance in September. On Friday, UK rockers Muse — regularly dubbed one of the world’s best live bands, Scottish DJ-producer Calvin Harris — the first British solo artist to rack up more than 1 billion streams on Spotify, and Grammy-winning US alt-hip-hop star Tyler, The Creator — co-founder of collective Odd Future — all play. And US singer-songwriter Camila Cabello (pictured), who rose to fame as a member of Fifth Harmony — one of the bestselling girl groups in history — but whose solo output is heavily influenced by Latin music, wraps things up on Big Beast on Saturday, the same night that Hollywood star Jared Leto’s band — US rockers Thirty Seconds to Mars, US rapper-singer Russ, and The Roots — the house band on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” led by Questlove — perform on the DWN Beast stage. 

The hugely influential US rapper Eminem, who did much to popularize hip-hop in America — particularly among white people — performs on Thursday night. (Getty Images)

Superstar DJs 

Among the dozens of top-quality DJ-producers taking to the various stages over the weekend, there are several major global EDM legends, including Dutchman Martin Garrix, ranked number one in DJ Mag’s Top 100 DJs list in 2016, 2017 and 2018, who plays a back-to-back set with Sweden’s Alesso on Thursday night; France’s ubiquitous David Guetta (also playing a B2B set, this one with fellow ‘future rave’ inventor, Denmark’s Morten Breum); America’s Steve Aoki (B2B with Bosnian-Swedish DJ Salvatore Ganacci); Garrix’s fellow Dutch DJ Armin Van Buuren, who has also topped DJ Mag’s top 100 list in four successive years (2007-2010 inclusive), and then again 2012, giving him a record five ‘titles’; and (two of the) co-founders of progressive house stars Swedish House Mafia, now performing as a DJ duo, Axwell and Sebastian Ingrosso; and Grammy-winning South African DJ-producer Black Coffee. A full list of performers is available on the MDLBEAST website. 

DJ Armin Van Buuren (AFP)

Arab stars 

As well as the international A-listers flying in to Riyadh this week, a number of major regional stars are also performing at Soundstorm. From Lebanese diva Elissa (pictured), whose records have reportedly sold more than 30 million copies and whose long-delayed 13th studio album, “Ana Seketeen,” was released in May, the hugely popular Egyptian rap artist Marwan Moussa, and his compatriot, the singer Ahmed Saad, to the Kingdom’s own Abdul Majeed Abdullah, among others. 

Elissa will perform at the event. (AFP)

Local heroes 

Once again, MDLBEAST is providing lesser-known Saudi acts with a huge platform on which to shine at Soundstorm. Keep an eye out for the all-female psychedelic rock band Seera (pictured), who’ve been rapidly accruing fans and media coverage over the past couple of years. In terms of DJ-producers, expect Leen, Omar Bassad, Baloo, Loush, Hats and Klaps, and Biirdperson’s sets to get the crowds excited.   


Red Sea International Film Festival kicks off in Saudi Arabia

Red Sea International Film Festival kicks off in Saudi Arabia
Updated 06 December 2024
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Red Sea International Film Festival kicks off in Saudi Arabia

Red Sea International Film Festival kicks off in Saudi Arabia

JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea International Film Festival kicked off on Thursday night at the event’s new headquarters in Culture Square, Al-Balad, Jeddah.

The fourth edition of the film festival will feature the usual set of glittering names, many of whom hit the red carpet on Thursday night.

Hollywood stars Catherine Zeta-Jones, Michael Douglas, Emily Blunt and Cynthia Erivo joined Oscar-winner Michelle Yeoh on the red carpet while there was also a strong showing from Bollywood with Aamir Khan and Kareena Kapoor posing for photographs at the opening ceremony.

Vin Diesel, Will Smith and Riyadh-based model Georgina Rodriguez also made surprise appearances.  

Academy Award-winning filmmaker Spike Lee — known for films such as “Malcom X” and “BlacKkKlansman” — is presiding over the features competition jury this year, while Oscar-winning actress and producer Viola Davis and Egyptian star Mona Zaki are this year’s honorees at the festival, which will run until Dec. 14 under the theme “The New Home of Film.”

“I’m going to see some great films by young filmmakers… you’ve got to support the youth, they need to make their films and tell their stories,” Lee told Arab News on the red carpet as Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas hit the red carpet behind him.

“We call it the bride of the red sea, finally we are having guests in this historical place,” Saudi actor Khaled Yeslam said on the red carpet. “Being a Saudi citizen, I’m so glad to have all these global stars in our city,” he added.

Hollywood stars Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones on the red carpet. (AN Photo/Hashim Nadeem)

Meanwhile, “The Fall Guy” actress Emily Blunt was honored at the opening ceremony, with the honor being presented by Yeoh.

The British actress took to the stage in a glittering gown to say “we have so many stories to tell, we are brimming with them.”

“I am so deeply grateful to be here,” she added before Bollywood icon Amir Khan was also honored on stage. 

Wicked star Cynthia Erivo joined the host of famous faces walking the red carpet in Jeddah. (AN Photo/Hashim Nadeem)

The opening ceremony featured a screening of Egyptian director Karim El Shenawy’s “The Tale of Daye’s Family” about an 11-year-old Nubian albino boy who faces adversity because of his appearance.

The festival will feature 120 films from 81 countries at the new venue — previous editions were held at the city’s Ritz-Carlton hotel — where five purpose-built cinemas and a large auditorium will host back-to-back screenings as well as In Conversation panels with celebrities.

Georgina Rodriguez, Riyadh-based model and partner of Al-Nassr superstar Cristiano Ronaldo was also in attendance. (AN Photo/Hashim Nadeem)

Australian filmmaker Michael Gracey’s semi-biographical feature “Better Man,” inspired by British pop star Robbie Williams, will close the festival while Johnny Depp’s “Modi, Three Days on the Wing of Madness,” which was supported by the Red Sea Film Foundation, will be given a gala screening as part of the International Spectacular lineup.

Other star power-laden titles set for gala screenings include Peter Chelsom’s “A Sudden Case of Christmas” starring Danny Devito, Pablo Larrain’s biopic “Maria,” starring Angelina Jolie as opera singer Maria Callas; Mehdi Idir’s “Monsieur Aznavour,” starring Tahar Rahim as the French singer; Thierry Teston and Lisa Azeulos’s Jane Fonda-narrated documentary “My Way”; and “We Live in Time” with Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield.