JEDDAH, 23 May 2007 — A movie about a young Saudi man’s quest to watch a film is one of four Saudi short films being presented at this year’s Sawary International Movie Festival in Bahrain, which runs through Saturday.
“Participating in such events is crucial for us even if the festival is only regional,” said Saudi movie critic Mohammed Bazeid. “The direct contact with moviemakers from different countries is very important for Saudi directors.”
Three Saudi filmmakers are participating with two documentaries and two short movies.
Jeddah-based director Mamdoh Salem is participating with his documentary about the Ramadan and Eid traditions of the Hijazi people (as the indigenous Arabs from the western region of Saudi Arabia are called) titled “Full Moon Night”.
Director Badr Al-Humoud is offering a different dimension in his film “War Pigeon” about the suffering of a soldier in combat.
“Cinema 500 km” is a documentary by Abdullah Al-Ayyaf that tells the story of a young Saudi boy in his quest to see his first movie. But instead of walking or driving to the neighborhood movie theater, the boy must travel 500 kilometers and across an international bridge into Bahrain for a pleasure most people in the world take for granted.
Al-Ayyaf’s other short movie “Frame”, which was awarded a prize this year at the Emirates Film Festival, is also featuring this week at the Sawary International Movie Festival.
The 65 movies participating at the festival come from nine countries. The opening on Sunday kicked off with a movie from the UAE titled “Khafikan” directed by Nawaf Al-Janahi.
As the host country, Bahrain is getting the biggest chunk of the cake participating with 30 movies. The UAE is offering ten films. Egypt is showing eight films while Jordan is serving up five, Saudi Arabia four, Lebanon three, and Kuwait and Iran two movies each. One film from the United States is also being featured.
