Saudi Arabia will launch internationally and will participate in Cannes Film Festival for the first time.
Saudi Arabia will make its debut presence in Cannes Film Festival with nine short films directed by different Saudi filmmakers. The projects will be presented in the Court-Metrages section and the Saudi Film Council will have its own pavilion among the other commissions attending to the Festival.
Another proposal from the Middle East country yet to be confirmed on April 12th press conference will be the experimental film Joud.
Cannes artistic director Thierry Fremaux affirmed that he was “thrilled that Saudi Arabia has launched the Saudi Film Council with a clear focus on nurturing its filmmaking talent and sharing Saudi stories with the world.”
One of the core concepts of the festival is, in fact, the possibility to “create global opportunities for the creative talents of the participating countries”, and to provide with an international platform where artists can promote their innovative and richer contents.
The Saudi culture minister Awwad Alawwad has echoed this enthusiasm: “The kingdom looks forward to its debut presence at the festival, celebrating and supporting the diversity of talent and opportunities within the Saudi film industry. Saudi Arabia is embarking on the development of a sustainable and dynamic industry that supports and encourages all stages of a film cycle and offers an incredible range of locations for the world’s filmmakers to discover.”
