2024-04-12 22:41:22
Two Saudi films represent the Kingdom at the Hollywood Arab Film Festival
The third session of the Hollywood Arab Film Festival, which begins next Wednesday, will witness the participation of Saudi cinema with two films: “Hajan,” which is participating in the feature film competition, and “To My Son,” in which he starred and was directed by Dhafer al-Abidin, and which will be shown at the closing ceremony.
The festival session will be held in the capital of American cinema (Hollywood), in the presence of a group of Arab filmmakers who will participate in several seminars with the audience, including Dhafer El Abidine, who will be present to screen his film “To My Son” at the conclusion on April 21st.
“To My Son” is the second film directed by Al-Abidin. Its story revolves around the return of a Saudi father and his son to the Kingdom following a long period of living outside the country, which ended in a painful accident.
In its third session, the festival honors the artist Elham Shaheen, by granting her the “Aziza Amir Award” in recognition of her artistic career and contributions to the film industry as an actress and producer, with the screening of her film “Fawzia Mix”, and organizing a meeting with the audience to talk regarding her artistic career.
At the opening ceremony, the festival will screen the film “Journey 404” by Mona Zaki, and the screening of the film will be followed by a discussion session in the presence of its director, Hani Khalifa.
Saudi Arabia is represented in the feature film competition by the film “Haggan”, which was shown for the first time at the last session of the Toronto Film Festival. Its events revolve around the story of the boy “Matar”, who goes on a journey of exploration based on his passion for camels, and faces a profound struggle for freedom and truth, when… He finds himself – unwittingly – in the world of camel racing, and must do everything in his power to survive.
Promotional poster for the movie “Hagan” (the producing company)
The screening of the film is scheduled to be followed by a symposium with the audience in which the film’s co-producer, Mohamed Hefzy, will receive questions from the audience, while the days of the festival will include the screening of 16 films as part of the short film and student films competition.
Among the films participating in the feature film competition are the Sudanese film “Goodbye, Julia,” and the film “Return to Alexandria” by Swiss-Egyptian director Tamer Rogli, which stars Lebanese director Nadine Labaki, in addition to the film “Maqsoum,” whose heroine will be the artist Laila Elwi in an interview with… The audience learned regarding her role in the film following it was shown on Saturday, April 20.
A scene from the movie “Goodbye Julia” (the production company)
The festival constitutes an important link between Arab filmmakers and members of the Arab community in the capital of American cinema, according to the director of the Hollywood Arab Film Festival, Michael Bakhoum, who confirms to Asharq Al-Awsat that interaction and interest from the public is increasing year following year, with regarding 1.5 million Arabs attending. Least in Los Angeles.
He added that the current session will witness, for the first time, the attendance of students from 3 different film universities to watch the films shown within the festival’s activities, noting that communication with these universities came at their initiative; Which means the festival succeeds in achieving its mission of highlighting Arab cinema within Hollywood.
Promotional poster for the movie “Flight 404” (the producing company)
Critic Muhammad Abdel Rahman confirmed to Asharq Al-Awsat that there is interest and interaction among members of Arab communities in Hollywood in attending events and films, considering the festival as an opportunity for Arab filmmakers to mingle and interact more with members of the community, especially with the sale of tickets for various films. He added that the festival creates communication and networking between Arab filmmakers and their counterparts in Hollywood, which may lead to partnerships in the future through networking and meetings held on the sidelines of the events.
The festival includes a special screening of the Egyptian film “Al-Harifa,” which has topped the box office in Egyptian cinema since the beginning of this year, and has become among the 10 highest-grossing films in Egypt, in addition to another special screening of the Palestinian film “Goodbye Tiberias.”
The festival administration chose to design the logo for the new session in a way that conveys solidarity with the Palestinian cause by placing an olive tree in the middle of a film strip, a design that was implemented by artistic director Nancy Shehata.
Promotional poster for the new session of the festival (festival management)
The festival director points out that the design of the poster in support of the Palestinian cause reflects a desire for solidarity with the Palestinian people, stressing that this clear position did not affect any of the festival’s activities, in light of the presence of different opinions within American society, not necessarily consistent with the official position.
He added that the festival enjoys support from several American institutions concerned with cinema, whether governmental or non-governmental, and this support increases year following year as the festival achieves greater influence within the United States.
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