By Lachlan Scouler
This Friday for one night, Saudi Film Nights arrives in both Melbourne and Sydney for a mini-film festival – celebrating and screening new Middle Eastern films.
The Saudi Arabian film industry has a rather limited history. Nearly all Arabian theatres closed in the 80s due to religious activism and strict Saudi censorship, with reportedly only one single theatre open between 1983 and 2018. This coming Friday proves to be a chance for promising Arabian filmmakers to have their work made more visible on a wide scale.
The Sydney and Melbourne events will screen one film each, both with an additional short film. Melbourne is screening comedy-drama “Alhamour H.A”, directed by Sara Balghonaim, about a security guard who utilise the Ponzi scheme to secure wealth beyond his wildest imaginations. Alongside “Alhamour H.A” will be an animated short called “Saleeg”, about a lonely grandmother coming to terms with independence while cooking rice in her home.
Sydney shall show a coming-of-age drama focusing on a young boy avenging his brother, who was killed on a camel racetrack. As well short film “Me & Aydarous”
Arriving to both events are respective Saudi film directors and actors of each film, to what will include a red-carpet reception and Q&A event.
Sources:
https://cityhub.com.au/saudi-film-nights-a-one-night-mini-film-festival/
