Italian journalist and podcaster Cecilia Sala has been arrested in Iran and jailed in Tehran’s Evin prison for political prisoners, the Italian government announced on Friday. “Italy is working tirelessly to free her, pursuing every option,” Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto wrote on X, describing Sala’s arrest as “unacceptable.” Sala, who is 29 and works […]

Five years after its launch, Saudi Arabia’s recently-concluded Mdlbeast Soundstorm music festival has put the kingdom’s capital of Riyadh on the map in terms of live events in the Middle East. This year’s Dec. 12-14 edition of Soundstorm – which started out in 2019 as an electronic dance music festival – featured over 200 international […]

Beirut’s beloved Metropolis Cinema – championed by Lebanese filmmakers as an indie cinema beacon amid bombings, despair and dysfunction – came back to life on Saturday with the inauguration of a new venue in a highly symbolic opening graced by messages of support from Nadine Labaki and Cate Blanchett. The inauguration came amid Israel’s ceasefire […]

Tilda Swinton will be celebrated by the Berlin Film festival with its Honorary Golden Bear for lifetime achievement. “The range of Tilda Swinton’s work is breathtaking,” said the festival’s artistic director Tricia Tuttle in a statement. “To cinema she brings so much humanity, compassion, intelligence, humour and style, and she expands our ideas of the […]

Saudi actor and stand-up comedian Ibrahim Al Hajjaj recently became the kingdom’s biggest box office draw as protagonist of groundbreaking comedy “Sattar” in which he played a man whose floundering personal and professional life prompts him to pursue his childhood dream of becoming a freestyle wrestler.  As a followup, Al Hajjaj will next star in […]

“Gomorrah” writers Leonardo Fasoli and Maddalena Ravagli are set to explore the string of murders perpetrated by Italy’s so-called White Uno Gang in a gritty crime thriller produced by Riccardo Tozzi (“Gomorrah”) and Pietro Valsecchi (“Quo Vado?”). The White Uno Gang was a criminal organization made up mainly of police officers with ties to the […]

The stunning fall of the Syrian government early Sunday — a bloodless coup by Islamist rebels that ended the brutal 50-year rule of the Bashar Assad regime — has been reverberating across the global film community. There’s widespread elation among displaced Syrian filmmakers, but also fear about what the future holds. All are happy that Assad is gone. But […]

Emma Roberts thriller “Fourth Wall” is set to start shooting early next year in Saudi Arabia’s brand new AlUla Studios. The previously announced film is written by Jerry Kontogiorgis and produced by Greg Silverman and Grant Torre of Hollywood indie Stampede Ventures. It will be the first feature by U.S. director Alexis Ostrander, who has […]

Saudi powerhouse MBC Studios has inked a partnership deal with best-selling Saudi author Osamah Almuslim under which his novel “Jahim Al-Abirin” (“Travellers’ Hell”) will be made into a high-end horror film for the theatrical market helmed by rising director Hana Al-Omair. Hana Al Omair, who directed Netflix’s first Saudi original series “Whispers,” joined MBC earlier this year […]

Saudi Arabia’s Neom Media production hub and the kingdom’s Hakawati Entertainment have forged a strategic partnership to produce up to nine feature films and establish a new on-site services unit “supported by experienced Hollywood-level talent and significant financial investments,” they said in a statement. Neom, which is the site of Saudi’s futuristic city in the making, is clearly […]

Saudi-owned production powerhouse MBC Studios has forged a multi-project partnership with fast rising Saudi studio Telefaz11, the label behind wrestling comedy “Sattar,” which has scored record-breaking results at the home box office.  Telfaz11 Studios, which is a pioneering Saudi company, is known for smart edgy movies. Besides “Sattar,” these also include groundbreaking satirical drama “Mandoob,” about […]

Syrian President Bashar Assad was ousted from power early on Sunday in a stunning bloodless coup by Islamist rebels who took control of Damascus, the Syrian capital after a 13-year civil war that has caused more than 500,000 deaths and forced millions of Syrians to leave their homeland. The rebels, who are called the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham […]

U.S. actor Omar Benson Miller who is known for roles in “8 Mile,” HBO’s Ballers, and Apple’s “The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey,” stars in Italian immigration-themed drama “Naples to York” by Oscar-winning director Gabriele Salvatores that is having its festival premiere at Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Festival. Interestingly, Federico Fellini co-wrote this tale of two […]

Prominent Egyptian producer Mohamed Hefzy is branching out into Saudi Arabia by setting up an outpost of his prolific Film Clinic shingle – which has six titles at Saudi’s Red Sea Film Festival – in the Saudi capital of Riyadh. The milestone move comes after Hefzy has been busy forging rapports with Saudi’s film community […]

UPDATED: After being denied entry into Saudi Arabia to present her film “Sima’s Song,” which is playing in competition at the Red Sea Film Festival, and denouncing this, Afghan filmmaker Roya Sadat has been cleared to visit the kingdom. “On Wednesday, the 4th, I was stopped at Dallas Airport and prevented from boarding my flight […]

Dubai-based distributor Front Row Filmed Entertainment has taken global distribution rights for two Saudi Arabian short films premiering at the Red Sea International Film Festival that were developed under Film AlUla’s AlUla Creates program. The small but significant distribution deal will give global visibility to the shorts, respectively titled “Malika” by Maram Taibah and “When […]

Three years ago, with some fanfare, Saudi Arabia’s first tentpole movie was announced, an action epic titled “Desert Warrior” shot in a scenic area around the site of the futuristic city of NEOM with a hefty $150 million budget. Helmed by British director director Rupert Wyatt (“Rise of the Planet of the Apes”) and featuring […]