Saudi Arabia to participate in Cannes Film Festival

Los Angeles: Saudi Arabia has announced that it will be participating in the Cannes Film Festival.

A total of nine short films by young local filmmakers will be screened at the Short Film Corner during the festival on May 14 and 15, reported Variety.

Saudi Film Council, which was recently launched by the country’s General Culture Authority (GCA) after the lifting of 35-year-old ban on the films, will also set up a pavilion in order to enable the guests to participate in roundtable discussions with Saudi industry representatives and to understand the Kingdom’s industry ambitions through its various initiatives and programmes.

“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 culture minister and chairman of GCA’s board Awwad Alawwad said in the statement.

“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,” he added.