How Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea International Film Festival shows industry’s changing tides
For 35 years, film was banned in Saudi Arabia. Now it is investing in the industry, building cinemas and hosting global stars at a festival
My Driver and I was supposed to be made in 2016, but was scuttled amid Saudi Arabia’s decades-long cinema ban.
Eight years later, the landscape for film in the kingdom looks much different – and the star of My Driver and I now has an award.
Roula Dakheelallah was named the winner of the Chopard Emerging Saudi Talent award at the Red Sea International Film Festival on December 12. The award – and the glitzy festival itself – is a sign of Saudi Arabia’s commitment to shaping a new film industry.
“My heart is attached to cinema and art; I have always dreamed of a moment like this,” Dakheelallah, who still works a day job, said before the awards ceremony. “I used to work in voluntary films and help my friends in the field, but this is my first big role in a film.”
