Across Arab Film and TV World, 2021 Marks a Year of Change and Resistance

The New Year is here and what better time to make a fresh start. And, if one of your New Year resolutions is to feel lighter, brighter and more confident, then don’t worry – we’ve got you covered.

Glasgow's Kenmure Street protest has become one of the top 10 protests in the world which 'you may have missed that made a difference in 2021.'

Like with the rest of the TV business, 2021 was challenging for reality competition series as they adjusted to production amid a pandemic. No series has been harder to pull off in a pandemic than CBS’ globetrotting The Amazing Race, which was sidelined the longest by Covid and did not air an installment in 2021; its next, 33rd season, premieres in January.

Apax Capital Group, a new film fund backed by the Italian government, an Italian insurer and a consortium of other investors, says it plans to spend €1.5 billion (about $1.7B) over ten years on films shot and/or completed in Europe, primarily Italy.

Snoop Dogg and Kevin Hart are bidding farewell (and good riddance) to 2021. The duo will close out the year with 2021 And Done With Snoop Dogg & Kevin Hart, a 75-minute special, produced by Hart’s LOL Studios and Snoop Dogg’s Snoopadelic Films, to premiere Tuesday, December 28 on Peacock.

Nearly everyone is familiar with the disorientation caused by the onset of Daylight Saving Time, where it feels like it’s midnight before you’ve even thought about dinner. There’s a second half of that haze that is more overlooked: when you realize it’s 5:45pm and feel a tiny thrill by how young the night is before you feed your pet and use the restroom only to realize it’s now 11:15 and close to bedtime.

Levan Koguashvili’s Brighton 4th has scooped up the Best Film prize at Saudi Arabia’s inaugural Red Sea Film Festival. The title is Georgia’s entry in the Academy Awards international feature category this year.

Naman Ramachandran Levan Koguashvili’s “Brighton 4th” has won best film at Saudi Arabia’s inaugural Red Sea Film Festival, while Hamzah K. Jamjoom’s “Rupture” won best Saudi film.“Brighton 4th” is Georgia’s entry in the Academy Awards’ international feature category.Haider Rashid won best director for “Europa” and Adam Ali won best actor for his role in the film.

Marithea (alias composed of her name, Maribel Camilo, and Thea, goddess in Greek), grew up knowing she always wanted to be part of the music industry, despite she only had two options, becoming a salsa singer or a rapper.“Cali is salsa’s capital and multiple winners of world salsa competitions, but the particularity of southern Cali is that those who aren’t salsa singers are rappers,” the artists explained to HOLA! USA. “I’m not fully immersed in the genre; therefore, I chose rap.

President Joe Biden’s first late-night appearance since becoming president was on very friendly terrain: The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, in which the host was effusive throughout and largely stayed on the White House topic points.

I’m more than halfway into my stay in Saudi Arabia for the Red Sea International Film Festival and what is becoming more apparent with each day that passes is that what this first-time event lacks in experience and organization, it makes up for in ambition.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentAs Saudi Arabia diversifies from an oil-based economy, the kingdom is pinning a significant portion of its hopes of becoming a major media industry hub on NEOM, a futuristic megacity in-the-making.It is where the $100 million seventh century actioner “Desert Warrior,” featuring an all-star international cast led by “Captain America” star Anthony Mackie, is currently shooting.Situated along the kingdom’s Red Sea coast in Tabuk, in the northwest of the

Mega-budget epic Desert Warrior, starring Anthony Mackie and Aiysha Hart, has been a big talking point here in Jeddah this week as it nears wrapping production in Saudi Arabia’s Tabuk. The $150M 7th Century-set action title marks not only the biggest production to shoot in the KSA since it lifted its ban on cinemas four years ago but it also represents a major collaboration between creative and financial models in the region and Hollywood talent.

Since Saudi Arabia lifted its 35-year-old religion related ban on cinema in 2017, the country has been ramping up its efforts to attract local and international productions to come and shoot in the region. Film AlUla is playing a major part in the government’s Vision 3030 plan to modernize the country.

Red Sea Film Festival, Saudi Arabia’s first international film event, gets underway, it’s become clear that the artistic director of the fest’s milestone first edition won’t be in charge of programming the second one.Edouard Waintrop, a former Cannes Directors’ Fortnight chief, was conspicuously absent Monday at the opening night gala at the Vox Cinemas multiplex in Jeddah’s historic Al Balad district.Instead of being on the star-studded red carpet, Waintrop was at his home in Spain suffering

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentAs the spread of the new Omicron COVID-19 variant prompts uncertainty around how the winter film festival calendar will play out, two events in the Arab world — the Cairo Film Festival and Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea fest — have soldiered on, providing a measure of hope for the global festival circuit.Cairo, which kicked off Nov.