Saudi Arabian family comedy Sattar, about a depressed man who decides to pursue his dreams of becoming a freestyle wrestling champion, has set a new box office record for a local film at home.
21.12.2022 - 21:45 / deadline.com
Dubai-based distributor Front Row Filmed Entertainment has acquired all MENA rights for the Saudi Arabian drama Within Sand, which was the Jury Prize winner at the second Red Sea International Film Festival earlier this month.
Front Row will release the film theatrically in Saudi Arabia in the first quarter of 2023 under the Front Row Arabia label, its joint venture with leading local exhibitor Muvi Cinemas.
The sumptuously shot, desert epic revolves around a young tobacco merchant who breaks away from his trading convoy to get home quickly to his village, where his wife is about to have their first child.
Travelling alone, he’s ambushed by thieves who leave him for dead. His journey becomes a quest to survive in the wilderness with the added threat of a wolf dogging his footsteps.
The drama is Saudi filmmaker Moe Alatawi’s debut feature and features an all-Saudi cast led by Ra’ed Alshammari, Adwa Fahd, Muhand Alsaleh, Fatima Alsharif and Obaid Alwadaani.
Within Sand was the first Saudi Arabian feature to be shot in the country’s burgeoning new mega-city and shooting location NEOM, which is also a partner in the production alongside Riyadh-based production company Alsarid Films and the Saudi Film Commission.
To make the production as authentic as possible, the filmmaker brought a real-life wolf on set.
“We’re delighted to be working with the Within Sand team for the film’s release,” said Front Row CEO Gianluca Chakra.
“We’re eager to support young Saudi filmmakers and Within Sand is the perfect example of the quality of work that they can deliver. It’s a visually stunning piece of work that deserves to be seen on the big screen.”
Producer Reem Alatawi noted the fact that Within Sand is one of the first local films
Saudi Arabian family comedy Sattar, about a depressed man who decides to pursue his dreams of becoming a freestyle wrestling champion, has set a new box office record for a local film at home.
Lisa Rinna is done with The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills!
In a deal that had been rumored for weeks, 37-year-old soccer great Christiano Ronaldo has signed a massive two-year deal to play for Saudi Club Al Nassar FC. The news was reported by Saudi-owned television channel Al Arabiya and confirmed by a post on Al Nassar FC’s social media accounts by a showing Ronaldo holding his new jersey and the following statement:
Scots Lotto winner Jane Park has left little to the imagination as she posed in a red bikini.
It’s 2002 and raining brains in Riyadh, at least from the gormless Nasser’s wonky perspective. Nasser’s doctor is firmly convinced he has a brain tumour, which is his explanation for the protracted hallucinations Nasser experiences and that he, Dr Ahmed, is all too ready to excise. Nasser isn’t so sure: his dreams, fantasies and visions are more fun than the rest of his life, yoked beneath the twin tyrannies of his fanatical father and his boss at the thinly patronized Dove Hotel. Why get rid of the good stuff? Especially once those visions start to include the mysterious young woman who arrived unannounced one day to ask for the key to room 227. She’s welcome to walk the corridors of his mind any old time.
Iraqi filmmaker Ahmed Yassin Al Daradji picked up the Golden Yusr for Best Feature Film at the Red Sea Film Festival with his debut feature Hanging Gardens.
Saudi Arabia’s Cultural Development Fund is poised to launch a new $233m ($879m Saudi Riyal) film industry financing program in the first quarter of 2023, which will be open to both local and international entities.
Writer and stand-up comedian Mo Amer was the latest Hollywood name to pass through Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea film festival Wednesday where he discussed his varied career as part of the festival’s ‘In Conversation’ series and the potential of a second season of his well-received Netflix comedy Mo.
Saudi Arabian actress Ahd Kamel’s long gestated feature directorial debut My Driver And I is a step closer to coming to fruition, following the arrival of fresh partners on the project.
All eyes are on Saudi Arabia’s burgeoning film industry as the second edition of its Red Sea International Film Festival continues to unfold this week in the port city of Jeddah, running from December 1 to 10.
Wild Bunch co-founder Vincent Maraval drew comparisons between the burgeoning film industry in Saudi Arabia with that of China during a business-focused keynote at the Red Sea film festival this morning.
Saudi Arabia’s Film AlUla, the film agency of the Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU), has announced the start of construction of the first phase of its new ambitious studio complex.