City Jeddah Showbiz Latest News and Updates

John Bleasdale Guest Contributor Baz Luhrmann has discovered a surprising result of his stint as head of jury at the Red Sea Film Festival: empathy for film critics. “I’ve never done this before. I’ve never been forced to sit and watch three to four movies a day,” Luhrmann tells Variety.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Saudi director and producer Osama Alkhurayji’s debut feature film “Siwar” recently wrapped principal photography in AlUla, the swathe of northwest Saudi Arabia comprising ancient artifacts, a lush oasis and sandstone canyons that’s becoming a burgeoning local film production hub. “Siwar” involves two families – one Turkish, the other Saudi – whose fates become entangled due to a revelation about their newborns.

The Formula 1 schedule for the 2025 season has already been revealed!

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Saudi Arabia has landed its first film in the Cannes Film Festival official selection with “Norah,” a drama by pioneering director Tawfik Alzaidi set in 1990s Saudi, when conservatism was at its height and all forms of art and painting were banned for religion-related reasons. “Norah,” which premiered locally in December at Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Festival in Jeddah, will be launching internationally from Cannes’ prestigious Un Certain Regard section, marking the first Saudi film to screen in Cannes and becoming a symbol of the kingdom’s rapidly growing moviemaking ambitions since Saudi Arabia lifted its 35-year-old religion-related ban on cinema in 2017.

Carlos Sainz is updating fans on his health after having surgery two weeks ago in Jeddah.

may be the richest man in the world — but Mohammed bin Salman, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, has more money at his disposal, experts say.And the latter is using these funds to “entice” Hollywood’s A-list to normalize the country, despite spiraling allegations of its human rights abuses.Some of La La Land’s biggest names, from Will Smith to Gwyneth Paltrow and Johnny Depp, have been happy to soak up the kingdom’s majestic sand dunes. The Saudis offered $1 million eachto lure stars to the Red Sea Film Festival in Jeddah in December; Paltrow reportedly took home even more than that, according to Variety.Although Musk has a net worth of $202 billion, one well-placed Middle East expert told The Post that bin Salman — commonly known by as MBS — has more freely available cash thanks to Saudi’s Public Investment Fund, a state-owned sovereign wealth fund now valued at around $750 billion.According to the expert, Saudi wants to make it into the largest sovereign wealth fund in the world by the end of 2030.

Manchester City will resume their Premier League title defence as they travel to Goodison Park to face Everton on Wednesday night. The Citizens' pursuit of a fourth consecutive top-flight crown was momentarily put on hold due to their participation in the Club World Cup.

Manchester City are World Champions after swatting aside Fluminense in Jeddah on Friday.

Kevin De Bruyne stepped up his recovery from hamstring surgery by continuing to train with the rest of the Manchester City squad 24 hours out from their Club World Cup final against Fluminese.

Manchester City will face Fluminense at King Abdullah Sport City in Jeddah in the final of the 2023 Club World Cup on Friday.

Manchester City will compete in their first-ever Club World Cup this week and kick-off with a semi-final clash against Urawa Red Diamonds this evening.

Saudi director Ali Kalthami’s thriller Night Courier (Mandoob) has posted a record-breaking opening at home, generating 114,000 admissions for a $1.58 million gross to beat Warner Bros. blockbuster Wonka.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Saudi Arabian thriller “Mandoob,” about a struggling man who becomes an illegal booze runner, beat “Wonka” over the weekend to top the Saudi box office chart while also scoring the biggest opening to date for a local film in the territory. The groundbreaking Saudi movie, which world-premiered positively in Toronto in September – and more recently bowed regionally at the Red Sea Film Festival in Jeddah – tallied 114,000 admissions and a $1.58 million gross box office intake following its Dec.

Manchester City will find it harder to win the Club World Cup after their draw with Crystal Palace, Pep Guardiola admits.

Michael Nordine author Greed may not be good, but it is universal. And while America would appear to have a monopoly on movies about the pursuit of wealth for wealth’s sake, plenty of other nations have exported their version of the rags-to-riches tale — of which Saudi Arabia’s Oscar submission, “Alhamour H.A.,” is just the latest.

Nick Holdsworth An “eco-system” of finance, lending and talent development is driving the creation of Saudi Arabia’s nascent film industry, key figures in the Middle Eastern kingdom’s cultural sector said this week. Speaking during the third edition of the Red Sea Film Festival in Jeddah, Abdullah Alkhaldi, chief investment and credit officer at Saudi Arabia’s Cultural Development Fund, said its aim was to be “the financial enabler in pursuing and achieving a cultural vision.” The fund, which launched two years ago, has $152 million available for lending to cultural projects along with a $80 million Film Investment Fund, which was announced in Cannes last May.

The Formula 1 season for 2023 may be over, but race fans will only have to wait a few more months until the 2024 season!

The third annual Red Sea Film Festival handed out its Yusr Awards on Thursday night, with Zarrar Kahn’s In Flames taking Best Feature and Farah Nabulsi’s The Teacher scoring a pair of wins including Best Actor for Saleh Bakri. See the full list below.

Nick Holdsworth At the closing ceremony of the 3rd edition of the Red Sea Film Festival Thursday, which took place in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in front of an audience that included Hollywood stars Nicolas Cage, Gwyneth Paltrow, Halle Berry, Jason Statham and Adrien Brody, the Golden Yusr for best film and a $100,000 cash prize went to Pakistani-Canadian horror film “In Flames,” directed by Zarrar Kahn. The director said that the indie movie was shot for “just $300,000 — the size of a Red Sea Fund production grant.” He urged “everyone who gets a grant to go make a movie, because this was made for nothing.” The Silver Yusr prize for best feature film went to Tarsem Singh for “Dear Jassi.” The film, an India/Canada/U.S.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Rising Saudi Arabian star Yaqoub Alfarhan, who is known for playing the titular drug trafficker and serial killer in hit MBC TV series “Rashash,” plays a very different role in the drama “Norah” by pioneering Saudi director Tawfik Alzaidi, which is set in 1990s Saudi Arabia when conservatism was at its height and all forms of art and painting were banned for religion-related reasons. In “Norah,” which world premiered at the Red Sea Film Festival in Jeddah, Alfarhan plays an artist named Nader who has given up painting and moved to a remote village to be a schoolteacher. There he intersects with this film’s titular character, played by Saudi newcomer Maria Bahrawi.

“Entrepreneurship and acting are very similar. Both require the same kind of energy,” Goop CEO and Academy Award-winning actress Gwyneth Paltrow told a crowd during a career retrospective this evening at the Red Sea Film Festival in Saudi Arabia. 

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Egyptian-Austrian director Abu Bakr Shawky, who in 2018 made a splash when his first feature “Yomeddine” had the rare distinction of making the competition cut for Cannes, is back on the festival circuit with Saudi-set adventure movie “Hajjan.” Shawky’s big-budget epic follow-up, which launched from Toronto’s Discovery section, is now premiering regionally at Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Festival in Jeddah, where it screened Monday to roaring applause as an out-of-competition gala. Somewhat similarly to “Yomeddine” – which involved the desert voyage of a leper, a donkey and a child – “Hajjan” also involves a journey across the desert.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Saudi Arabia’s burgeoning filmmakers have formed a trade organisation called Film Association in an effort to hold sway in regulations being laid out for the country’s booming film industry. The Saudi Film Association, announced during the ongoing Red Sea Film Festival in Jeddah, comes five years after the government removed its 35-year-old religion-related ban on cinemas.

Former Universal Pictures executive Paul Chesney has been out and about this past week at the third edition of Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea International Film Festival, running November 30 to December 9 in the port city of Jeddah.

Nick Holdsworth For the producers of an international co-production about Palestinian refugees in Athens the Hamas attack on Israel Oct. 7 and subsequent bombardment and invasion of Gaza by Israeli forces looked as if it might derail the project.

MBC Studios is developing a series adaptation of popular Saudi writer Osamah Almuslim’s best-selling debut horror novel Khawf (Fear).

The Aussies took over Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Festival this evening as Elvis filmmaker Baz Luhrmann sat down for a career Q&A with actor Chris Hemsworth. 

Saudi Arabia‘s Red Sea International Film Festival is midway through its third edition, running November 30 to December 9 in the palatial surroundings of the seafront Ritz Carlton in the port city of Jeddah.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Young Saudi director Meshal Al Jaser, who springs from the country’s vibrant YouTube scene, is making a splash with his madcap feature debut “Naga,” in which a young woman named Sara goes on a date and takes drugs in the desert. She then must overcome various obstacles, including a rabid camel, to get home before the curfew set by her punishment-prone father. Produced by Saudi’s prominent Telfaz11 production company in tandem with Netflix, “Naga” marks the first Saudi film selected for Toronto’s Midnight Madness program and is now premiering locally to ravishing response at the Red Sea Film Festival in Jeddah.

The Pentagon has said an American warship and multiple commercial ships have come under attack Sunday in the Red Sea. 

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Netflix has boarded Saudi Arabian multi-hyphenate Fatima Al-Banawi’s feature film debut “Basma” which tackles the theme of mental illness in her country. The groundbreaking film is set in Jeddah, the city on the Red Sea’s eastern shore where Saudi’s Red Sea Film Festival is currently underway.

Stampede Ventures’ adaptation of Isabell Ronin’s YA romance webnovel Chasing Red will shoot in Saudi Arabia, it was announced at the Red Sea Film Festival in Jeddah on Saturday.

“The work that exhibitors have done in this market is nothing short of exceptional,” Luke Vetere, Managing Director of Majid Al Futtaim Distribution, one of the largest theatrical distributors in the MENA region, told a crowd of industry figures this morning at Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Festival. 

Halle Berry and Gwyneth Paltrow are among the high-profile names that have been added to the popular ‘In-Conversation’ sidebar section at the third edition of Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Festival. Scroll down for the full list of attendees.

Rafa Sales Ross Guest Contributor The third edition of the Red Sea Film Festival, taking place in Jeddah between Nov. 30 – Dec. 9, will be the culmination of a highly successful funding cycle for the Red Sea Film Foundation.

Rafa Sales Ross Guest Contributor The intensity of the screams rumbling within the imposing Red Sea Mall could mean only one thing: there is a Bollywood star in Jeddah. The star in question is Ranveer Singh, one of the honorees at this year’s Red Sea Film Festival.