City Jeddah Showbiz Latest News and Updates

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

Vox Cinemas, the Middle East’s largest exhibition chain, has unveiled an ambitious plan to produce 25 Arabic movies in the next five years. The announcement was made at the inaugural Red Sea International Film Festival in Jeddah, where Vox Cinemas is the exclusive cinema partner.

Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton have been accused of 'playing dumb' in Sunday's frantic Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Both drivers crashed during the race in Jeddah.

The glitterati was out in full force in Jeddah on Monday night as the inaugural Red Sea International Film Festival kicked off with the Middle Eastern premiere of Joe Wright’s musical romance Cyrano.

A film festival is about more than just the films and the festival center. It is about the location, the journey, the experience. Here on Deadline we’ll be bringing you updates on what it’s like to be on the ground at the inaugural Red Sea International Film Festival, Saudi Arabia’s first ever film festival. 

LIVE – Updated at 18:54Lewis Hamilton claimed a crucial pole position for this evening’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix ahead of Max Verstappen as the F1 title race took another twist. The Red Bull driver was poised to leapfrog his Mercedes rival before a stunning crash confirmed the seven-time word champion at the front of the grid in what promises to be a historic race in Jeddah.

Lewis Hamilton took an incredible victory in an action-packed inaugural Saudi Arabian Grand Prix to draw level with Max Verstappen in the world championship standings heading into next weekend’s final race of the year.

held on to take his fifth pole of the season in Jeddah after Max Verstappen hit the wall at the final corner on his last lap in Q3, having looked set to grab top spot at the finish.  The crash meant Verstappen will start the inaugural Saudi Arabian GP from third place behind a Mercedes front row lockout with Hamilton on pole from team-mate Valtteri Bottas, but Hamilton remains wary of Red Bull’s pace this weekend.

Charles Leclerc was fortunate to avoid any injury at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix on Friday evening. Leclerc suffered a big shunt into the wall in FP2 and the 24-year-old has issued a statement to apologise to his team for the mishap.

LIVE – Updated at 07:47It’s almost here, the penultimate F1 race in the calendar, the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Today will provide an insight into how Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen get on at Jeddah’s Corniche Circuit.

Lewis Hamilton has spoken of his discomfort surrounding racing in Saudi Arabia, adding he believes he is now "duty-bound" to continue to raise awareness for certain issues, including women and LGBTQ+ rights in such countries. The event has faced criticism from many organisations, and on Wednesday, Human Rights Watch expressed concern to Formula One about what they felt was "a deliberate strategy to deflect attention from its pervasive human rights abuses" by holding a race in Jeddah.

LIVE – Updated at 17:19Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen have battled it out all season and it all comes down to the final two races of the Formula 1 season with the Red Bull star hoping to finish the job in Saudi Arabia but likely aware enough to know it will rumble on to the finale in Abu Dhabi. In the most exciting F1 season for years, Jeddah is set to showcase more thrills and spills in both the Drivers’ Championship and Constructors’ Championship.

Justin Bieber has been urged to cancel his forthcoming concert in Saudi Arabia next month by the fiancée of murdered Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi.The pop star is due to perform in the city of Jeddah on December 5 as part of the Formula One Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.But Hatice Cengiz has called on Bieber to cancel the show.In an open letter published in the Washington Post, Ms Cengiz wrote: “Do not sing for the murderers of my beloved Jamal.

An open letter in the Washington Post from the woman who was engaged to slain reporter Jamal Khashoggi is urging Justin Bieber not to play a Dec. 5 show in the kingdom.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentFrench film critic Edouard Waintrop, a former Cannes Directors’ Fortnight chief, has joined Saudi Arabia’s nascent Red Sea International Film Festival as artistic director.Waintrop, who between 2012 and 2018 headed the independently run Cannes section, had previously been an advisor to the ambitious Red Sea fest which, after a delay due to coronavirus, is now on track to hold its first edition Nov.

Muvi Cinemas KSA, the first homegrown cinema brand in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, says it is on target to reach 307 screens across the country over the next 12 months. The firm added eight new multiplexes to the brand’s portfolio in 2020.

The inaugural Red Sea Film Festival — which was due to launch March 12, 2020 in Saudi Arabia's coastal city of Jeddah and became one of the first festival casualties of the coronavirus — has finally been rescheduled. Almost a year to the day that the festival was canceled as the kingdom reported its first cases of COVID-19 and much of the world was beginning to feel the devastating effects of the pandemic, organizers have revealed that the festival will now take place Nov.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentAfter a delay due to coronavirus Saudi Arabia’s nascent Red Sea International Film Festival in now on track to hold it’s first edition in November with a partly renewed team in place.The ambitious event, which is Saudi’s first full-fledged film festival and market with international ambitions, is set to run November 11-20 in the historic district of Jeddah, a Unesco World Heritage site.The theme of the fest’s first edition will be “Metamorphosis,”

Saudi Arabian film director Mahmoud Sabbagh, who made a splash with groundbreaking romcom “Barakah Meets Barakah” and black comedy “Amra and the Second Marriage,” roughly a year ago became president of Saudi’s Red Sea International Film Festival, the kingdom’s first full-fledged festival and market.

Oliver Stone will serve as jury president of the international competition at the inaugural Red Sea Film Festival, set to take place in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah next month.The Platoon and Wall Street director will oversee a jury that will be focused on "original, daring productions by emerging and established voices," the festival said, adding that there would be an emphasis on features from the Arab world and the "Global South," meaning emerging markets in Africa, Asia, Latin America