In 2023, Saudi Arabian film agency Film AlUla formed AlUla Creates, a local initiative that provides funding, mentorship and networking opportunities for Saudi filmmakers and fashion designers. And in just one year, AlUla Creates has exploded into a global brand, already hosting 123 international productions in the scenic valleys of AlUla, Saudi Arabia.
“We call it a living museum,” said marketing director at Film AlUla Mahsa Motamedi. “It’s absolutely beautiful.”
As part of the Variety Global Conversations Summit at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, Variety‘s Italy and Middle East correspondent Nick Vivarelli sat down with Motamedi, director Maram Taibah and sister filmmakers Raneem and Dana Almohandes to discuss the impact of AlUla Creates on the Saudi Arabian film industry.
Taibah is one of the many young filmmakers who found support from AlUla Creates. After her sister sent her an Instagram ad for the program, she knew immediately she wanted to join.
“We call it a living museum,” said marketing director at Film AlUla Mahsa Motamedi. “It’s absolutely beautiful.”
As part of the Variety Global Conversations Summit at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, Variety‘s Italy and Middle East correspondent Nick Vivarelli sat down with Motamedi, director Maram Taibah and sister filmmakers Raneem and Dana Almohandes to discuss the impact of AlUla Creates on the Saudi Arabian film industry.
Taibah is one of the many young filmmakers who found support from AlUla Creates. After her sister sent her an Instagram ad for the program, she knew immediately she wanted to join.
- 5/21/2024
- by Jack Dunn
- Variety Film + TV
The right costume can evoke emotions and awaken a character in a way that no other part of a film can. And this is why Film AlUla, the Royal Commission for AlUla’s film agency, has just announced that Italian-Japanese artistic and creative director Nicola Formichetti is its new costume mentor for its AlUla Creates initiative.
Developing AlUla as a tourist destination is a mega project for Saudi Arabia, and Film AlUla positions this northwest region in the country as an international filming destination, building it out with facilities and infrastructure for blockbuster film production. The 2023 film Kandahar, featuring Gerard Butler, was filmed in AlUla.
So, tapping Formichetti is a strategic move by Film AlUla, as his accomplishments in fashion have created iconic pop cultural moments in history. It was Formichetti who was behind Lady Gaga’s 2009 MTV Video Music Awards appearance, with her five dress changes in Jean Paul Gaultier...
Developing AlUla as a tourist destination is a mega project for Saudi Arabia, and Film AlUla positions this northwest region in the country as an international filming destination, building it out with facilities and infrastructure for blockbuster film production. The 2023 film Kandahar, featuring Gerard Butler, was filmed in AlUla.
So, tapping Formichetti is a strategic move by Film AlUla, as his accomplishments in fashion have created iconic pop cultural moments in history. It was Formichetti who was behind Lady Gaga’s 2009 MTV Video Music Awards appearance, with her five dress changes in Jean Paul Gaultier...
- 4/2/2024
- by Allyson Portee
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Lionel Messi Gets Animated With Sony
Argentinian soccer star Lionel Messi has inspired an animated series from Sony Music Entertainment and Sony Picture Television – Kids. Messi and the Giants, which also counts Leo Messi Management as a co-creator, will launch at Mipcom next week. The series depicts a 12-year-old Messi as he confronts various obstacles while traveling a video game on a quest to get home. “Football is the only sport around the world that can inspire excitement and connection in the same way that storytelling does,” said Joe D’Ambrosia, EVP & General Manager, Sony Pictures Television – Kids. Story editor and writer Guy Toubes (Odd Squad) is attached to the project, while Canary Islands-based Atlantis Animation serves as the lead creative studio driving graphic development and art treatment.
Srmg and Warner Bros. Discovery Launch Asharq Discovery
Riyadh-registered, pan-mena integrated media group Srmg and Warner Bros. Discovery have partnered to launch Arabic-language infotainment platform Asharq Discovery.
Argentinian soccer star Lionel Messi has inspired an animated series from Sony Music Entertainment and Sony Picture Television – Kids. Messi and the Giants, which also counts Leo Messi Management as a co-creator, will launch at Mipcom next week. The series depicts a 12-year-old Messi as he confronts various obstacles while traveling a video game on a quest to get home. “Football is the only sport around the world that can inspire excitement and connection in the same way that storytelling does,” said Joe D’Ambrosia, EVP & General Manager, Sony Pictures Television – Kids. Story editor and writer Guy Toubes (Odd Squad) is attached to the project, while Canary Islands-based Atlantis Animation serves as the lead creative studio driving graphic development and art treatment.
Srmg and Warner Bros. Discovery Launch Asharq Discovery
Riyadh-registered, pan-mena integrated media group Srmg and Warner Bros. Discovery have partnered to launch Arabic-language infotainment platform Asharq Discovery.
- 10/10/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow, Jesse Whittock and Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
Updated with latest photos: The Taormina Film Festival kicked off its 2023 edition on June 23 with a lineup that included the Italian premiere of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny which brought out stars Harrison Ford, Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Mads Mikkelsen, and the Amber Heard-starring In the Fire directed by Conor Allyn. (Read about Heard’s exclusive interview with Deadline here.) It also features a short-film program curated by Bella Thorne, who is premiering her own short film Paint Her Red.
Other European premieres on tap at Taormina include Eva Vik’s Serpentine, starring supermodel Barbara Palvin. Another supermodel, Adriana Lima, is in town with FIFA: A Love Letter to Rwanda by Craig Goodwill, in which she appears and also executive produced. Later in the festival, Italian artist Marco Perego’s debut feature The Absence of Eden will world premiere with co-stars Zoe Saldaña, Garrett Hedlund and Adria Arjona joining Perego.
Other European premieres on tap at Taormina include Eva Vik’s Serpentine, starring supermodel Barbara Palvin. Another supermodel, Adriana Lima, is in town with FIFA: A Love Letter to Rwanda by Craig Goodwill, in which she appears and also executive produced. Later in the festival, Italian artist Marco Perego’s debut feature The Absence of Eden will world premiere with co-stars Zoe Saldaña, Garrett Hedlund and Adria Arjona joining Perego.
- 6/29/2023
- by Patrick Hipes
- Deadline Film + TV
Italy’s Taormina Film Festival kicks off its 69th edition Friday evening against the backdrop of its landmark Teatro Antico amphitheatre with a “Pavarotti Forever” benefit event headlined by Placido Domingo and Vittorio Grigolo.
It’s not the typical opening for a film festival, but it is in keeping with the eclectic programming of incoming artistic director Barrett Wissman, whose interview with Deadline on his plans for the festival can be read here.
Much is riding on the edition, with Wissman being brought in to raise its local and international profile after a turbulent decade, which was compounded by the Covid pandemic.
Topping the bill over the first weekend is the Italian premiere of Indiana Jones and the Dial Of Destiny in the presence of Harrison Ford, Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Mads Mikkelsen. It’s the first time a major Disney production has touched down at the festival since Inside Out in 2015. Indiana Jones,...
It’s not the typical opening for a film festival, but it is in keeping with the eclectic programming of incoming artistic director Barrett Wissman, whose interview with Deadline on his plans for the festival can be read here.
Much is riding on the edition, with Wissman being brought in to raise its local and international profile after a turbulent decade, which was compounded by the Covid pandemic.
Topping the bill over the first weekend is the Italian premiere of Indiana Jones and the Dial Of Destiny in the presence of Harrison Ford, Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Mads Mikkelsen. It’s the first time a major Disney production has touched down at the festival since Inside Out in 2015. Indiana Jones,...
- 6/23/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Bella Thorne is saying ciao to the role of festival programmer.
The “Paint Her Red” filmmaker, who makes her directorial debut with the short film, will curate a selection for the “Influential Shorts” gala programming for the 2023 Taormina Film Festival. Thorne has selected “Don’t Go Too Far” as the first short film to be screened alongside her own.
Thorne and Taormina Film Festival co-Artistic Director Barrett Wissman selected “Don’t Go Too Far,” directed by Saudi female filmmaker Maram Taibah. The film follows an Arab man (Hakeem Jomah) with an intellectual disability who is accidentally separated from his sister (Ida Alkusay) on a New York subway. Never having been left alone in his entire life, the train carries him off. He is left to find his way back home alone in an apathetic city. “Don’t Go Too Far” is written and directed by Taibah and produced by Jaselle Martino.
The “Paint Her Red” filmmaker, who makes her directorial debut with the short film, will curate a selection for the “Influential Shorts” gala programming for the 2023 Taormina Film Festival. Thorne has selected “Don’t Go Too Far” as the first short film to be screened alongside her own.
Thorne and Taormina Film Festival co-Artistic Director Barrett Wissman selected “Don’t Go Too Far,” directed by Saudi female filmmaker Maram Taibah. The film follows an Arab man (Hakeem Jomah) with an intellectual disability who is accidentally separated from his sister (Ida Alkusay) on a New York subway. Never having been left alone in his entire life, the train carries him off. He is left to find his way back home alone in an apathetic city. “Don’t Go Too Far” is written and directed by Taibah and produced by Jaselle Martino.
- 5/23/2023
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
More than 40 delegates from Saudi Arabia, including the council’s CEO Faisal Baltyuor, went to Cannes to showcase the Kingdom’s movie industry at the Marché du Film, the festival’s industry market. It is the first time the country has participated in Cannes.Nine short films by young Saudi directors screened as part of the Short Film Corner. These offer unfiltered storytelling from fresh voices previously not heard.The pavilion hosted a media breakfast and an industry luncheon.Gahwa took the place of café au lait as the Saudi Film Council welcomed guests to its pavilion at the 71st Cannes Film Festival.
The Saudi Film Council was launched in March by the General Culture Authority as part of Vision 2030’s goal to diversify the economy through industries such as tourism and culture. The delegation organized a series of panels ranging from “Saudi Arabia: The Next Frontier of Filming Locations...
The Saudi Film Council was launched in March by the General Culture Authority as part of Vision 2030’s goal to diversify the economy through industries such as tourism and culture. The delegation organized a series of panels ranging from “Saudi Arabia: The Next Frontier of Filming Locations...
- 5/25/2018
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
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