Lights, camera, action
IT would come as a great surprise to many people around the world to learn that Saudis are huge movie fans and that they closely follow worldwide cinema productions.
We do agree that there are no theaters, active production houses or film critics in the Kingdom since the 1970s. Saudis, however, found plenty of ways — television networks showing the latest movies, theaters in nearby countries and through the Internet — to compensate for this lack of cinemas.
What is even more surprising is the fact that Saudis have some connections to the Oscars, one of the most prestigious awards in the global movie industry.
These connections go beyond interests, viewership, or living room gossips and discussions about possible winners or losers. For your kind information, two Saudi movies made it to the Oscars in the foreign- language films category.
“Barakah Meets Barakah,” the debut project of Saudi writer/director Mahmoud Sabbagh would represent Saudi Arabia in 2017 Academy Awards in the category of “best foreign- language film,” arriving about three years after Haifaa Al- Mansour’s, German- produced, Oscar- submitted film “Wadjda” in 2013. The film was featured in February of this year to largely positive reviews at the Berlin Film Festival. Screen Daily’s David D’Arcy praised the film’s “humor of clever restraint” and called lead actress Fatima Al- Banawi, “radiant, playful, and contentious… a revelation,” while the Hollywood Reporter hailed the film as “an easygoing crowd- pleaser,” as reported by Morning Ticker. I have to admit that no matter what, such nominations sound weird. Do not get me wrong, it is a source of pride for anyone who has the slightest interest in the Saudi cultural scene to see Saudi talent receiving recognition and endorsed, but at the same time, it is a source of pain when you realize that we have failed to embrace our own talents and we did not encourage them. It would be a waste of time to write about the power of cinema and how it can make, enhance and maintain an image of a country, its people and its culture — something that we badly need. “I like to call my film a coming- of- age story rather than a romantic comedy,” Sabbagh told Reuters in an interview. “I borrowed from so many genres in my film, because I said we are defining the perception of cinema, we have no precedents before us.” “Saudis watch and consume a lot of art so this is our chance to produce art, and my film is about public space, it’s about individual freedom,” Sabbagh said. Sultan Al- Bazie, head of the Saudi Arabian Society for Culture and Arts and chairman of the nominating committee, said of the film, “Mahmoud Sabbagh is a representative of a new generation who will soon be pioneers in the history of filmmaking in Saudi Arabia. This generation, which submitted more than 70 films at the third Saudi Film Festival organized by SASCA last March, is showing a lot of creativity and determination to express themselves and their culture through cinema. We feel proud to nominate Barakah Meets Barakah as our country’s second entry to the Oscars and we are optimistic that the next years will have more entries from Saudi Arabia.” I really hope that such international exposure our young talents are receiving these days would open the doors to more young men and women to step forward and put their skills to test. It is high time we recognized these talents and helped them by building the infrastructure in which they could grow. Organizing a film festival in a country where there are no outlets to watch movies is not enough. If two films, with no official backing or support, have been able to make it to the Oscars, I am sure once we empower them and help them to tackle the challenges they face in this critical industry they could go places and make us proud.