File: European Film Festival.
The Delegation of the European Union in Riyadh, in cooperation with the Embassies of the EU Member States and the Arabia Pictures Entertainment, announces on June 4 the second edition of the European Film Festival taking place in Saudi Arabia.
The Festival will run from June 7-14 at VOX Cinemas Sahara Mall and entail a screening of 16 European films from different European countries.
These include Austria, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.
The line-up of films includes “Quiet Girl”, nominated for Best International Feature Film Oscar, “I am Zlatan” by Jens Sjogren, telling the story of the world famous Swedish footballer Zlatan Ibrahimović and “Sugar and Stars” by Riadh Belaiche, which will land its Arab World Premiere in Riyadh as part of the Festival.
H.E. Mr. Patrick Simonnet, EU Ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, commented: “We are very happy to host, for the second time, the European Film Festival in Saudi Arabia. As the EU, we are keen to be part of the growing cultural scene of Saudi Arabia through various cultural events that foster cultural exchange and engage Europeans and Saudis on aspects of mutual interest such as film in this instance. People-to-people engagement is notably also an important pillar of EU’s Strategic Partnership with the Gulf.”
Abdulelah Al Ahmary, Founder of Arabia PicturesEntertainment, added: “Our company is privileged to organize the European Film Festival in Saudi Arabia for the second year in a row. Arabia Pictures Entertainment will continue to support the event with all the necessary tools to make it a special cinematic experience for all the film buffs in Saudi Arabia.”
Aimed at facilitating cultural exchange and promoting European cinema, the Festival will also foster contacts between the European and Saudi filmmakers through the organisation of dedicated side-events. Among the guests will be film directors Nuno Beato, Sebastien Tulard and Isabel Fernández, fromPortugal, France and Spain respectively, who will meet the audiences and run an open conversation with filmmakers and film enthusiast.
Other events include actress Zübeyde Bulut playing in the German film “Sisters Apart” shown at the Festival, presenting in a panel discussion the relationship between agents and actors as well as Willemien Sanders from Netherlands participating in a panel on telling stories about women in film.