The Cinema Al-Hara initiative will run until October 30 in Jeddah.
Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea International Film Festival (RedSeaIFF) has launched Cinema Al-Hara, a community outreach programme, which consists of outdoor master classes and film screenings.
Cinema Al-Hara will feature six screenings in four different neighbourhoods in Jeddah. The programme began on October 9 and will run until October 30, 2021.
It will have six directors and three actors from around the Kingdom who will participate in the project, owing to the support of the local filmmaking community. The format of the master class will consist of shooting a scene in front of a live audience with guidance from the directors and actors present. Three to five audience members will be chosen based on their ticket numbers to participate in filming the scene as extras or as part of the crew.
The festival aims to make the film industry accessible to people of all ages. With this community outreach programme, the company is targeting the Saudi youth specifically to inspire the next generation of filmmakers who might otherwise not have considered filmmaking as a career. However, the programme is open for all Jeddah residents to engage and participate in the programme’s masterclasses and films.
Edouard Waintrop, Artistic Director of RedSeaIFF, said: “Saudi Arabia is rife with untapped talent, and it is among our priorities to enable our local talents to fulfil their potential. With our Cinema Al-Hara community outreach programme, we have taken the film industry to the streets of Jeddah in an effort to educate, empower and spark an interest in the youth by giving them the tools to succeed and fostering their talent. Red Sea International Film Festival aims to be a pioneer in Saudi Arabia and globally, not just for the festival activities, collaborations and competitions, but also for the impact we leave on the future generations with our community outreach programmes.”
The film festival will provide movie screenings along with complimentary refreshments and snacks, open to the audience. The films that will be screened at Cinema Al-Hara include Book of Sun, Baghdad Messi and Bekas.
