On May 15, the Arab World Institute shone the spotlight on the revival of Saudi cinema through the screening of 3 films. Beyond the clichés, these short films highlight new talents in front of and behind the camera. Focus.
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As the 2023 Cannes Film Festival has just kicked off, cinema is turning all eyes on it more than ever. Proof of this is with the 3rd edition of the Night of Saudi Cinema which rolled out the red carpet for new talents to follow, this Monday, May 15, at the Institut du Monde Arabe, in Paris.
Born from the initiative of the Franco-Saudi friendship association Génération 2023, the event allowed the public to discover 3 nuggets of the 7th Art signed by filmmakers imposing themselves in their country and elsewhere. And this in the presence of the directors, and/or actresses and actors of the films, but also of Jack Lang, president of the Institute of the Arab World. The opportunity to look at these 3 short films that are worth much more than just a glance.
Me & Aydarous
After making her debut as an assistant director alongside Haifaa Al Mansour in The Perfect Candidate, as well as in other Saudi films such as The Rat, The Last Visit and Black Sand, Sara Balghonaim starred in 2019 in Dunya’s Day which received the Special Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. Producer of Sweet Refuge, with Laith Nakli, she directed her very first film this year: Me & Aydarous.
In this 8-minute short film, she takes us through a night in Riyadh, in 2003. While Jude, a daring young woman, has to sneak in to get to an appointment, she is forced to confront her driver….
VHS Tape Replaced
Independent filmmaker driven by the desire to explore femininity, gender and women’s issues in the Arab world, Maha Al-Saati received the Share Her Journey honorary award from the TIFF Filmmaker Lab Fellowship, as well as a residency from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) in 2021.
After Fear: Audibly, in 2017, and before Cycle of Apples, in 2019, she unveiled Hair: The Story of Grass in 2018. Satirizing how body hair shapes beauty standards and defines gender in the Arab world, the short film was selected for Fantastic Fest 2018, Slamdance 2019, and HollyShorts 2019.
This year, she returns with VHS Tape Replaced which takes us back to 1987, with Eyad, a young black Saudi trying to win love by imitating his favorite artist, Crown. A funny and rhythmic ode to tolerance and difference.
Othman
Director, cinematographer and co-founder of Bright Frame Productions, Khaled Zidan, at the age of 22, has received numerous awards for his work. In Othman, he describes in 35 minutes the story of an ordinary security guard, confronted with an event that takes him out of his routine and forces him to face reality.
A film that is fully in line with the desire of the young filmmaker to want to produce and direct works offering a realistic image of daily life in Saudi Arabia, far from clichés.