The Film Commission, in association with the Saudi Film Festival and the King Abdulaziz Center, concluded the second session of the Film Critics Forum in Tehran, Eastern Province under the theme National Cinema last Thursday and Friday. World Culture (IDRA) is a global platform that promotes film criticism and its activities by critics and academics specializing in film studies, filmmakers, writers, artists and other cinema enthusiasts.

The Chief Executive Officer of the Film Commission, Engineer Abdullah Al Ayyaf, expressed his happiness over the grand success of the forum in its second phase, stressing that the upcoming stations of the forum will see a wide range of topics. Aspirations of those interested in film criticism in all parts of the Kingdom.

Providing opportunities for talented people to gain professional experience

Al Ayyaf pointed out that the authority is working to develop high-quality programs to provide local talent with opportunities through professional experiences that will enrich the Saudi Arabian cinema scene.

The forum provided a closer look at the concept of national cinema with the large participation of experts in the fields of research and film criticism and workers, critics, researchers in the film industry. Film buffs and enthusiasts and those interested in the film industry benefit from the dialogue and critique space provided by these events and connect through conversations and cinematic exchanges.

On its first day, the forum presented a lecture entitled National Cinema Beyond National Borders, delivered by Professor of Film and Television Studies at Glasgow Dickinson University, with an analytical reading of examples of some successful Arab films. The passing popularity of Bollywood stars in the Middle East was presented by Sriya Mitra, Associate Professor of Mass Communication at the American University of Sharjah.

Assistant Professor of Cinema and Media Studies at King Faisal Abdul Rahman Al-Khannam University delivered a lecture on the political economy of Gulf cinema.

Discussion sessions and workshops

This was followed by a general discussion session, after which the proceedings of the forum continued with a discussion session on National Cinema: A Concept in Sustainable Change. The forum witnessed a dialogue session on Gulf cinema, which featured director and president of Cinema Society Hana Al-Omair, Bahraini director and producer Bassam Al-Thawadi and film critic and interviewer Irban Rasheed. The Journey is a Saudi film co-produced by Doi Animation and Manga Productions, and directed by Kobon Shijuno.

After that, a discussion session on animation in national cinema started with the participation of animation director Wala Cindy, screenwriter and animation director Afnan Bouyan and Assistant Professor Muhammad Sobieh of Effat University.

The forum activities concluded with a workshop on presenting film programs as a career by film coordinator Rabi El-Khoury.

The Film Criticism Conference, which held its first session in Jeddah last March and continues its next meetings in Tehran, moves on to its next stop in Aba under the theme Scene and Natural Space in Films, before traveling to Tabuk. Taking place in the north of the kingdom under the theme of technology and film-watching experience, then arriving in Buraidah, the last stop of the initial meetings with the theme of migration, travel and movement in cinema, before the main conference in Riyadh next November, under the theme of film and art in a changing world.