The BFI London Film Festival will present five feature films and documentaries by UK-based filmmakers at its fourth annual Works-in-Progress showcase. Scroll down for the lineup.
The showcase, which forms part of the festival’s industry program, will be an in-person event at Picturehouse Central where filmmakers will screen extracts from their projects for an invited audience of international buyers and festival programmers.
The projects are either in production or post-production. An online package with the projects will also be available online for one week from October 7 through a secure platform to a wider pool of invited international industry professionals.
Last year, two projects from the 2021 in-progress lineup were screened during the Lff. The pics were Pretty Red Dress, written and directed by Dionne Edwards, and Medusa Deluxe, written and directed by Thomas Hardiman. This year, Girl written and directed by Adura Onashile, which premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival and will screen at Lff,...
The showcase, which forms part of the festival’s industry program, will be an in-person event at Picturehouse Central where filmmakers will screen extracts from their projects for an invited audience of international buyers and festival programmers.
The projects are either in production or post-production. An online package with the projects will also be available online for one week from October 7 through a secure platform to a wider pool of invited international industry professionals.
Last year, two projects from the 2021 in-progress lineup were screened during the Lff. The pics were Pretty Red Dress, written and directed by Dionne Edwards, and Medusa Deluxe, written and directed by Thomas Hardiman. This year, Girl written and directed by Adura Onashile, which premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival and will screen at Lff,...
- 9/26/2023
- by Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
Rising Saudi Arabian star Yaqoub Alfarhan, who plays the titular role in hit Mbc TV series “Rashash,” is attached to star in “Norah” a groundbreaking drama written and directed by Tawfik Alzaidi that is currently shooting in AlUla the sprawling area of Saudi desert and giant boulders that boasts an ancient city.
Set in 1990s Saudi Arabia, when conservatism was at its height and all forms of art and painting were banned for religion-related reasons, “Norah” sees Alfarhan (pictured) play an artist named Nader who has given up painting and moved to a remote village to be a schoolteacher. There he intersects with the film’s titular “Norah,” an illiterate orphaned young woman who is facing an arranged marriage in which she will be trapped and has a need for self expression. She records her thoughts and memories into an old cassette recorder. This encounter unleashes the protagonist’s passion for art and,...
Set in 1990s Saudi Arabia, when conservatism was at its height and all forms of art and painting were banned for religion-related reasons, “Norah” sees Alfarhan (pictured) play an artist named Nader who has given up painting and moved to a remote village to be a schoolteacher. There he intersects with the film’s titular “Norah,” an illiterate orphaned young woman who is facing an arranged marriage in which she will be trapped and has a need for self expression. She records her thoughts and memories into an old cassette recorder. This encounter unleashes the protagonist’s passion for art and,...
- 6/17/2022
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
The complex will have two soundstages and production support buildings.
A new film studio is being built in the AlUla region of Saudi Arabia in an effort to attract more international productions.
The complex in the Fadhla area of AlUla will have two soundstages, both 24,000 square feet, as well as support facilities, including production offices, catering, film clusters, and a backlot.
“We are keen to support local productions, but also attract more international productions to AlUla and building a studio [one of the first in Saudi Arabia) will help achieve this, following the successful arrival of [Gerard Butler starrer] Kandahar, which shot entirely in our region, and Apple’s Iraq war story Cherry,” Stephen Strachan, Film...
A new film studio is being built in the AlUla region of Saudi Arabia in an effort to attract more international productions.
The complex in the Fadhla area of AlUla will have two soundstages, both 24,000 square feet, as well as support facilities, including production offices, catering, film clusters, and a backlot.
“We are keen to support local productions, but also attract more international productions to AlUla and building a studio [one of the first in Saudi Arabia) will help achieve this, following the successful arrival of [Gerard Butler starrer] Kandahar, which shot entirely in our region, and Apple’s Iraq war story Cherry,” Stephen Strachan, Film...
- 5/20/2022
- by Chris Evans
- ScreenDaily
World heritage site in northwestern Saudi Arabia has previously hosted international productions Kandahar and Cherry.
Film AlUla, the film commission overseeing Saudi Arabia’s rising filming location of AlUla, has announced the arrival of the first homegrown production to shoot there.
Saudi director Tawfik Alzaidi’s debut feature is currently in preparation and is due to start filming next month. It is produced by Saudi production companies Black Sugar Pictures and Nebras Films.
Also attached are UK producer Paul Miller and Jordanian producer Sharif Majali, who both have extensive experience working on productions in the Middle East and North Africa.
Film AlUla, the film commission overseeing Saudi Arabia’s rising filming location of AlUla, has announced the arrival of the first homegrown production to shoot there.
Saudi director Tawfik Alzaidi’s debut feature is currently in preparation and is due to start filming next month. It is produced by Saudi production companies Black Sugar Pictures and Nebras Films.
Also attached are UK producer Paul Miller and Jordanian producer Sharif Majali, who both have extensive experience working on productions in the Middle East and North Africa.
- 5/11/2022
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
World heritage site in northwestern Saudi Arabia has previously hosted international productions Kandahar and Cherry.
Film AlUla, the film commission overseeing Saudi Arabia’s rising filming location of AlUla, has announced the arrival of the first homegrown production to shoot there.
Saudi director Tawfik Alzaidi’s debut feature is currently in preparation and is due to start filming next month. It is produced by Saudi production companies Black Sugar Pictures and Nebras Films.
Also attached are UK producer Paul Miller and Jordanian producer Sharif Majali, who both have extensive experience working on productions in the Middle East and North Africa.
Film AlUla, the film commission overseeing Saudi Arabia’s rising filming location of AlUla, has announced the arrival of the first homegrown production to shoot there.
Saudi director Tawfik Alzaidi’s debut feature is currently in preparation and is due to start filming next month. It is produced by Saudi production companies Black Sugar Pictures and Nebras Films.
Also attached are UK producer Paul Miller and Jordanian producer Sharif Majali, who both have extensive experience working on productions in the Middle East and North Africa.
- 5/11/2022
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
Since Saudi Arabia lifted its 35-year-old religion-related ban on cinema in 2017, the kingdom has experienced a boom in all aspects of film industry activity, recently becoming West Asia’s top-grossing territory in terms of theatrical box office returns. Attracting international film and TV productions is clearly a key part of this government-driven effort.
The recent Cannes and Venice film festivals saw the launch of a film commission for AlUla, a sprawling area of desert and giant boulders that boasts an ancient city. The first major Hollywood shoot at AlUla took place earlier this year — Anthony and Joe Russo’s drama “Cherry,” starring Tom Holland as an Iraq War veteran turned opioid addict, an Apple Original film for which the Saudi desert stood in for Iraq.
“We hosted the shoot of ‘Cherry,’ which shot three days in AlUla and one day in Ryadh,” says Stephen Strachan, who is film commissioner of the Royal Commission for AlUla.
The recent Cannes and Venice film festivals saw the launch of a film commission for AlUla, a sprawling area of desert and giant boulders that boasts an ancient city. The first major Hollywood shoot at AlUla took place earlier this year — Anthony and Joe Russo’s drama “Cherry,” starring Tom Holland as an Iraq War veteran turned opioid addict, an Apple Original film for which the Saudi desert stood in for Iraq.
“We hosted the shoot of ‘Cherry,’ which shot three days in AlUla and one day in Ryadh,” says Stephen Strachan, who is film commissioner of the Royal Commission for AlUla.
- 12/20/2021
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Ministry of Investment official was speaking at a Red Sea industry talk
The Saudi government has set a target of producing and shooting 100 films in the country by 2030 and is determined to create the infrastructure to make this happen, according to an official from the ministry of investment.
“We know that we cannot reach it in a day or in a year. It’s like a walk and we are doing it step by step,” said Bahaa Abdulmajeed, a business development manager at Saudi’s ministry of investment.
“We did an internal assessment, and we know that we have many...
The Saudi government has set a target of producing and shooting 100 films in the country by 2030 and is determined to create the infrastructure to make this happen, according to an official from the ministry of investment.
“We know that we cannot reach it in a day or in a year. It’s like a walk and we are doing it step by step,” said Bahaa Abdulmajeed, a business development manager at Saudi’s ministry of investment.
“We did an internal assessment, and we know that we have many...
- 12/10/2021
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
Since Saudi Arabia lifted its 35-year-old religion related ban on cinema in 2017, the country has been ramping up its efforts to attract local and international productions to come and shoot in the region. Film AlUla is playing a major part in the government’s Vision 3030 plan to modernize the country. Established in early 2020 by the country’s Royal Commission, the agency’s mandate is to promote filming in this untouched northwest region of Ksa, which is home to the Unesco World Heritage Site of Hegra, and develop a film-friendly ecosystem to support incoming projects.
The first major project to shoot in the AlUla region was Apple’s Iraq war story Cherry, starring Tom Holland and directed by Anthony and Joe Russo. While that film only shot three days in the region last year, the county is currently hosting Gerard Butler starrer Kandahar, which is set to shoot its entirety in AlUla.
The first major project to shoot in the AlUla region was Apple’s Iraq war story Cherry, starring Tom Holland and directed by Anthony and Joe Russo. While that film only shot three days in the region last year, the county is currently hosting Gerard Butler starrer Kandahar, which is set to shoot its entirety in AlUla.
- 12/8/2021
- by Diana Lodderhose
- Deadline Film + TV
When Denis Villeneuve got the thumbs up from Warner Bros. and Legendary to shoot “Dune,” he knew he was headed back to the Middle East.
Specifically, to the deserts of Jordan and the United Arab Emirates, which are inextricably tied to the Canadian director’s passionate vision of the planet Arrakis. These countries have also played key roles in several of the “Star Wars” installments, giving all these films a soul they never could have attained using green screens and the CGI visuals of most sci-fi movies.
Villeneuve in several interviews has said he started scouting for “Dune” a decade ago in Jordan when he first came to the region to make his 2010 Oscar-nominated breakout film “Incendies.” Even then, he was dreaming of bringing Frank Herbert’s book to life. As heard in promotional materials for the film, Villeneuve vowed to himself that if he ever got to make “Dune,...
Specifically, to the deserts of Jordan and the United Arab Emirates, which are inextricably tied to the Canadian director’s passionate vision of the planet Arrakis. These countries have also played key roles in several of the “Star Wars” installments, giving all these films a soul they never could have attained using green screens and the CGI visuals of most sci-fi movies.
Villeneuve in several interviews has said he started scouting for “Dune” a decade ago in Jordan when he first came to the region to make his 2010 Oscar-nominated breakout film “Incendies.” Even then, he was dreaming of bringing Frank Herbert’s book to life. As heard in promotional materials for the film, Villeneuve vowed to himself that if he ever got to make “Dune,...
- 11/29/2021
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Venice Film Festival’s industry programme runs September 2-10.
The Venice Production Bridge (Vpb) kicks off today (September 2) with double the number of physical attendees than 2020 in a sign the industry is getting to grips with business travel amid the pandemic.
The Venice Film Festival’s industry strand will welcome some 1,300 professionals, against 800 in 2020 and 2,700 in 2019, its last pre-pandemic edition.
“It’s mainly Europeans - the US, Latin America and Asia remain largely absent,” said Pascal Diotl who oversees the programme with Savina Neirotti.
With long-haul travel to Europe remaining complicated, the Vpb is running as a hybrid physical and...
The Venice Production Bridge (Vpb) kicks off today (September 2) with double the number of physical attendees than 2020 in a sign the industry is getting to grips with business travel amid the pandemic.
The Venice Film Festival’s industry strand will welcome some 1,300 professionals, against 800 in 2020 and 2,700 in 2019, its last pre-pandemic edition.
“It’s mainly Europeans - the US, Latin America and Asia remain largely absent,” said Pascal Diotl who oversees the programme with Savina Neirotti.
With long-haul travel to Europe remaining complicated, the Vpb is running as a hybrid physical and...
- 9/2/2021
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
More than 1,500 film professionals are already accredited for the Venice Production Bridge, which will run Sept. 2-10, and interest in new projects being unveiled is running high.
Pascal Diot, chief of the informal Venice market, said roughly 800 meetings have already been booked between producers and sales agents pertaining to the 30 projects — including seven docs — being unveiled at the Venice Gap Financing Market. Those projects must have at least 70% of their funding in place.
At this stage, the feature film project sparking most interest is female empowerment drama “The Year I Started Masturbating,” by Swedish filmmaker Erika Wasserman. Pic turns on an ambitious young woman and mother named Hanna who is unexpectedly dumped by her partner. She wants to win him back, but instead learns to win something much more important: love and desire for herself and who she is.
Another project eliciting interest at the Venice market is Swiss-Egyptian director...
Pascal Diot, chief of the informal Venice market, said roughly 800 meetings have already been booked between producers and sales agents pertaining to the 30 projects — including seven docs — being unveiled at the Venice Gap Financing Market. Those projects must have at least 70% of their funding in place.
At this stage, the feature film project sparking most interest is female empowerment drama “The Year I Started Masturbating,” by Swedish filmmaker Erika Wasserman. Pic turns on an ambitious young woman and mother named Hanna who is unexpectedly dumped by her partner. She wants to win him back, but instead learns to win something much more important: love and desire for herself and who she is.
Another project eliciting interest at the Venice market is Swiss-Egyptian director...
- 9/2/2021
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
After making its debut on the Croisette in 2018, Saudi Arabia is back in Cannes.
The kingdom has a national pavilion promoting the launch of a high-profile film festival on the Red Sea, and is looking to lure more international productions to come shoot in AlUla, a sprawling area of desert and giant boulders that boasts an ancient city.
Since Saudi Arabia lifted its 35-year-old religion-related ban on cinema in 2017, the kingdom has experienced a boom in all aspects of film industry activity, recently becoming the Middle East’s top-grossing territory in terms of theatrical box office returns.
But Saudi’s ambitions to build a film industry have been hindered by the 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and reports that appear to implicate Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the assassination that prompted media companies from the U.S. and elsewhere to clam up.
Is that changing? The Saudi presence at...
The kingdom has a national pavilion promoting the launch of a high-profile film festival on the Red Sea, and is looking to lure more international productions to come shoot in AlUla, a sprawling area of desert and giant boulders that boasts an ancient city.
Since Saudi Arabia lifted its 35-year-old religion-related ban on cinema in 2017, the kingdom has experienced a boom in all aspects of film industry activity, recently becoming the Middle East’s top-grossing territory in terms of theatrical box office returns.
But Saudi’s ambitions to build a film industry have been hindered by the 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and reports that appear to implicate Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the assassination that prompted media companies from the U.S. and elsewhere to clam up.
Is that changing? The Saudi presence at...
- 7/10/2021
- by Nick Vivarelli and Matt Donnelly
- Variety Film + TV
The submissions deadline for the International Oscar category at the 93rd Academy Awards may have now passed, but a few last-minute contenders are still being confirmed, including Saudi Arabia which has put forward Scales.
The Image Nation movie is written and directed by Shahad Ameed. It explores the changing role of women in society through the allegorical, magical-realist tale of Hayat, a young girl who refuses to be sacrificed to mysterious sea creatures by her village.
The black-and-white movie premiered at Venice last year. Variance Films has rights in North America. Pic was released in Saudi Arabia last month.
The film was produced by Paul Miller and Stephen Strachan of Abu Dhabi-based Film Solutions and Rula Nasser of Imaginarium Films, with executive producers Mohamed Al-Daradji and Majid Al-Ansari.
The Image Nation movie is written and directed by Shahad Ameed. It explores the changing role of women in society through the allegorical, magical-realist tale of Hayat, a young girl who refuses to be sacrificed to mysterious sea creatures by her village.
The black-and-white movie premiered at Venice last year. Variance Films has rights in North America. Pic was released in Saudi Arabia last month.
The film was produced by Paul Miller and Stephen Strachan of Abu Dhabi-based Film Solutions and Rula Nasser of Imaginarium Films, with executive producers Mohamed Al-Daradji and Majid Al-Ansari.
- 12/21/2020
- by Tom Grater
- Deadline Film + TV
Saudi director Shahad Ameen‘s feminist fable “Scales” has been selected as Saudi Arabia’s official candidate for the Oscar in the international feature film category.
“Scales” draws on Arabic folklore about a young woman named Hayat – played by newcomer Basima Hajjar – who rebels against the tradition in her fishing village of sacrificing female children to monstrous mermaids lurking in the sea. The groundbreaking film launched from the 2019 Venice Film Festival’s Critics’ Week, where it won the Verona Film Club award for innovative filmmaking, and has since been shown at a slew of other festivals, including London, Carthage, Cairo, Singapore, where it won best picture, and at SXSW 2020.
In November 2020, “Scales” was released theatrically in Saudi Arabia. Variance Films will release the film in the U.S. next year.
“I have only ever wanted ‘Scales’ to be seen, enjoyed and to act as a catalyst for wider conversations about gender roles,...
“Scales” draws on Arabic folklore about a young woman named Hayat – played by newcomer Basima Hajjar – who rebels against the tradition in her fishing village of sacrificing female children to monstrous mermaids lurking in the sea. The groundbreaking film launched from the 2019 Venice Film Festival’s Critics’ Week, where it won the Verona Film Club award for innovative filmmaking, and has since been shown at a slew of other festivals, including London, Carthage, Cairo, Singapore, where it won best picture, and at SXSW 2020.
In November 2020, “Scales” was released theatrically in Saudi Arabia. Variance Films will release the film in the U.S. next year.
“I have only ever wanted ‘Scales’ to be seen, enjoyed and to act as a catalyst for wider conversations about gender roles,...
- 12/21/2020
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Variance Films has acquired the North American theatrical rights to Shahad Ameen’s debut drama of magical realism Scales. the film, which comes from Image Nation Abu Dhabi will be released theatrically later this year.
Written and directed by Saudi Arabian filmmaker Ameen, the visually enticing Scales is described as a “feminist parable set in a dystopian landscape”. The film premiered at the Venice International Film Festival’s Critics Week, where it won the Verona Film Club Award. It was also set to screen at this year’s SXSW Film Festival before it was canceled due to the pandemic.
Shot on location in Oman, the story follows a young girl by the name of Hayat. She lives in a poor fishing village which has a dark tradition where every family must give one daughter to the mermaid-like sea creatures who inhabit the waters, to ensure the village can continue their fishing expeditions.
Written and directed by Saudi Arabian filmmaker Ameen, the visually enticing Scales is described as a “feminist parable set in a dystopian landscape”. The film premiered at the Venice International Film Festival’s Critics Week, where it won the Verona Film Club Award. It was also set to screen at this year’s SXSW Film Festival before it was canceled due to the pandemic.
Shot on location in Oman, the story follows a young girl by the name of Hayat. She lives in a poor fishing village which has a dark tradition where every family must give one daughter to the mermaid-like sea creatures who inhabit the waters, to ensure the village can continue their fishing expeditions.
- 4/29/2020
- by Dino-Ray Ramos
- Deadline Film + TV
Former Doha Film Institute director of film financing Paul Miller and development producer Stephen Strachan are launching Abu Dhabi-based company, The Film Bureau, aimed at supporting the development and financing of projects by Gulf region directors.
“The idea is to use our combined knowledge of development, education and financing, both regional and international, to help raise the bar here; gearing films, whatever their size, towards an audience and a more market-driven model of financing,” said Miller [pictured].
Its first two projects comprise an Arabic-language adaptation of Rob Meyer’s A Birder’s Guide To Everything and Saudi director Shahad Ameen’s mermaid fantasy Scales, which was one of the nominees in this year’s Iwc Filmmaker Award.
Strachan said the new entity would focus on script development, packaging and ultimately connecting projects with finance partners, both local and international.
“In the four years that I’ve been here, I’ve seen the whole region mature. We’re getting...
“The idea is to use our combined knowledge of development, education and financing, both regional and international, to help raise the bar here; gearing films, whatever their size, towards an audience and a more market-driven model of financing,” said Miller [pictured].
Its first two projects comprise an Arabic-language adaptation of Rob Meyer’s A Birder’s Guide To Everything and Saudi director Shahad Ameen’s mermaid fantasy Scales, which was one of the nominees in this year’s Iwc Filmmaker Award.
Strachan said the new entity would focus on script development, packaging and ultimately connecting projects with finance partners, both local and international.
“In the four years that I’ve been here, I’ve seen the whole region mature. We’re getting...
- 12/12/2015
- ScreenDaily
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