Saudi films to debut in India this month

Cairo: Saudi films will hit the screens in India for the first time as part of a roving festival starting in late January, the kingdom’s cinema authorities have said.

The “Saudi Film Nights” will be launched in India on January 31 and run through February 5 after large success earlier achieved by the roving festival in Morocco, Australia and China, the Saudi Film Commission has added

The event will open at the National Museum of the Indian Cinema in Mumbai along with showings planned in Delhi and Hyderabad. A select group of long and short films will be shown followed by panel sessions with filmmakers and the cast crews.The Saudi cinema sector has remarkably grown since the theatres were reopened in the kingdom in 2018.
Revenues from film showings at Saudi theaters surpassed SR846 million last year during which a total of 17.5 million tickets were sold, the commission disclosed this month.

During 2024, Saudi films toured 11 countries in four continents and participated in 14 local and international festivals.

The commission said it had provided support to 66 films, and showed 18 Saudi films outside the kingdom, with more than 2,700 people around the globe watching those films through events such as the “Saudi Film Nights”.
In 2018, Saudi Arabia reopened cinemas for the first time in nearly four decades as part of dramatic changes in the kingdom. The industry has since experienced a boom amid a thriving entertainment landscape in the country.

Saudi Arabia has recently become a magnet for Arab and foreign filmmakers, with events such as the Red Sea International Film Festival, which debuted in December 2021.