By Shahid Nayeem, Senior Correspondent
RIYADH: The Red Sea Film Festival Foundation has announced a fund of 37.5 million Saudi riyals to support film projects by directors in the Arab world and Africa. According to Arab media, the fund will also help creators transfer their work from the script to the screen to bring a new generation of filmmakers.
The Red Sea Fund will collaborate on more than 100 projects in its first year, including fiction, documentary and animation feature films, as well as installments that will promote game-changing for filmmakers. Saudi citizens will be able to apply to the Red Sea Film Fund for assistance in developing and producing short films.
Edward Wentrop, artistic director of the Red Sea International Film Festival (RSFF), says supporting African and Arab cinema is a very interesting responsibility. He said the Red Crescent Fund would help cinema provide more than 100 grants of up to 10 million USD for the development, production and post-production of films in the Arab world and Africa.
The Red Sea Fund is part of the Foundation’s commitment to the regional screen sector, including the inauguration of the RSFF November 11-20 in the historic Al-Balad area of Jeddah. The festival will include the launch of the Red Sea, its markets and the industrial hub for the region.
The Red Sea Souk will include a project market, which will include more than 20 projects from the Arab world and Africa, as well as an ongoing film workshop.
John Kerry, MBS discuss climate change
The US President’s envoy for Climate Change John Kerry met Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman (MBS) and both dignitaries discussed climate change and environmental protection, aaccording to the Saudi Press Agency.
The two leaders reviewed plans for Green Saudi Arabia and the Green Middle East, as well as Saudi Arabia’s efforts to reduce environmental pollution and protect the natural environment, as well as to reduce harmful carbon emissions during the G20 summit.
Energy Minister Prince Abdul Aziz bin Salman, Deputy Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman, Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan and Environment Minister Engineer Abdul Rahman Al-Fadhli attended the meeting.
