Andrzej Witold Wajda was a Polish film and theatre director. Recipient of an Honorary Oscar, the Palme d'Or, as well as Honorary Golden Lion and Honorary Golden Bear Awards, he was a prominent member of the "Polish Film School". He was known especially for his trilogy of war films consisting of A Generation (1955), Kanał (1957) and Ashes and Diamonds (1958).
Youssef Chahine was an Egyptian film director. He was active in the Egyptian film industry from 1950 until his death. He directed twelve films that were listed in the Top 100 Egyptian films list. A winner of the Cannes 50th Anniversary Award, Chahine was credited with launching the career of actor Omar Sharif. A well-regarded director with critics, he was often present at film festivals during the earlier decades of his work. Chahine gained his largest international audience as one of the co-directors of 11'9"01 September 11 (2002).
Tom Tykwer is a German film director, producer, screenwriter, and composer. He is best known internationally for directing the thriller films Run Lola Run (1998), Heaven (2002), Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006), and The International (2009). He collaborated with The Wachowskis as co-director for the science fiction film Cloud Atlas (2012) and the Netflix series Sense8 (2015–2018), and worked on the score for Lana Wachowski's The Matrix Resurrections (2021). Tykwer is also well known as the co-creator of the internationally acclaimed German television series Babylon Berlin (2017–).
The cultural setting of Saudi Arabia is greatly influenced by the Arab and Islamic culture. The society is in general deeply religious, conservative, traditional, and family-oriented. Many attitudes and traditions are centuries-old, derived from Arab civilization and Islamic heritage. However, its culture has also been affected by rapid change, as the country was transformed from an impoverished nomadic society into a rich commodity producer in just a few years in the 1970s. This change has also been affected by a number of factors including the communications revolution and external scholarships. The most recent ruler or king of Saudi is King Salman of Saudi Arabia.
The Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, is a Saudi government religious authority charged with implementing the Islamic doctrine of hisbah.
Abdullah Al-Eyaf is a Saudi Arabian film director also known as Abdullah Al Eyaf or Abdullah Aleyaf. He has directed many award-winning films.
Saudi Arabia is the second biggest tourist destination in the Middle East with over 16 million visiting in 2017. Although most tourism in Saudi Arabia still largely involves religious pilgrimages, there is growth in the leisure tourism sector. As the tourism sector has been largely boosted lately, the sector is expected to be the white oil for Saudi Arabia. This is proved as tourism sector is expected to generate $25 billion in 2019. Potential tourist areas include the Hijaz and Sarawat Mountains, Red Sea diving and a number of ancient ruins.
Haifaa al-Mansour, is a Saudi Arabian film director. She is one of the country's best-known and most controversial directors, and the first female Saudi filmmaker.
Neukölln Unlimited is a 2010 German documentary. The film follows three Lebanese siblings—Hassan, Lial and Maradona—through their daily lives in Berlin's district of Neukölln.
Wolfgang Kohlhaase was a German screenwriter, film director, and writer. He was considered "one of the most important screenwriters in German film history", and was one of the GDR's most well-known and prolific film screenwriters. Kohlhaase was awarded the Honorary Golden Bear at the 2010 Berlin International Film Festival.
Goat Days is a 2008 Malayalam novel about an abused migrant worker in Saudi Arabia written by Indian author Benyamin.
Saudis or Saudi Arabians are the citizens and nationals of Saudi Arabia. They are mainly composed of Arabs and live in the five historical Regions: Najd, Hijaz, Asir, Tihamah and Al-Ahsa; the regions which the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was founded on or what was formerly known as the Kingdom of Hejaz and Nejd in the Arabian Peninsula. Saudis speak one of the dialects of Peninsular Arabic, including the Hejazi, Najdi, Gulf and Southern Arabic dialects, as a mother tongue. According to the 2010 census, Saudi nationals represented approximately 31,335,377 making up 86.1% of the total population. Saudi Arabia is a state governed by absolute monarchy, with the king as its head of state. The word Saudis refer to the name of the ruling family in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia today as an inclusive name for the inhabitants of the country.
Raif bin Muhammad Badawi is a Saudi writer, dissident and activist, as well as the creator of the website Free Saudi Liberals.
María Sólrún Sigurðardóttir, also credited as Maria Solrun is a German film director and screenwriter. She is best known for her work on the films Adam and Jargo.
Wadjda is a 2012 Saudi Arabian drama film, written and directed by Haifaa al-Mansour. It was the first feature film shot entirely in Saudi Arabia and the first feature-length film made by a female Saudi director. It won numerous awards at film festivals around the world. The film was selected as the Saudi Arabian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 86th Academy Awards, but it was not nominated. It successfully earned a nomination for Best Foreign Film at the 2014 BAFTA Awards.
Queen of the Desert is a 2015 American epic biographical drama film written and directed by Werner Herzog and is based on the life of British traveller, writer, archaeologist, explorer, cartographer and political officer Gertrude Bell. The film follows Bell's life chronologically, from her early twenties until her death. It was Herzog's first feature film in six years after his 2009 film My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done?
Mahmoud Sabbagh, or Mah Sabbagh is a Saudi film director, producer, and screenwriter. Sabbagh has been a major pioneer of independent cinema in Saudi Arabia since 2013. His debut feature, titled Barakah Meets Barakah, premiered at Berlin Film Festival in 2016; becoming the first feature film from Saudi Arabia to screen in the festival. His debut film was also selected as the entry of Saudi Arabia for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 89th Academy Awards.
Barakah Meets Barakah is a 2016 Saudi Arabian drama-comedy film directed and written by Mahmoud Sabbagh, a remarkably candid Saudi Arabian love story which uses humor as a counterweight to the difficulties the couple face. Principal photography of Barakah Meets Barakah began on 25 September 2015 and ended on 22 October, and was shot entirely in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The film was selected as the Saudi Arabian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 89th Academy Awards.
Born a King is a 2019 historical coming-of-age drama film directed by Agustí Villaronga. The film stars Abdullah Ali, Ed Skrein, Hermione Corfield, Laurence Fox, and James Fleet.
The Red Sea International Film Festival is a film festival launched in 2019 and held in Jeddah, western Saudi Arabia. The festival mainly focuses on new storytelling trends, as well as emerging talents from Saudi Arabia, the Arab world and the rest of the Global South. The festival looks at establishing a solid foundation for the film industry in Saudi Arabia that may contribute to diversifying the income of the country. The first edition of the festival is being held in the old town of Jeddah from 6 December and will close on 15 December 2021.
