Film AlUla will also present an exhibition booth at the festival Red Sea Souk to promote the location, along with a 40% cash rebate programme and a range of support incentives.
Film AlUla, a film agency established to promote and support film and TV production in the County of AlUla situated in northwest Saudi Arabia, has strengthened its ties with the Red Sea International Film Festival as the newly appointed strategic sponsor of this year’s edition.
Film AlUla will present the Audience Award and the Best Saudi Film Award, each holding a prize value of $50,000 for the winning films.
Film AlUla Audience Award is a vote-based, audience-driven award designed to encourage the festivalgoers’ engagement with the films and inspire the audience to appreciate and celebrate creativity in cinema. The winning film will be awarded $50,000 in prize money.
Film AlUla will also present the Best Saudi Film award voted on by the audience at the festival. The award celebrates creative Saudi talents and innovative Saudi works that are faithful to their identity, heritage, and cultural depth, boasting originality in their presentation.
AlUla’s locations featuring some of the most dramatic landscapes in the world has welcomed a slate of local, regional, and international productions. Productions most recently shot in AlUla include Ric Roman Waugh’s upcoming action thriller Kandahar starring Gerard Butler, the Russo brothers’ intense drama Cherry starring Tom Holland and the debut feature from Saudi filmmaker Tawfik Alzaidi’s Norah featuring an all-Saudi cast.
Since opening for production in 2020, Film AlUla has been developing a film-friendly ecosystem and is currently leading the development of a landmark infrastructure project which will see the first phase comprised of two purpose-built state-of-the-art film studios to service the growth in demand.
In addition to presenting two prizes, Film AlUla will present an exhibition booth at the festival Red Sea Souk to promote the location along with the 40% cash rebate programme and a range of support incentives to assist in the development and production of international and local feature films, television series, commercials, and documentaries shot in AlUla.
Speaking about the Film AlUla, Mohammed Al Turki, CEO of Red Sea International Film Festival, said: “AlUla is a filmmaker’s dream location, its spectacular sites are now being discovered by the world and we look forward to sharing the stunning scenery and wealth of stories with audiences for years to come. We are delighted to be partnering with Film AlUla on these two important awards, celebrating Saudi talent and the Audience Award to distinguish the top title at the festival as voted by the viewing public. The Red Sea International Film Festival is committed to supporting all aspects of filmmaking, but fostering home-grown talent and one-of-a-kind filming locations like AlUla, is our priority.”
Charlene Deleon-Jones, Executive Director at Film AlUla added: “We are thrilled to strengthen our support of the Red Sea International Film Festival as we share the same goals of creativity, driving the growth of the Kingdom’s film industry and championing and promoting homegrown talent around the world. The sponsorship of these two awards celebrates the most exciting, innovative new films and cinematic storytelling which is at the heart of everything we strive to achieve in AlUla. We are proud to be a strategic sponsor of the festival’s second edition and look forward to working with the Red Sea International Film Festival for many years to come.”
