Saudi cinema gains its place at the Venice Film Festival

In a few weeks’ time, Venice’s famous Mostra will open its doors to a panel of international films, each more promising than the next. This year, Saudi cinema managed to win its place alongside the 14 international films competing for the Golden Lion Award, one of the most prestigious awards in the industry.

In the “Venezia 76” section alongside films by renowned directors such as the Canadian Atom Edoyan and the Japanese Hirokazu Kore-eda, the film “The Perfect Candidate”, directed by Haifaa Al-Mansour, is the first Saudi film to appear in the competition. It tells the story of a young woman doctor who decided to run for municipal office in a male-dominated conservative society.

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✨Ciao, Venice 🦁 @haifaa.almansour geht mit „Die perfekte Kandidatin“ und Roy Andersson mit „About Endlessness“ ins Rennen um den goldenen Löwen beim Filmfestival von Venedig #Venezia76 . Mit dem Eröffnungsfilm der #venicedays „Nur die Tiere“ von Dominik Moll und der #VR Experience Pagan Peak VR sind somit …👇 . 4 #medienboard geförderte Produktionen im Programm von Venedig! 🤸‍♀️🔝 . #mbbgefördert #venicefilmfestival #biennalecinema2019 #Venezia76

A post shared by Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg (@medienboard) on Jul 25, 2019 at 4:23am PDT

The Arab film industry represented at the Venice Film Festival

Other films from the Arab world will be presented at the Venice International Film Festival from August 28 to September 7. The Tunisian film “Bik Eneich – A Son” by director Mehdi M. Barsaoui” will also compete, in the “Orizzonti” section, a competition that represents the latest aesthetic and expressive trends in international cinema. Nouri Bouzid’s “Scarecrows” will be included in the “Sconfini” category, which includes works in genres, experimental cinema, etc.