Saudi Film Festival
The Saudi Film Festival is a Saudi artistic event and the first film festival in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Its first edition was held on May 20, 2008, and lasted five days. It was organized by the Saudi Arabian Society for Culture and Arts and the Literary Club in Dammam City to celebrate the Saudi cinema.
In its first edition, the festival held seminars and workshops on filmmaking and showcased a selection of participating films that did not compete for the festival's awards.
The Saudi Film Festival attracts cinema enthusiasts and local artistic talents, as one of the leading artistic festivals in Saudi Arabia. Similar to global festivals, it awards multiple prizes to filmmakers in various categories and honors prominent figures in the film industry in each edition.
Competition categories and the jury panel of the Saudi Film Festival
Forty-four films competed for the Saudi Film Festival awards in its first edition, distributed across three categories: Screenplay Competition, Short Narrative Films, and Short Documentary Films. The competitions included three main prizes—except for the screenplay competition—the Golden Palm Award, the Silver Palm Award, and the Bronze Palm Award, in addition to pointing to works that stood out during the festival.
The jury panel was divided into two categories: one responsible for evaluating short narrative and documentary films, comprising five jurors, and another for judging the screenplay competition, consisting of three jurors.
Winning works at the Saudi Film Festival
The first Saudi Film Festival Golden Palm Award in the Screenplay category went to writer Abbas Al-Haik for the screenplay of Al-Sadiqan (The Two Friends), and the Silver Palm Award to writer Hanaa Al-Omier for the screenplay of Hadaf (Goal).
In the Short Narrative Films category, director Mousa Al Thunayan's film Baqaya Ta'am (Leftovers) won the Golden Palm Award, Abdullah Al Ayyaf won the Silver Palm Award for his film Matar (Rain), and Bila Ghimd (Without a Sheath) by Badr Al-Hamoud won the Bronze Palm Award.
In the Short Documentary Films category, director Abdullah Al Ayyaf won a second Golden Palm Award for his film Cinema 500 km. Director Osama Al-Khereiji won the Silver Palm Award for his film Al-Haqiqa (The Truth), and director Faleh Al-Dosari won the Bronze Palm Award for his film Khatar Al-Ibl fi As-Siyaqah Al-Layliyyah (The Dangers of Camels in Nighttime Driving).
Accompanying events of the Saudi Film Festival
The Saudi Film Festival issues informative books during each edition, addressing artistic aspects in the field and documenting the Saudi cinema movement. In its first edition, it published 'Saudi Filmography: 1977 - 2007' by Khalid Rabea Al-Sayyid and Al-Kitabah bi Ad-Daw': Fi Al-Cinema Ittijahat wa Qadaya (Writing with Light: Trends and Issues in Cinema) by Amin Saleh.
The festival committee chose Director Abdullah Al-Muhaysin as the honoree for the first edition of the festival and presented a short documentary about his life and artistic journey.