Saudi Film Festival 2022
The Saudi Film Festival 2022 is a Saudi cinematic event that took place from June 2-9, 2022. It marked the eighth edition of the Saudi Film Festival and was organized for the first time by the Cinema Association instead of the Saudi Arabian Society for Culture and Arts in Dammam. The event was held in partnership with the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture in Dhahran (Ithra) and supported by the Film Commission under the Ministry of Culture. The theme of "Poetic Cinema" was chosen as the central focus of its seminars.
The Saudi Film Festival 2022 introduced new awards in the unproduced screenplay competition category, including the "Ghazi Al-Gosaibi Award for Best Screenplay Based on a Saudi Novel," an award in the short film competition, and the Best Gulf Film Award.
Since the first edition of the Saudi Film Festival was held in 2008, Saudi Arabia has celebrated its national film industry by supporting participants and producers, writers, actors, and directors, honoring winners, and presenting Golden Palm Awards along with cash prizes. The festival is considered one of the most prominent cinematic events in Saudi Arabia, alongside the Red Sea International Film Festival.
Competition categories and jury of the Saudi Film Festival 2022
In its eighth edition, the Saudi Film Festival recorded 235 entries in the unproduced screenplay competition category and 125 films competing in the feature and short film categories. A total of sixteen qualified screenplays and sixty-nine films were nominated for the final awards, including twenty-eight short films and eight feature films. Additionally, thirty-three films were selected for parallel screenings.
The festival also introduced the “Production Market Awards” to support long and short screenplay projects. Three jury panels were appointed to evaluate the unproduced screenplay competition, the feature film competition, and the short film competition. Each jury consisted of a chairperson and two members.
Winning works at the Saudi Film Festival 2022
The Saudi Film Festival 2022 allocated six awards for the unproduced screenplay competition, in addition to qualifying the winning scripts for development and production preparation through the Script Development Lab. The First Prize for Best Feature Screenplay was awarded to Gharaq (Drowning), the Second Prize to Pages from the Archive of Case No. 2204, and the Third Prize to Plenty. The First Prize for Best Short Screenplay went to Al-Bab Al-Marsoud (The Sealed Door), and the Second Prize to Abaah. The festival’s special award, the Ghazi Al-Gosaibi Award for Best Screenplay Based on a Saudi Novel, was awarded to Al-Kamkam.
The festival presented seven awards in the feature film competition, four of which were awarded to the film Qawareer: the Golden Palm for Best Feature Film, the Golden Palm Jury Award, the Golden Palm for Best Produced Screenplay, and the Golden Palm for Best Cinematography. The film Kayan received two awards: the Golden Palm for Best Soundtrack and the Golden Palm for Best Actress, which went to actress Samar Shasha for her role in the film. Actor Ibrahim Al-Hasawi received the Golden Palm for Best Actor for his role in the film "Before We Forget".
Short Film Competition at the Saudi Film Festival 2022
The Saudi Film Festival 2022 dedicated four awards to the short film competition category. The film "From the Memory of the North" received the Golden Palm for Best Short Documentary, while "Zawal" won the Golden Palm for Best Short Film. The Abdullah Al-Muhaisin Award for Best Debut Film was awarded to "The Dream Basin", and the Jabal Tuwaiq Award for Best Short Film about a Saudi City went to "Joy".
The film "Small Dream" won the Best Gulf Film Award. "Al-Dar" received the Production Market Award for Best Feature Film Project, while "Just Now I See the Sky" won the Production Market Award for Best Short Film Project.
Accompanying events of the Saudi Film Festival 2022
The Saudi Film Festival 2022 was accompanied by a range of programs, workshops, and seminars, including: the Festival Studio, Poetic Cinema, the Festival Book, the Production Market, Tea Break, and the Red Carpet Program. The festival released fourteen scholarly books on cinema, including translated works. It also honored Khalil Ibrahim Al-Rawaf, the first Saudi and Arab actor to work in Hollywood, and the late Kuwaiti producer and director Khalid Al-Siddiq, considered a pioneer of the Kuwaiti cinematic movement, for his film "Cruel Sea."