Me & Aydarous, VHS Tape Replaced, Othman: 3 Nuggets Highlighting the Renaissance of Saudi Cinema

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With the 2023 Cannes Film Festival having just kicked off, cinematography has all eyes on it more than ever. Proof of this is the 3rd edition of the Saudi Film Night, which rolled out the red carpet for new talent this Monday, May 15, at the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris.

Born from the initiative of the Franco-Saudi friendship association Génération 2023, the event allowed the public to discover 3 nuggets of the 7th art, signed by filmmakers established in their country and elsewhere. And this in the presence of film directors and/or actors and actresses, as well as Jack Lang, president of the Arab World Institute. A chance to see these 3 short films that are worth much more than meets the eye.

Aidarus and I

After making her debut as an assistant director alongside Haifa Al Mansoor in The Perfect Candidate, as well as other Saudi films such as The Rat, The Last Visit and Black Sand, Sara Balghonai starred in 2019’s Dunya’s Day, which won the Special Jury Prize. at the Sundance Film Festival. Producer of Sweet Refuge, along with Leith Nakley, he directed his first film this year: Me & Aydarous.

In this 8-minute short film, he recounts a night spent in Riyadh in 2003. While Jude, an intrepid young woman, has to sneak out to get to her date, she is forced to fight her chauffeur…

VHS tape changed

Aspiring to explore femininity, gender, and women’s issues in the Arab world, independent filmmaker Maha Al-Saat received an Honorary Award from the Share Her Journey TIFF Filmmaker Lab Fellowship, as well as a residency from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA). ) in 2021.

After Fear: In 2017 and before The Apple Cycle in 2019, he presented Hair: The Story of Grass in 2018. Satirizing how body hair shapes beauty standards and defines gender in the Arab world, the short film was selected for Fantastic Fest 2018, Slamdance 2019 and HollyShorts 2019.

This year he returns with VHS Tape Replaced, which takes us back to 1987 with Eyad, a young black Saudi trying to find love by impersonating his favorite artist, the Crown. A fun and rhythmic ode to tolerance and difference.

Osman

Director, cinematographer and co-founder of Bright Frame Productions, Khaled Zidane, at the age of 22, has received numerous awards for his work. In Othman, he describes in 35 minutes the story of an ordinary security guard who encounters an event that takes him out of his routine and forces him to face reality.

A film that fully matches the young filmmaker’s desire to create and direct works that offer a realistic picture of daily life in Saudi Arabia, far from clichés.