After Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, Kapil's Devils aid Saudi Arabia's cultural ambitions

Saudi Arabia, which is building a film industry after lifting a three-and-half-decade ban on cinemas four years ago, understands the importance of forging links with Bollywood in a country that has a sizeable Indian immigrant population. Among the Indian stars attending the ten-day festival, which began on December 6, are Akshay Kumar and Farhan Akhtar. The competition section of the festival has one entry from India, the Malayalam film, Paka (River of Blood), directed by Film and Television Institute of India, Pune, graduate Nithin Lukose.

“I’m beyond excited to unveil 83 at the Red Sea International Film Festival. The opening of cinemas in Saudi Arabia is a fantastic opportunity for filmmakers in India and across the world," says Kabir Khan. The festival's Indian connection also extends to its management, which is headed by Shivani Pandya Malhotra, former managing director of the Dubai film festival. Three of the region's major international film festivals - Dubai, Doha Tribeca and Abu Dhabi festivals - have disappeared from the festival circuit during the last decade after taking off with great fanfare.

The Arab region's filmmakers are cheering for the success of the Red Sea festival, which has launched an industry platform, called Red Sea Souk (souk in Arabic means market), in the first edition itself to promote talent in the region that severely lacks production and exhibition support. A $10 million Red Sea Fund has already been announced to support filmmakers from the Arab region and Africa. "Helping African and Arab cinema grow, that's a very exciting responsibility," says Waintrop.

Nabil Ayouch's 'Casablanca Beats'

Two days after the opening of the Red Sea festival, the Dubai-based VOX Cinemas, which entered the Saudi Arabian film exhibition market soon after the lifting of the ban on movie halls, announced development and production of 25 Arabic language films in the next five years. “The Middle East has a long history steeped in storytelling and a wealth of emerging talent that has been gaining international prominence in recent years," says Ignace Lahoud, CEO of Emirati retail and entertainment giant Majid Al Futtaim group, which owns VOX cinemas.

The Arab cinema talent that Lahoud mentions has won plaudits from the international festival circuit in recent years with its artistic and aesthetic appeal. At Cannes this year, Egyptian director Omar El Zohairy's debut feature film, Feathers, won the top prize of the Critics' Week parallel selection. Feathers, a comedy about a poor woman struggling to provide for her family after her husband is transformed into a chicken when a magic trick goes awry, raised a storm in Egypt for depicting poverty.

The Red Sea festival and investments in the film industry are seen as part of the larger economic reforms initiated by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman under an ambitious Vision 2030 programme. The oil-rich nation has since seen many changes, including opening of cinemas and granting of driving licenses to women. The changes are keenly watched in the west, which slam Saudi Arabia for its poor human rights record.

Director Haifaa Al-Mansour

Two high profile international events - Formula 1 and Red Sea festival - in Jeddah in the past two weeks have helped Saudi Arabia gain global attention for its cultural and sporting ambitions, especially at a time when neighbouring Qatar is getting ready to host the FIFA World Cup next year. Backing African and Arab filmmakers is expected to give Saudi Arabia a major boost in the region's power equations.

Walking the red carpet on the Red Sea festival's opening night were Oscar-winning American actor Hilary Swank, French acting legend Catherine Deneuve, Cannes film festival's artistic director Thierry Fremaux and American actor Anthony Mackie. New Hollywood musical Cyrano starring Peter Dinklage as the brilliant Parisian poet and swordsman Cyrano de Bergerac vowed the opening night's audience, who approved of the festival's decision to honour Saudi Arabia's first female director Haifaa Al-Mansour, veteran Egyptian actor Laila Eloui and Deneuve on the occasion.

Among the festival official selection are Al-Mansour's 2012 film Wadjda, the first feature film to be shot entirely in Saudi Arabia, El Zohairy's Feathers, Moroccan director Nabil Ayouch's Cannes Palme d'Or contender this year, Casablanca Beats, Palestinian filmmaker Hany Abu-Assad's Huda's Salon, which premiered at the Toronto festival in September, and Rehana Maryam Noor by Abdullah Mohamad Saad, the first Bangladeshi film in Cannes official selection. The Red Sea festival selection has as many as 138 feature and short films from 67 countries this year.

The Red Sea International Film Festival is being held in the historic old Jeddah town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.