The first Saudi Arabian film ever selected for Cannes, the tender rural drama “Norah” is writer-director Tawfik Alzaidi’s first feature film. The story of a schoolteacher tasked with introducing literacy to an isolated village and his unlikely relationship with a precocious young girl, the movie suffers from a few early-career filmmaking tics, which prevent all its pieces from all neatly fitting together. However, it’s also underscored by the kind of optimism and poetry about art that one often finds in novice works from directors destined to make more polished and accomplished films (if perhaps more cynical ones). Alzaidi has that potential in spades, as “Norah” is a self-reflexive testament to the deep and profound need for artistic expression.
Set in 1996, years before cinema and other art forms were reintroduced to the Saudi mainstream, the film follows orphaned teenager Norah (Maria Bahrawi), who lives with her aunt’s family...
Set in 1996, years before cinema and other art forms were reintroduced to the Saudi mainstream, the film follows orphaned teenager Norah (Maria Bahrawi), who lives with her aunt’s family...
- 5/27/2024
- by Siddhant Adlakha
- Variety Film + TV
Self-taught Saudi director Tawfik Alzaidi posted a Tweet in 2011 predicting that cinemas would re-open in his country in 2018 after a 35-year ban.
It got zero traction.
“I was sitting in Starbucks, feeling frustrated and fired it off,” he recounts. “No-one replied or retweeted it.”
In late 2017, he would log on to discover the post had gone viral with people hailing him as a fortune teller, following the Saudi government’s announcement of the lifting of the cinema ban as part of a wider opening-up of the country under its 2030 plan aimed at moving the economy away from a reliance on oil.
Seven years later, Alzaidi is making history as his debut feature Norah world premieres in the Cannes Film Festival’s Un Certain Regard as the first Saudi movie to make it into Official Selection across its 77 editions.
Set in Saudi Arabia in the 1990s, when all artistic expression was banned,...
It got zero traction.
“I was sitting in Starbucks, feeling frustrated and fired it off,” he recounts. “No-one replied or retweeted it.”
In late 2017, he would log on to discover the post had gone viral with people hailing him as a fortune teller, following the Saudi government’s announcement of the lifting of the cinema ban as part of a wider opening-up of the country under its 2030 plan aimed at moving the economy away from a reliance on oil.
Seven years later, Alzaidi is making history as his debut feature Norah world premieres in the Cannes Film Festival’s Un Certain Regard as the first Saudi movie to make it into Official Selection across its 77 editions.
Set in Saudi Arabia in the 1990s, when all artistic expression was banned,...
- 5/22/2024
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
When asked to name her organization’s biggest accomplishment so far, Charlene Deleon-Jones, the executive director for Film AlUla, doesn’t hesitate to name-check Norah, the first Saudi film to crack the Cannes lineup. The Tawfik Alzaidi-helmed indie movie, which will compete in the fest’s Un Certain Regard section, was shot in AlUla, the country’s 200,000-year-old “living museum” and first Unesco World Heritage Site, with a crew that was 40 percent Saudi and includes an all-Saudi cast. The latter includes teenager Maria Bahrawi in her debut role as the titular Norah, an orphaned girl who develops a nurturing bond with Nader, an artist and new teacher in her village, played by Saudi actor Yagoub Alfarhan. “That they were able to get to this stage is really impressive,” Deleon-Jones says. “Often, people can be very focused on what is seen as their ‘international piece,’ but what I love is how beautiful Norah is,...
- 5/19/2024
- by Becky Lucas
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Exclusive: Paris-based Nour Films has acquired French rights to Saudi director Tawfik Alzaidi’s first feature Norah ahead of its world premiere in the Cannes Film Festival’s Un Certain Regard.
The film will make history as the first ever Saudi feature to play in Cannes’ Official Selection just six years after Saudi Arabia announced the end of its 35-year cinema ban.
“Norah is an elegant film that combines age-old traditions with a desire for emancipation. This emancipation is achieved through art, learning and a desire greater than oneself. Tawfik Akzaidi has beautifully crafted a film that is both powerful and delicate,” said Nour Films’s co-founding director Patrick Sibourd.
The deal was brokered by Sebastien Chesneau under his Cercamon banner which clinched the international sales mandate for the film last week.
Cercamon and Nour previously collaborated on Vietnamese drama Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell which premiered in Directors’ Fortnight...
The film will make history as the first ever Saudi feature to play in Cannes’ Official Selection just six years after Saudi Arabia announced the end of its 35-year cinema ban.
“Norah is an elegant film that combines age-old traditions with a desire for emancipation. This emancipation is achieved through art, learning and a desire greater than oneself. Tawfik Akzaidi has beautifully crafted a film that is both powerful and delicate,” said Nour Films’s co-founding director Patrick Sibourd.
The deal was brokered by Sebastien Chesneau under his Cercamon banner which clinched the international sales mandate for the film last week.
Cercamon and Nour previously collaborated on Vietnamese drama Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell which premiered in Directors’ Fortnight...
- 5/13/2024
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Cercamon has acquired international sales rights for Saudi director Tawfik Alzaidi’s first feature Norah ahead of its world premiere in the Cannes Film Festival’s Un Certain Regard.
Norah will make history in May as the first ever Saudi feature to play in Cannes’ Official Selection. The achievement comes six years after Saudi Arabia announced the end of its 35-year cinema ban and is a sign of the bubbling cinema scene that has sprung up since.
Set in Saudi Arabia in the 1990s when artistic expression was banned, the feature follows rookie teacher and clandestine artist Nader, who is sent to a remote village for his first post where he connects with a young woman, whose life has been stifled by the era of conservatism.
She ignites the creativity inside him and inspires him to paint again. At great risk, they develop a delicate connection and a quiet bond.
Norah will make history in May as the first ever Saudi feature to play in Cannes’ Official Selection. The achievement comes six years after Saudi Arabia announced the end of its 35-year cinema ban and is a sign of the bubbling cinema scene that has sprung up since.
Set in Saudi Arabia in the 1990s when artistic expression was banned, the feature follows rookie teacher and clandestine artist Nader, who is sent to a remote village for his first post where he connects with a young woman, whose life has been stifled by the era of conservatism.
She ignites the creativity inside him and inspires him to paint again. At great risk, they develop a delicate connection and a quiet bond.
- 5/3/2024
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 17 April 2024 – The Cannes Film Festival announced that the Saudi film “Norah,” supported by the Saudi Film Commission through its ‘Daou’ initiative, has been selected as part of the festival’s Official Selection in the ‘Un Certain Regard’ section. The festival will take place in Cannes, France, from May 14 to 25.
Written and directed by Tawfiq Al-Zaidi, the feature film “Norah” clinched the top prize of a funding award from the Saudi Film Commission’s Daou Film Competition, an initiative launched by the Kingdom’s Ministry of Culture in September 2019 to bolster Saudi film production and nurture the next generation of filmmakers. The film also garnered support from the Quality of Life program, one of the Kingdom’s Vision 2023 initiatives, Film AlUla, Generation 2030, and the Red Sea Film Festival, where it premiered in December 2023.
Set in a remote village in Saudi Arabia during the 1990s and filmed in AlUla,...
Written and directed by Tawfiq Al-Zaidi, the feature film “Norah” clinched the top prize of a funding award from the Saudi Film Commission’s Daou Film Competition, an initiative launched by the Kingdom’s Ministry of Culture in September 2019 to bolster Saudi film production and nurture the next generation of filmmakers. The film also garnered support from the Quality of Life program, one of the Kingdom’s Vision 2023 initiatives, Film AlUla, Generation 2030, and the Red Sea Film Festival, where it premiered in December 2023.
Set in a remote village in Saudi Arabia during the 1990s and filmed in AlUla,...
- 4/17/2024
- by Movies MCM
- Martin Cid Magazine - Movies
Saudi Arabia Scores First Cannes Official Selection Slot With Drama ‘Norah,’ Set When Art Was Banned
Saudi Arabia has landed its first film in the Cannes Film Festival official selection with “Norah,” a drama by pioneering director Tawfik Alzaidi set in 1990s Saudi, when conservatism was at its height and all forms of art and painting were banned for religion-related reasons.
“Norah,” which premiered locally in December at Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Festival in Jeddah, will be launching internationally from Cannes’ prestigious Un Certain Regard section, marking the first Saudi film to screen in Cannes and becoming a symbol of the kingdom’s rapidly growing moviemaking ambitions since Saudi Arabia lifted its 35-year-old religion-related ban on cinema in 2017.
The film’s titular character, played by Saudi newcomer Maria Bahrawi, is an illiterate orphaned young woman who lives in a remote village where she faces an arranged marriage in which she will be trapped and has a need for self expression. She intersects with an artist named Nader,...
“Norah,” which premiered locally in December at Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Festival in Jeddah, will be launching internationally from Cannes’ prestigious Un Certain Regard section, marking the first Saudi film to screen in Cannes and becoming a symbol of the kingdom’s rapidly growing moviemaking ambitions since Saudi Arabia lifted its 35-year-old religion-related ban on cinema in 2017.
The film’s titular character, played by Saudi newcomer Maria Bahrawi, is an illiterate orphaned young woman who lives in a remote village where she faces an arranged marriage in which she will be trapped and has a need for self expression. She intersects with an artist named Nader,...
- 4/11/2024
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Rising Saudi Arabian star Yaqoub Alfarhan, who is known for playing the titular drug trafficker and serial killer in hit Mbc TV series “Rashash,” plays a very different role in the drama “Norah” by pioneering Saudi director Tawfik Alzaidi, which is set in 1990s Saudi Arabia when conservatism was at its height and all forms of art and painting were banned for religion-related reasons.
In “Norah,” which world premiered at the Red Sea Film Festival in Jeddah, Alfarhan plays an artist named Nader who has given up painting and moved to a remote village to be a schoolteacher. There he intersects with this film’s titular character, played by Saudi newcomer Maria Bahrawi. “Norah” is an illiterate orphaned young woman who faces an arranged marriage in which she will be trapped and has a need for self expression. Their chaste encounter unleashes in “Norah” a passion for art and, by extension,...
In “Norah,” which world premiered at the Red Sea Film Festival in Jeddah, Alfarhan plays an artist named Nader who has given up painting and moved to a remote village to be a schoolteacher. There he intersects with this film’s titular character, played by Saudi newcomer Maria Bahrawi. “Norah” is an illiterate orphaned young woman who faces an arranged marriage in which she will be trapped and has a need for self expression. Their chaste encounter unleashes in “Norah” a passion for art and, by extension,...
- 12/7/2023
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Front Row Takes Mena Distribution for Saudi Drama ‘Norah’ in Competition at Red Sea Fest (Exclusive)
Dubai-based distributor Front Row Filmed Entertainment has acquired Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region distribution rights to groundbreaking Saudi drama “Norah,” which world premiered in competition at the Red Sea Film Festival.
Directed by pioneering Saudi director Tawfik Alzaidi, making his feature film debut, “Norah” is set in 1990s Saudi Arabia, when conservatism was at its height and all forms of art and painting were banned for religion-related reasons.
The film’s titular character, played by Saudi newcomer Maria Bahrawi, is an illiterate orphaned young woman who lives in a remote village where she faces an arranged marriage in which she will be trapped and has a need for self expression. She intersects with an artist named Nader, played by Saudi star Yaqoub Alfarhan (“Rashash”), who has given up painting and moved to the village to be a schoolteacher. This chaste encounter unleashes in “Norah” a passion for art and,...
Directed by pioneering Saudi director Tawfik Alzaidi, making his feature film debut, “Norah” is set in 1990s Saudi Arabia, when conservatism was at its height and all forms of art and painting were banned for religion-related reasons.
The film’s titular character, played by Saudi newcomer Maria Bahrawi, is an illiterate orphaned young woman who lives in a remote village where she faces an arranged marriage in which she will be trapped and has a need for self expression. She intersects with an artist named Nader, played by Saudi star Yaqoub Alfarhan (“Rashash”), who has given up painting and moved to the village to be a schoolteacher. This chaste encounter unleashes in “Norah” a passion for art and,...
- 12/6/2023
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
“Your Story, Your Festival,” is the theme for this year‘s Red Sea International Film Festival, with organizers promising “a unique and powerful platform for celebrating film, connecting cultures and expanding horizons while welcoming stories from all walks of life.”
The festival’s third edition will take place Nov. 30-Dec. 9 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Alongside an international line-up that includes Michael Mann’s Ferrari, Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla, Ava Duvernay’s Origin and Hayao Miyazaki’s The Boy and the Heron, the Red Sea festival is a showcase for new Arab cinema.
Here’s The Hollywood Reporter‘s pick of six new titles from across the region that expand the image of Arab movies, ranging from a jinn fantasy romance and a coming-of-age drama to an adventure thriller featuring a vengeance-seeking camel.
Hwjn, opening film
A local Saudi Arabian movie will raise the curtain on the Red Sea Festival for the first time this year,...
The festival’s third edition will take place Nov. 30-Dec. 9 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Alongside an international line-up that includes Michael Mann’s Ferrari, Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla, Ava Duvernay’s Origin and Hayao Miyazaki’s The Boy and the Heron, the Red Sea festival is a showcase for new Arab cinema.
Here’s The Hollywood Reporter‘s pick of six new titles from across the region that expand the image of Arab movies, ranging from a jinn fantasy romance and a coming-of-age drama to an adventure thriller featuring a vengeance-seeking camel.
Hwjn, opening film
A local Saudi Arabian movie will raise the curtain on the Red Sea Festival for the first time this year,...
- 11/29/2023
- by Georg Szalai
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
New Riyadh-based acquisition and distribution company TwentyOne Entertainment has announced its launch at upcoming the Red Sea International Film Festival, which is due to unfold in the port city of in Jeddah from November 30 to December 9.
The fledgeling company has appointed long-time Universal Pictures exec Paul Chesney, whose last position there was EVP Global Operations out of L.A., as its CEO.
On its first outing the company will be focusing on international sales for writer-director Tawfik Alzaidi first feature’s Norah, which was announced as a contender in the festival’s main competition on Monday.
Described as a “deeply moving story about the power of art to inspire and change minds”, the movie is set in Saudi Arabia in the 1990s. Rising actor Yaqoub Alfarhan (Rashash) stars as a newly qualified teacher who is posted to a remote village, where he meets Norah, played by newcomer Maria Bahrawi.
Her...
The fledgeling company has appointed long-time Universal Pictures exec Paul Chesney, whose last position there was EVP Global Operations out of L.A., as its CEO.
On its first outing the company will be focusing on international sales for writer-director Tawfik Alzaidi first feature’s Norah, which was announced as a contender in the festival’s main competition on Monday.
Described as a “deeply moving story about the power of art to inspire and change minds”, the movie is set in Saudi Arabia in the 1990s. Rising actor Yaqoub Alfarhan (Rashash) stars as a newly qualified teacher who is posted to a remote village, where he meets Norah, played by newcomer Maria Bahrawi.
Her...
- 11/7/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
TwentyOne Entertainment, a new acquisition and distribution company based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, unveiled its formation on Tuesday, saying it will make its official debut at the upcoming Red Sea International Film Festival in Jeddah. The Saudi fest, running Nov. 30-Dec. 9, will feature Norah, the first movie on the company’s slate, in its competition lineup, as unveiled on Monday.
“Our goal is to consistently deliver a high-quality cinematic entertainment experience and be an innovative leader in this fast-developing market,” said TwentyOne Entertainment CEO Paul Chesney, who previously held senior management roles at the likes of Universal and Disney, as well as technology start-ups. “We look forward to building strong partnerships throughout the region and around the
world.”
Norah, from Saudi writer-director Tawfik Alzaidi, is set in Saudi Arabia in the 1990s and is the first Saudi feature film to shoot entirely in the country’s AlUla region. Described as...
“Our goal is to consistently deliver a high-quality cinematic entertainment experience and be an innovative leader in this fast-developing market,” said TwentyOne Entertainment CEO Paul Chesney, who previously held senior management roles at the likes of Universal and Disney, as well as technology start-ups. “We look forward to building strong partnerships throughout the region and around the
world.”
Norah, from Saudi writer-director Tawfik Alzaidi, is set in Saudi Arabia in the 1990s and is the first Saudi feature film to shoot entirely in the country’s AlUla region. Described as...
- 11/7/2023
- by Georg Szalai
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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