The Cultural Fund Concludes its Participation in the 4th Red Sea International Film Festival

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Riyadh, December 16, 2024: The Cultural Fund wrapped up its participation in the fourth Red Sea International Film Festival, which took place in the Cultural Square in historic Jeddah from December 5–14.

Remarkably, the event saw a lot of people from all over the world in a variety of ways. These included visiting the Fund’s pavilion, attending the workshop and dialogue session, and attending the cultural funding meeting that the Fund organised in collaboration with the festival and the Historic Jeddah Program.

Besides, the Fund’s most notable involvement was its sponsorship of the Red Sea Souk. The Red Sea Souk united local and foreign filmmakers, gave them a platform to present their outstanding work, and allowed them to network with the world’s leading film industry pioneers and experts. All to further the Kingdom’s cinematic movement.

This sponsorship is the third consecutive one in the Fund’s continuing collaboration with the festival, which supports its mission to forge strategic alliances that ensure the cultural sector’s survival.

At the Red Sea Market, the Fund’s huge pavilion demonstrated its strong representation that greeted guests from all over the world and displayed its development and financial solutions that support their enterprises’ expansion and the sustainability of their creativity.

Additionally, the Fund took part in the market’s various activities with a workshop called “Cultural Financing Opportunities for the Film Sector,” which highlighted the variety of opportunities provided by “Cultural Financing” that support the growth and expansion of filmmakers’ projects across the entire value chain of the film sector. Moreover, the Fund spoke with the Kingdom’s film sector system about the elements of Saudi cinema, the role the Cultural Fund plays in enhancing it, and the solutions it offers to facilitate the growth of film projects.

More than 200 people from both domestic and foreign cultural producers attended the Fund’s “Cultural Financing” meeting, which saw the signing of eight credit facilities with top businesses in five cultural sectors—museums, music, festivals and cultural events, culinary arts, and films—with a total financing value of more than 95 million riyals.

In addition, the “SPT Company,” with support from the Cultural Fund, honoured four creative winners of the “Studio” Awards for professionals in filmmaking. The conference also saw the signing of a memorandum of understanding with the Red Sea Film Foundation to jointly finance filmmaking projects.

The Fund collaborated with several prominent Saudi artists in their fields to foster creativity and creators. For example, Nawal Al-Khalawi created creative cultural tasting experiences inspired by Saudi culinary arts for attendees of the Cultural Funding Meeting and visitors to the Fund’s pavilion. Visual artist Lulwa Al-Hamoud created the “Development” artwork, which produced one-of-a-kind mementoes that reflected the Fund’s role in empowering the sector and maximising its impact. Also, the “Team Lab Without Borders” Museum, where the Fund hosted Cultural Funding Meeting attendees and provided them with an artistic tour to admire the light works on display.

These partnerships round out the Fund’s commitment to supporting culture makers’ creativity and enabling their tales to transcend boundaries through a variety of artistic collaborations.

Notably, in 2021, the Cultural Fund emerged as a development fund with an institutional link to the National Development Fund. Its objectives are to support cultural projects and activities, facilitate investment in cultural activities, and increase the sector’s profitability. It enables those with an interest to further their cultural work and effectively contribute to the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 and the National Strategy for Culture.

Read more: Diriyah is the Country’s First Capital: A Cultural Legacy Saudis Cherish