A Saudi coming-of-age adventure epic has won the coveted Best Feature Film award at the just-concluded fourth edition of the Gulf Cinema Festival held in Riyadh.
‘Hajjan’, funded and produced by The King Abdulaziz Centre for World Culture (Ithra), also picked up the Best Actor Award for Omar Alatawi and Best Cinematography Award for Jerry Fassbender.
‘Hajjan’ (which means camel jockey in Arabic) follows young Matar (played by Alatawi), living in the Saudi desert, as he overcomes tragedy through the hope and solace he finds in camel racing. The film was shot in Tabuk and the cast was made up entirely of Saudi actors.
Ithra is a key player in driving Saudi film industry growth by nurturing home-grown talent and fostering cinematic content creation. Since 2018, it has produced 23 films and showcased them at 72 film festival around the world.
In other awards, Bahraini artist Maryam Zeman won the Best Actress Award for her role in the Bahraini feature film, ‘May Ward’ (Rose Water), directed by Mahmoud Al Shaikh.
The award for best short film went to ‘Clouds’, about a widower and war veteran who are forced to balance their own morals with societal expectations in southern Oman, directed by Muzna Almusafer.
The award for best documentary film went to Mansoor Al Dhaheri’s climate change expose “Swimming 62.”
Ziad Al Hussein took home two awards, including one for best director, for his film ‘Shiabni Hani’.
The award for best original soundtrack went to Khaled Al Kammar for ‘Hawjan’, a modern twist on the ancient Arab jinn mythology, which also opened the latest edition of the Red Sea Festival last year.
The awards were presented on Saturday night during the closing ceremony of the festival, which was organised by the Saudi Film Commission (SFC) in co-operation with the GCC Secretariat General under the patronage of Saudi Culture Minister and SFC chairman Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Farhan.
Twenty-nine films from the GCC countries took part in the festival, which also featured three training workshops and six cultural seminars.
The festival’s jury comprised of Ibrahim Al Hasawi (Saudi Arabia), Bassam Al Thawadi (Bahrain), Rawda Al Thani (Qatar), Khaled Amin (Kuwait), Nujoom Al Ghanem (the UAE) and Ibrahim Al Zadjali (Oman).
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