Saudi Arabian Filmmakers Get Their Moment at the Red Sea Film Fest – The Hollywood Reporter

Back in early 2020, a low-budget debut feature from a pair of rising Saudi Arabian filmmakers was set to enjoy the illustrious honor of opening the inaugural edition of their country’s first major international film festival. The Red Sea Film Festival, on the coastal city of Jeddah, was due to land just over two years after the country lifted a 35-year ban on cinemas and would help highlight the meteoric rise of its creative sector since.

Then the pandemic struck. 

The fest, which had been set to open March 12, 2020, proved to be one of the very first casualties of COVID-19 and wouldn’t launch until November the following year. By then, the film in question — The Book of Sun, directed by Faris Godus and produced by and starring his brother Sohayb Godus — had already come out in cinemas. Red Sea instead went a more Hollywood route for its first festival, opening with Joe Wright’s Cyrano. 

More than three and a half years later, the third edition of the Red Sea Film Festival is set to kick off Nov. 30. Among the films screening are big international titles like Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla and Hayao Miyazaki’s The Boy and the Heron, as well as local releases from a burgeoning Saudi film scene, such as Ali Kalthami’s Mandoob and Tawfik Alzaidi’s Norah. Also among the Saudi features premiering is Fever Dream, which happens to be the second feature from the Godus brothers (again, Faris directs while Sohayb produces and performs).

The Book of Sun was semi-autobiographical, set several years before the reopening of cinemas in Saudi, when YouTube was the primary platform for creators such as the Goduses. Fever Dream, by contrast, “is personal for the whole of Saudi,” says Faris, diving into the murky world of influencers and social media and how they can be used and abused by various facets of society. 

In the relatively short period since the brother’s near-miss with Red Sea back in 2020, Saudi Arabia’s nascent film industry has accelerated at an incredible pace. Last year’s festival saw the world premiere of the local comedy-drama Sattar, which would become the most successful Saudi film of all time, outgrossing every Hollywood release in 2023 with the exception of Oppenheimer.

“There started to be a belief that Saudi films could stand up on their own right, and Sattar helped prove that,” notes Sohayb. 

When the Godus brothers were making The Book of Sun in early 2020, the only support companies that existed were the equipment rental houses, primarily used for commercials. But today, an entire industry has arisen, from catering companies to film funds. “We grew up watching tutorials online, but information is now available everywhere,” says Faris. “It was kind of like the government said, ‘Yes, let’s make films,’ and we were like, ‘All right!’ ”

On the flip side, while the process is easier, with more bodies involved and more information about the financials of the industry — such as box office figures — readily available, more people are aware of how much they can profit. As such, Sohayb says that production costs have increased. 

“When we were making The Book of Sun, it was really more about faith and everyone taking a risk. It was like, ‘Why are we making a film instead of just having a job?,’ and now it is the job,” says Faris. Effectively, in a few short years, Saudi’s film scene has grown from a few filmmakers making movies with whatever resources they could into an actual business. 

And what of the Red Sea Film Festival? For the first time, the 2023 edition will open — as was originally planned to happen in 2020 — with a Saudi film. That honor doesn’t go to the Goduses’ Fever Dream, but to Yasir Al-Yasiri’s fantasy romance HWJN. 

For the brothers, the festival has quickly become an annual flagship event to showcase the output of the growing Saudi film community, serving as what they call an “alarm clock” to work toward each year.

Says Sohayb, “For filmmakers, especially those like us when we were making The Book of Sun back then, it’s amazing as a platform to say, ‘OK, we’re here, and this our voice.’ ” 

This story first appeared in the Nov. 29 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.