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Saudi Arabia’s Prince Turki Al Faisal bin Abdulaziz, chairman of the King Faisal Foundation’s Centre for Research and Islamic Studies, emphasised what he believed to be the power of cinema in fostering cultural exchange and showcasing Saudi heritage to the world, in an on-stage conversation of the second edition of the Saudi Film Confex in Riyadh (October 9-12).

Referring to the expression “a picture speaks a thousand words”, he emphasised the role films have played in bridging the gap between diverse civilizations.

He also highlighted the support offered by the Saudi government in helping to produce “strong creative visions,...

Key members of the team that shepherded hit biopic “Born a King,” about Prince Faisal of Saudi Arabia, talked about the experience of “witnessing the birth of a film industry” in Saudi, as Spanish director Agustí Villaronga put it, during a Cannes Virtual Market panel. They also announced that they will be making a sequel.

“Born a King” is a Spain-u.K. co-production between Andrés Vicente Gómez’ Latido Films and London-based Celtic Films run by producer Stuart Sutherland (“Killing Eve”) who described the experience of shooting the roughly $21 million feature – which went into production prior to December 2017 when Saudi Arabia lifted its 35-year ban on cinemas – as “really the beginning of an evolution.”

“We are getting in there on the ground level, and we are helping formulate how films are done,” Sutherland said “And learning a lot from them as well,” he added.

Since then, Sutherland recently went back to...

Saudi company Al Maha Al Arab on board as financier.

Andrés Vicente Gómez, the veteran Spanish Oscar-winning producer of Belle Epoque whose historical epic Born A King is screening in the Marche du Film online, is busy working on upcoming projects.

Lolafilms head Gómez is looking to finish production on Champions, a Saudi remake of the 2018 Spanish hit Campeones, after it was shut down in Jeddah on March 17 due to the pandemic with several days of shooting left to go.

Saudi company Al Maha Al Arab, which is run by Prince Turki Al Faisal Al Saud, son to the late King Faisal,...

Produced by Al Maha Al Arabi and Lolafilms, the Saudi Arabian remake of Javier Fesser’s “Campeones” (“Champions”), a Spanish blockbuster and Spain’s International Oscar submission, has been acquired by theatrical distributor Vox, VOD service Shahid VIP and international sales company Latido Films.

Following the success of “Born a King,” the Saudi “Champions” will be released theatrically across the Middle East in December by Vox, then stream six months later on Shahid VIP, the leading Arabic SVOD platform in the Mena region, part of the Mbc Group, which has acquired both “Champions” and “Born a King” and invested substantially in both pictures.

If it were to click for the production partners, Champions could signal the kernel of ever more ambitious projects. The remake’s $4.5 million budget was produced by Al Maha Al Arabi, the production company of Prince Turki Al Faisal Al Saud, son of the late King Faisal...

Madrid — Four years in the making, Agustí Villaronga’s “Born a King,” starring Ed Skrein (“Deadpool”) and Hermione Cornfield (“Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation”) and produced by Andrés Vicente Gómez, has caught box office fire in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

Released wide on Sept. 26, the true events-based historical drama – framing the coming of age of Prince Faisal of Saudi Arabia, against the background of a diplomatic mission he led to London in 1919 at the tender age of 13 – has earned an exceptional first-four-day $972, 962 in UAE, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, according to figures from its distributor, Dubai’s-based Vox Film Distribution.

The lion’s share of that was made in UAE, where it grossed $547,725.

However execrating for an independent film, the results are not totally surprising. “Born a King” is a Spain-u.K. production, whose producers, director and crew pack huge experience: Gómez, producer of Fernando Trueba’s...

Born a King

Agusti Villaronga’s ninth feature Born a King should be ready for 2019 in what stands as one of the Spanish filmmaker’s largest productions in some time. Produced by Stuart Sutherland of Celtic Entertainment, Andres Vincent Gomez of Lola Films and Marco Gomez and lensed by Josep M. Civit (of Villaronga’s Uncertain Glory and The King of Havana), the period piece stars Ed Skrein, Abdullah Khaleel (in his film debut), Hermione Corfield, James Fleet, Kenneth Cranham, Ruben Ochandiano and Laurence Fox.…...