Coming Soon
The Film Commission, part of the Ministry of Culture, is organizing the Film Criticism Forum in Al Qatif as one of the key stops of the 2025 International Conference on Film Criticism. This forum serves as a platform that brings together critics and filmmakers for a dialogue that redefines the role of film criticism as a tool for understanding cinema and advancing the film industry. It also seeks to open new perspectives that connect imagery with ideas, and architecture with cinema.
The forum will take place in Downtown Al Awamiyah in Al Qatif, a location where the urban landscape meets the cinematic lens, offering narrative spaces that reveal how architecture and urban identity can be transformed into a visual language with cultural and aesthetic dimensions.
Throughout the event, participants will engage in a rich experience featuring critical dialogues, interactive sessions, curated film screenings, and expert-led masterclasses by renowned local and international professionals. The program is designed to deepen the field of film criticism and strengthen Saudi Arabia's position as a leading cultural center in the global film industry.
From Courtyards to Aramco Screens
Before cinema became part of Saudi culture, the Aramco experience marked a pivotal starting point. It planted a cinematic seed never seen before in the Kingdom. It cultivated the first audiences and inspired a new way of seeing images and stories.
In this session, Fahad Alesta and Mohammed AlHerz will explore how those early Aramco screening halls shaped visual awareness, paved the way for a broader cinematic culture, and helped spark a critical relationship between society and the silver screen, igniting the early flames of Saudi film criticism.
Moderator
Abdulmohsen AlMutairi
Director and Film Producer
Speaker
Fahad Alesta
Critic, Writer, and Director
Speaker
Mohammed AlHerz
Poet and Critic
October 2, 2025
Downtown Al Awamiyah - Al Qatif
04:00 - 10:00 PM
Kairouan is not merely a traditional and conservative city. It stands as a hub of creativity and a cradle for some of Tunisia’s most influential filmmakers. In this compelling presentation, Professor Abdeljelil Bouguerra takes us on a visually rich journey to explore how traditional rigor intersects with creative freedom, and how a deeply rooted cultural identity can give rise to cinematic narratives that transcend the city’s own boundaries.
Moderator
Hussain AlDhaw
Writer and Critic
Speaker
Abdeljelil Bouguerra
Historian and Writer
October 2, 2025
Downtown Al Awamiyah - Al Qatif
04:00 - 10:00 PM
Cinema in Saudi Cities
Despite the Kingdom’s rich cultural and geographic diversity, Saudi cinema remains largely concentrated in two cities, Riyadh and Jeddah. However, a number of local filmmakers have chosen to break this centralization and take cinema into new spaces that reflect their own communities and identities.
In this presentation, Abdullah AlOqaibi takes us on a journey through the various Saudi cities as they have appeared on screen, showing how these diverse settings have become living stages for cinematic creativity, and how each city becomes a visual narrative telling its own story, culture, and identity in its own unique way.
Moderator
Hussain AlDhaw
Writer and Critic
Speaker
Abdullah AlOqaibi
Writer and Critic
October 2, 2025
Downtown Al Awamiyah - Al Qatif
04:00 - 10:00 PM
Panel Discussion
The Place Between Real and Imagined
“Feathers” a film that won an award at the Cannes Film Festival, sparked intense debates and amazed critics, posing a philosophical question: Is reality in cinema truly real, or a meticulously crafted illusion?
With Omar El Zohairy, we delve into his perception of place, and uncover how it becomes a central element in shaping cinematic imagery and imagination.
Moderator
Feras AlMadi
Film Critic and Journalist
Speaker
Omar El Zohairy
Filmmaker
October 2, 2025
Downtown Al Awamiyah - Al Qatif
04:00 - 10:00 PM
Fahad Alesta
Critic, Writer, and Director
A film critic, writer, and director. He began his career in 2004 and has written for several newspapers and magazines. He has participated in judging panels for local and international film festivals. His work has been showcased on major TV channels, and he has taken part in various Arab film festivals. He has au-thored and directed award-winning films and contributed sig-nificantly to supporting the independent cinematic movement and advancing film journalism in Saudi Arabia.
Mohammed AlHerz
Poet and Critic
A renowned poet and critic recognized for his analytical read-ings of the Saudi cultural scene and its evolving dynamics. He has published several poetry collections and critical works, in-cluding the book Stone and Shadows: Poetry and Narrative in the Laboratory of Reading and the poetry collection A Man Who Looks Like Me.
Abdulmohsen AlMutairi
Director and Film Producer
A filmmaker and writer known for the documentary From the Memory of the North (2022). He is considered one of the prom-inent critical voices in Saudi cinema. His book Writing Through Montage focuses on cinematic editing as both a narrative and creative tool.
Hussain AlDhaw
Writer and Critic
A writer, translator, and critic known for his deep cultural in-sight and experimental works in fiction and translation, such as his novel A Snake Eats Its Tail.
Abdeljelil Bouguerra
Historian and Writer
A historian specializing in the political and social history of Tu-nisia. He is a university professor and the author of several works on the Tunisian left and the Bourguiba era. Bouguerra plays a key role in Tunisia's cultural and media landscape.
Abdullah AlOqaibi
Writer and Critic
Combining linguistic experimentation with visual storytelling in fiction, poetry, and criticism, Al-Oqailbi is known for his bold narratives and innovative literary style that reflects his deep artistic and philosophical perspectives.
Feras AlMadi
Film Critic and Journalist
A journalist and critic who has published numerous articles and film reviews across various platforms and cultural maga-zines. He focuses on analyzing modern cinematic trends, plac-ing them in historical context, and exploring stylistic themes. His work aims to understand how audiovisual mediums shape and enrich artistic expression.
Omar El Zohairy
Filmmaker
A filmmaker who studied cinema at the Cairo Film Institute and worked as an assistant director alongside some of Egypt's most prominent filmmakers, including Youssef Chahine and Yousry Nasrallah. His films have been featured in numerous in-ternational film festivals, and his acclaimed film Feathers won the Grand Prize at the Critics' Week competition at the Cannes Film Festival.