Saudi Arabia's award-winning movie director Abdullah Al-Eyaf is entering the Naabil Film Festival in Tunisia with his movie Matar (Rain). The film focuses on hopes and aspirations of the young people and their longing for a better life. Filmmakers and experts from all over the world, mostly from the Mideast are expected to attend the 6-day festival starting on July 25. Al-Eyaf's entry, Matar, won him the Silver Palm Award in the First Saudi Film Competition held recently in Dammam and organized by the art and literary clubs in Eastern Province. “The acceptance of my participation at the Tunisian film competition is a recognition that Saudi movies are gaining respect and appreciation overseas. This will serve as inspiration for many budding Saudi filmmakers,” Al-Eyaf said. Al-Eyaf has directed two famous films. His first film was a 42-minute documentary, Cinema 500 KM, which features the ban on cinema theaters in Saudi Arabia and the journey of a young Saudi movie fan outside of his country just to experience viewing his first film in a theater. Al-Eyaf's second project was a 19-minute short film called Etaar (aka “A Frame”). Cinema 500 KM won the Golden Palm Award in short documentary category in the First Saudi Film Competition. Abdullah Al-Eyaf, from Al Khobar, works as an engineer for a living. He writes a weekly column in Al-Riyadh, an Arabic daily, and edits a weekly cinema page for Al-Watan newspaper. __
