Officially it's not called "filmmaking." But making movies is exactly what about 150 students — all of them women — are doing at the Kingdom's all-female Effat University in Jeddah. Students say it is the only program of its kind in the Kingdom. Students and one of their instructors say the three-year-old program in visual and digital production is developing Saudi Arabia's nascent film sector, and in the process helping the push for cinemas. "I would like to make stories that touch people's emotions," aspiring producer-director Reem Almodian said in a soft voice. Students in the four-year undergraduate course can also choose to concentrate on animation, screenwriting or interactive media, which include gaming and virtual reality. Jawaher Alamri, 20, has also looked to her own experiences for the basis of a short "monologue" documentary. "People always told me I looked different," said Alamri, who grew up in Jubail, north of Dammam, before crossing to the other side of the country to study in Effat's film program. Her monologue explored the theme: "How can I find my own definition of happiness?" This is the point of studying film, said Khalida Bataweel, 20, who is concentrating on interactive media. "We would like to express our own feelings and our history to the world," she said, speaking with her colleagues at the third Saudi Film Festival which began in Dammam on Thursday night. Bentley Brown, an American filmmaker who teaches screenwriting and interactive media at Effat, said about 13 of the students have films or screenplays among the 125 works in the juried five-day competition. He says the students are exploring "topics of intellectual importance" in their work. On its website, the university says the visual and digital production course allows students to develop "as a filmmaker, designer and/or a technical developer and gain not only the creative skills required, but also the practical knowledge to ensure your employability in the creativity sector." Although public cinemas are not allowed in Saudi Arabia there is a growing interest in cinema and filmmaking, as reflected in Effat's program and the re-emergence of the Saudi Film Festival last year after a seven-year absence. Saudis are voracious consumers of online videos and rank among the world's top viewers of YouTube.
