SAUDI Films help in building up bridges “Saudi films are very interesting, it is both our pleasure to show them and equally important to show them,” said Toshimitu Itshigure Japanese Consul general and coordinator of the ACGC at the screening of Saudi films in second Asian Film Festival on Sunday in Jeddah. Two short films were showcased: “The Food Left Over” by Moussa Thanayan, “Innocent dream” by Bashir Al- Mahaishi as well as the feature film ‘The Child task” by Mamdouh Salem. A “Tourism Promotional” film by Supreme Tourism Commission was also shown. “The movies which are going to be shown today are the best Saudi movies of Saudi cinema 2008, and people will come to know more about our traditions, culture, country and the Saudi community,” said Mahmoud Salem. “The topics of all films deal with different aspects of life,” he added. The film “Food Left Over” is a a 5 - minute short film and emotional story of life and hardships in which a man puts the left over food out of his house for the food collector every day and one day he finds that someone else is taking the food. He then finds that a poor orphan and his mother have been taking it. The other film “Innocent dream” is by Basheer Al- Muhaishi and is about an orphan boy with a fondness for photography. He doesn't have a real camera so he makes one for himself out of cardboad. He later becomes a professional camera man but still he keeps that box as a reminder of his childhood dream. “The main purpose is to know each other's cultures and this was a very good opportunity to come to know about Saudi culture and tradition,” said Tekleab Kebede, the Ethiopia Consul General. There were some in the audience who were attending the screenings with much hope as well. “The Saudi movies were better than (showing) nothing but the message was shown in a highly dramatic way when it could be presented more simply,” said Ibrahim A. Natto, one from the attendees. “We're expecting more then that, and they (the filmmakers) have to do more hard work and put in more effort,” he added. Saudi cinema is now preparing for the upcoming summer festival: “This time we want to show more feature films than short films,” said Mamdouh, adding “people will see more development and more films about different topics, which will include different celebrations, festivals and cultural things,” he said.
