The Saudi Arabian General Entertainment Authority (GEA) has recently introduced a new film fund named Big Time Investment. This initiative aims to stimulate the creation of high-quality Arabic films and has unveiled a series of forthcoming Egyptian features. Among these, a standout project is the biographical film about the legendary Egyptian singer Umm Kulthum, revered as the greatest vocalist in the Arab world.
Esteemed Egyptian filmmaker Marwan Hamed, noted for his successful epic ‘Kira and El Gen’ that portrays local defiance against British rule, is set to helm ‘El Set.’ In this film, Egyptian luminary Mona Zaki will portray Kulthum, who became a pioneering figure in Arab music, leveraging early 20th-century media technologies like radio, phonographs, cinema, and television to reach a wide audience.
At an event in Cairo, GEA chairman Turki Alalshikh announced the establishment of the fund, which is backed by approximately $130 million primarily from GEA with the Ministry of Culture as a secondary sponsor. This was reported by the official Saudi Press Agency.
The fund also draws support from a number of specialized Saudi enterprises, including Sela Studio, SMC Company, Rotana Audio Visual Co., and Benchmark Company. Big Time Investment is set to foster the development of around 20 Arabic titles annually. This follows the inception of the Red Sea Fund by Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Foundation, a non-profit associated with the Red Sea Film Festival that predominantly funds Arabic arthouse cinema.
Several productions financed by the Red Sea Fund are currently being showcased at the Berlin Film Festival. These include Tunisian director Meryam Joobeur’s ‘Who Do I Belong To,’ African filmmaker Abderrahmane Sissako’s ‘Black Tea’ based in France, and Lebanese director Myriam El-Hajj’s feature documentary ‘Diaries From Lebanon.’