Chairman of the Film Commission: Film criticism links art and society
Film Authority Abdullah bin Nasser Al-Qahtani said that since its inception, the Authority has been working to establish film criticism as an essential tributary to creating awareness, no less important than creativity and production, pointing out that “criticism is not only a position on the film, but rather an act of understanding and contemplation that links art and society, between image and place, and between the past and the future, and this conference opens before us a new horizon for film criticism, and places us before a deeper responsibility to listen to what the place says, and to understand how cinema formulates it, and how It brings it back to us more alive and true.”
This came during the launch of the final leg of The International Film Criticism Conference 2025, which is organized by the Film Authority over two days at the Palace of Culture in the Embassy District in Riyadh, under the slogan “Cinema… the Art of Place,” with the participation of an elite group of critics, academics and filmmakers from inside and outside the Kingdom, continuing its journey in enriching the critical scene and enhancing cinematic dialogue in the Kingdom.
International Attendance
The conference comes as an extension of the process of forums organized by the Authority in a number of regions The Kingdom, as its first station began in the Asir region, followed by the Qatif station, all the way to Riyadh, which concludes the conference’s activities tomorrow, with the aim of promoting cinematic dialogue locally and internationally, and expanding the scope of cultural and knowledge exchange in filmmaking.
The conference, in its third edition, focuses on the relationship between cinema and place, describing place as one of the most important elements of visual narrative and cultural identity in the cinematic experience, after the success of its previous two stations. The cultural program of the conference extends for three days, and includes dialogue sessions, presentations, workshops (master classes), and film screenings, with the participation of more than 30 speakers and film experts from various countries of the world, and in the presence of an elite group of critics and filmmakers to explore the presence of place in cinema as a visual and cultural space that reflects identity, memory, and social transformations.
Supporting the national creative movement
The conference witnessed the announcement of an open call for the submission of research papers through the initiative “Cinema”, affiliated with the Film Commission, invited researchers and critics to submit proposals for studies in film criticism for publication on the initiative’s page, as part of its efforts to support cinematic content and deepen consideration of Saudi and Arab visual culture. With the aim of strengthening Arab cinematic research with new approaches, stimulating the critical movement related to Saudi and Arab cinema, supporting studies specialized in film archives for documentation and analysis, and highlighting the role of cinema as a cognitive mediator that contributes to reading society and the human experience.
It is noteworthy that the International Film Criticism Conference comes within the efforts of the Film Commission to promote cinematic and critical culture, support the national creative movement as part of the system of cultural and cognitive development witnessed by the Kingdom, and create an interactive intellectual environment that enriches Saudi cinema movement.
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