Discussion and Screening: New Currents in Saudi Cinema

Meshal Al Jaser and Ali Al Sumayin are young, up-and-coming filmmakers from Saudi Arabia who use new media to create and disseminate short films that are social commentaries on a rapidly changing Saudi society. Chock full of references to filmmakers like David Lynch, Danny Boyle, and Tim Burton, these colorful, often irreverent, films may upend your preconceptions about Saudi cinema and society. Jaser and Sumayin joined Kristin Smith Diwan, senior resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, to talk about and screen their work, and discuss how social media and other new technologies are influencing the future of film and media production in the Gulf. This event was co-presented with the Smithsonian’s Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery.

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