High on ‘Hajjan’
Ithra-produced film wins three awards at Gulf Cinema Festival
Tale of a boy and his camel wins best feature, best actor, and best cinematography awards at prestigious event.
“Hajjan,” the feature film funded and produced by The King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture (Ithra), has been awarded Best Feature, Best Actor (Omar Alatawi, for his role as protagonist Matar) and Best Cinematography at the Gulf Cinema Festival.
The full sweep across all categories the film was nominated in was announced at the festival’s closing ceremony on April 18.
Ithra, Saudi Arabia’s leading cultural center, is a key player in driving film industry growth in the Kingdom by nurturing home-grown talent and fostering cinematic content creation.
Ithra Film Production, one of Saudi Arabia’s leading indie film production houses, supports the advancement of the Kingdom’s film industry, both in front of and behind the camera, propelling it across the international stage through cultural commissioning, funding and development programs. Since 2018, Ithra has produced 23 films and has showcased these at 72 film festivals around the world.
Ithra was invited by the Saudi Film Commission to participate at the fourth edition of the Gulf Cinema Festival, a platform that connects film industry professionals and celebrates cinema from the GCC region, which this year took place April 14-18 in Riyadh.
A story imbued with Saudi cultural heritage and identity, “Hajjan” is a coming-of-age adventure epic that follows young Matar (played by Omar Alatawi), living in the expansive Saudi Arabian desert, as he overcomes tragedy through the hope and solace he finds in camel racing.
The film was shot in Tabuk and the cast was made up entirely of Saudi actors.
Seeing the recognition HAJJAN has garnered, both within the Kingdom and beyond, is incredibly exciting and signals the growing interest in Saudi creative output.
— Majed Samman, head of Performing Arts and Cinema at Ithra
“At Ithra, we are proud of our role in supporting the advancement of the Kingdom’s film industry, both in front of and behind the camera by creating opportunities for Saudi talent so that the stories of our people and past are brought to life and reach national and international audiences,” said Samman. “We look forward to further celebrating cinematic excellence from across the Kingdom and increasing awareness of our flourishing film and creative industries during the upcoming 10th edition of the Saudi Film Festival (May 2-9) hosted at Ithra.”
Caption for top photo: Abdullah Eyaf, CEO of the Saudi Film Commission, presents an award to Majed Samman, head of Performing Arts and Cinema at Ithra during the recent Gulf Cinema Festival.