‘Naga’ Review: Sneaking Out Is Not for Good Saudi Girls in Overstuffed Debut Feature

Kanye West and Ty Dolla $ign‘s collaborative album ‘Vultures’ will land on January 12, their representatives have confirmed.The controversial record was originally slated for release on December 15 but never materialised. It has already been delayed twice, having originally been expected to drop on October 13 before it was pushed back to November 3, supposedly to coincide with a “multi-stadium listening event” that ended up being cancelled.Kanye and Ty’s collaborative album has been in the works for a while, with Ty telling an audience in November that they had just been recording together in Saudi Arabia.The album is expected to be released under the artist name ¥$, and is said to include features from Freddie Gibbs, Playboi Carti, Future, James Blake and several others.

Holly Jones Paris-based outfit Luxbox – one of Europe’s biggest sales agents and sometimes producers – of higher-profile Spanish-language art house fare, has swooped on international rights to “Reas,” a prison musical in which female and trans ex-cons process their experiences, which was confirmed last week as one of the first eight films selected for Berlin’s Forum section. The second film by Argentine playwright and writer Lola Arias (“Theater of War”), and winner of the HEAD Pitchings du Réel Award at Visions du Réel in 2020, “Reas” was also selected by San Sebastian Film Festival for its 2023 WIP Latam.

Bundesliga side RB Leipzig are reportedly ready to enter the race for Manchester United winger Jadon Sancho.

Manchester City will find it harder to win the Club World Cup after their draw with Crystal Palace, Pep Guardiola admits.

TikTok’s ‘Add To Music App’ is set to roll out to users in 19 more countries worldwide following its launch last month.Last month, TikTok announced a new feature that allows users to directly save sounds from the app to their streaming platform of choice.Users in the US and UK can already utilise the feature now, which allows fans to save music they’ve discovered to Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music.The social media platform has now announced plans for it to be available in the following countries: Canada, Japan, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Saudi Arabia, Ireland, Sweden, Thailand, Malaysia, UAE, Argentina, Colombia, The Netherlands, Turkey, South Africa, Vietnam and the Philippines.“Add To Music App has been designed to help music fans capture songs that they love on TikTok in the moment of discovery, and to easily save the song to their preferred music streaming service to enjoy whenever they like,” read a statement from the video sharing platform.The feature can be used by tapping on a sound which is listed below a user’s name, then hitting ‘Add to music app’, where you can choose your preferred streaming platform.

The official German Oscar entry for Best International Feature is an insular, pulse-pounding thriller set within the confines of a school that, for cinematic purposes, doubles as a microcosm of society in general circa 2023 where facts don’t matter, misinformation is rampant, suspicions run hot, divisions run deep, racism still rears its ugly head, and no one can be quite sure where, and even if they want to, fit in.

Caroline Brew editor Director Abdulelah Alqurashi sat down with Variety’s senior artisans editor Jazz Tangcay at Variety’s Artisans Screening Series to break down his film “Alhamour H.A.,” Saudi Arabia’s official Oscars submission. The film is based on the true story of one of Saudi Arabia’s biggest con artists, a former security guard named Hamed who grows rich by convincing people to make dubious investments. Alqurashi lived in Jedda as a banker while the scam was happening.

Kanye West showcased a host of new songs from his forthcoming album last night (December 12) and one of them featured a Backstreet Boys song.The track ‘Everybody’ features a recreated chorus from Charlie Wilson, who joins West, Ty Dolla $ign and Lil Baby on the track, instead of mining a sample from the boy band’s famous 1997 hit ‘Everybody (Backstreet’s Back)’. You can view the performance of the track below.A sample would require permission from both a record label and a publisher, but because an interpolation – which is essentially a cover of a segment of a song re-sung or re-played in another song – does not use a recording, only the publisher’s permission is required.Because Backstreet Boys did not write the song they have no control over its use.

Kim Kardashian has been spotted showing her support for Manchester United before their important Champions League showdown with Bayern Munich at Old Trafford.

Rafa Sales Ross Guest Contributor The third edition of the Red Sea Film Festival, wrapping Saturday in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, felt like a direct response to a burning question from executives and investors present at the festival’s market arm last year: Could Saudi Arabia step out from drama and comedy and head into genre filmmaking? The answer offered by the festival, it turns out, was a resounding yes. “Arabs are closer to fantasy than the Western world,” director Yasir Al-Yasiri told Variety of this year’s Red Sea Film Festival opening film, “HWJN.” The film, a sprawling fantasy about the Arab Jinn culture set and shot in Jeddah, comes at the “right time,” according to the director.

Nick Holdsworth A young boy is fleeing war after his father is killed. All alone in the world, he finds a treasure map that will change his life — and give him the chance to heal from trauma. The plot of “Saleem” — Jordan’s first feature-length animation — is a universal story of the horrors so many children around the world face today, its producers say.

There were a bunch of Hollywood A-List stars in Saudi Arabia today for the closing night gala of the 2023 Red Sea International Film Festival!

The third annual Red Sea Film Festival handed out its Yusr Awards on Thursday night, with Zarrar Kahn’s In Flames taking Best Feature and Farah Nabulsi’s The Teacher scoring a pair of wins including Best Actor for Saleh Bakri. See the full list below.

John Bleasdale Guest Contributor Andrew Garfield spoke to an audience rich in Spider-Man fans about his career at the Red Sea Film Festival Thursday, sitting alongside Saudi producer and Red Sea Film Foundation CEO Mohammed Al Turki. The two have known each other since Garfield starred in Ramin Bahrani’s 2014 drama “99 Homes,” which Al Turki produced. “I’m currently out of work,” Garfield quipped.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Rising Saudi Arabian star Yaqoub Alfarhan, who is known for playing the titular drug trafficker and serial killer in hit MBC TV series “Rashash,” plays a very different role in the drama “Norah” by pioneering Saudi director Tawfik Alzaidi, which is set in 1990s Saudi Arabia when conservatism was at its height and all forms of art and painting were banned for religion-related reasons. In “Norah,” which world premiered at the Red Sea Film Festival in Jeddah, Alfarhan plays an artist named Nader who has given up painting and moved to a remote village to be a schoolteacher. There he intersects with this film’s titular character, played by Saudi newcomer Maria Bahrawi.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Dubai-based distributor Front Row Filmed Entertainment has acquired Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region distribution rights to groundbreaking Saudi drama “Norah,” which world premiered in competition at the Red Sea Film Festival. Directed by pioneering Saudi director Tawfik Alzaidi, making his feature film debut, “Norah” is set in 1990s Saudi Arabia, when conservatism was at its height and all forms of art and painting were banned for religion-related reasons.

Rafa Sales Ross Guest Contributor With a fast-growing box office expected to hit the billion-dollar mark by 2030 and rising numbers of streaming subscriptions, Saudi Arabia is at a key point in its journey into becoming a key global player when it comes to TV and film production. However, with a market that is only five years old — with Saudi lifting its 35-year ban on cinema in 2018 — local audiences are yet to flock to locally made content, which is still relatively scarce when it comes to the big screen.

Former Universal Pictures executive Paul Chesney has been out and about this past week at the third edition of Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea International Film Festival, running November 30 to December 9 in the port city of Jeddah.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Young Saudi director Meshal Al Jaser, who springs from the country’s vibrant YouTube scene, is making a splash with his madcap feature debut “Naga,” in which a young woman named Sara goes on a date and takes drugs in the desert. She then must overcome various obstacles, including a rabid camel, to get home before the curfew set by her punishment-prone father. Produced by Saudi’s prominent Telfaz11 production company in tandem with Netflix, “Naga” marks the first Saudi film selected for Toronto’s Midnight Madness program and is now premiering locally to ravishing response at the Red Sea Film Festival in Jeddah.

John Bleasdale Guest Contributor Freida Pinto took a break from her jury duties at the Red Sea Film Festival to talk to Variety about her career and her hopes for the future. The Indian actor shot to world fame for her starring role in Danny Boyle’s “Slumdog Millionaire” (2008) and remains committed to the breadth of cinema. “I’ve always looked at cinema globally,” she tells Variety.