Mohammed Al-Turki Steps Down As CEO Of Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Foundation
Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Foundation has announced that Mohammed Al-Turki is stepping down as its CEO to focus on personal projects and his career as an independent film producer and businessman.
The body, which was created in the wake of Saudi Arabia’s lifting in late 2017 of its cinema ban, oversees the Jeddah-set Red Sea International Film Festival and is also charged with helping to build a cinema ecosystem in the country.
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Under Al Turki’s watch, the foundation held the first three editions of the RSIFF and supported 250 projects from Saudi, MENA and Africa and Asia.
The foundation said the search for a successor was underway and that in the interim, former Red Sea Film Foundation board member Mohammed Asseri was stepping in as acting CEO.
Shivani Pandya Malhotra remains in place as managing director of the foundation and Al-Turki will continue to support the leadership team in an advisory role.
“We look back at the past three years and the building blocks that have been worked on relentlessly by the team at Red Sea Film Foundation and share our gratitude for Mohammed Al-Turki who played a key role in leading the team and the Foundation to where it is today,” said Red Sea Film Foundation chairperson Jomana Alrashid.
“We look forward to watching his career as one of Saudi’s most prominent film executives continue. We also look forward to welcoming new leadership to the Foundation alongside our existing team which remains spearheaded by our Managing Director Shivani Pandya Malhotra.”
News of Al Turki’s departure follows a high-profile Cannes for the foundation, which supported four titles world premiering on the Croisette including Tawfik Alzaidi’s Norah, which made history as Saudi Arabia’s first film selected for Official Selection, competing in Un Certain Regard where it clinched a Special Mention.
Other supported projects included Directors’ Fortnight title To a Land Unknown by Mahdi Fleifel, Cannes Critics’ Week closing film Animale by Emma Benestan and The Brink of Dreams, by Nada Riyadh and Ayman El Amir, which also premiered in Cannes Critics’ Week and went on to share the Golden Eye Award for Best Documentary.
“Working with the Foundation on these three editions of the festival and cementing Saudi Arabia’s place on the global stage of the film industry has been an honor and a privilege,” said Al Turki.
“We have achieved so much, and ahead of our fourth edition—we are in a position we could only have dreamed of a few years ago—which is why I feel now is the perfect time to transition. I am grateful for the ties we have built as a team and will continue to support my Red Sea Film Foundation family led by the Chairwoman of the Foundation Jomana Alrashid and its Managing Director Shivani Pandya Malhotra.”
The fourth edition of the Red Sea International Film Festival runs from December 5 to 14.
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