Faisal Baltyuor Red Sea International Film Festival Share on Facebook Share on X Google Preferred Share to Flipboard Show additional share options Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit Share on Tumblr Share on Whats App Send an Email Print the Article Post a Comment Faisal Baltyuor is a busy man. One of Saudi Arabia's most prominent film producers since the country lifted its ban on public cinemas in 2018, Baltyuor has produced domestic hits such as the wrestling comedy Sattar and the drama From the Ashes, as well as Hijra, the country's submission for the 2026 Academy Awards. He is also a leading film distributor in the MENA region through his company CineWaves Films. That's not all, he is also involved on the exhibition side, and established Cinehouse, Saudi Arabia's first art house cinema. But wait, there's more. In June, Baltyuor, undoubtedly the most connected man in the Saudi entertainment industry, was named CEO of the Red Sea Film Foundation, the sprawling non-profit cultural organization that hosts the annual Red Sea International Film Festival (RSIFF) in Jeddah, and also the fast-growing film market Red Sea Souk, as well as supporting filmmakers and backing projects through the Red Sea Fund, and developing creative talent through the Red Sea Labs. Related Stories Movies Park Chan-wook on 'No Other Choice' Snagging 3 Golden Globe Nominations, State of Korean Film Industry Movies James McAvoy's Directorial Debut 'California Schemin'' to Close Glasgow Film Festival As Baltyuor himself says, he is a "man who wears many hats" and his appointment to the top job at the Red Sea Film Foundation comes at a crucial time for the still nascent, but generously funded, Saudi film and TV industry that is seemingly speedrunning its way to establishing a sustainable entertainment ecosystem. In the days leading up to the fifth edition of RSIFF, The Hollywood Reporter spoke to Baltyuor, where he opened up about his long journey to becoming CEO of the Red Sea Film Foundation, the rapid development of the entertainment industry in Saudi Arabia, and what the festival means to local filmmakers. Let's start with your, relatively, new job as the CEO of the Red Sea Film Foundation. First of all, how does your background help with leading the foundation? The Red Sea Film Foundation is touching almost the whole ecosystem in Saudi Arabia. I've been with Red Sea since the beginning, as a producer, as a jury member, as part of the fund, as a participant in the Souk [market], and as sponsor as well of the festival. I've seen the Red Sea Film Festival through multiple directions, interacting with the team, interacting with guests, being a filmmaker who has had his film as opening film or closing film. Going through all of that experience,honestly, gives a good background of the efforts that Red Sea is adding on the ground to the filmmaker. [At the end of the day], I'm a filmmaker, I'm a producer, I'm a distributor, and it's adding a lot. Given all the hats you're wearing, are you quite hands on with Red Sea, or are you more of a strategist? No, actually I'm a full-time, hands-on with the Red Sea, definitely. The best thing with the producing, with the distributing, I don't do things myself. I have a great team that they are handling everything, so I don't get into that. I'm hands on with the details of Red Sea. I moved completely to Jeddah. I have to take it seriously. This is very important to the region, very important for the industry overall. This is a quick aside, but for the outsider who might not be familiar, would you say that Jeddah is the culture capital, the film and TV city, of Saudi Arabia? Jeddah was [the culture city] since even before the opening of cinemas in Saudi Arabia [in 2018]. That is because of Jeddah's multiculturalism, we have [many different people] here in Jeddah. Because of its strategic location, it's where everyone from countries all over the world come to if they're going to go to Makka, their first stop will [most likely be] Jeddah first. Jeddah's history has been rich with art, with film, with cinema, with culture. We did some research about Ahwash Cinemas [informal backyard open-air cinemas that were popular in Jeddah before the Saudi ban on cinemas in the 1980s]. There was a lot of cinemas around us here in the Cultural Square where the festival is located, in the historical part of Jeddah. There were cinemas here since the 50s, 60s and 70s, not just one or two, more than 20 during that period. There were cinemas that even specialized. There were some focused on classic films from Egypt, some of them had Bollywood films, some of them had Hollywood films. There are people who are still living with us today who still remember watching movies in Ahwash Cinemas in Jeddah. So the city was, and still is, rich with culture and art. That's why the audience here are always more vibrant. You have input into the entire entertainment value chain in Saudi Arabia, that covers production, distri