Saudi Director Tawfik Alzaidi Talks ‘Mad Max 2’ Influence As He Arrives In Cannes With Ground-Breaking Film ‘Norah’
deadline.comSelf-taught Saudi director Tawfik Alzaidi posted a Tweet in 2011 predicting that cinemas would re-open in his country in 2018 after a 35-year ban.
It got zero traction. “I was sitting in Starbucks, feeling frustrated and fired it off,” he recounts. “No-one replied or retweeted it.” In late 2017, he would log on to discover the post had gone viral with people hailing him as a fortune teller, following the Saudi government’s announcement of the lifting of the cinema ban as part of a wider opening-up of the country under its 2030 plan aimed at moving the economy away from a reliance on oil.
Seven years later, Alzaidi is making history as his debut feature Norah world premieres in the Cannes Film Festival’s Un Certain Regard as the first Saudi movie to make it into Official Selection across its 77 editions.
Set in Saudi Arabia in the 1990s, when all artistic expression was banned, Norah follows rookie teacher and clandestine artist Nader, who is sent to a remote village in the region of AlUla where he connects with a spirited young woman, whose intriguing backstory is slowly unveiled.
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