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Saudi Director Tawfik Alzaidi Talks ‘Mad Max 2’ Influence As He Arrives In Cannes With Ground-Breaking Film ‘Norah’
Saudi Director Tawfik Alzaidi Talks ‘Mad Max 2’ Influence As He Arrives In Cannes With Ground-Breaking Film ‘Norah’
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. The director, who hails from the Western city of Medina, notes that Saudi Arabia’s era of conservatism was sparked by the November 1979 siege of its Grand Mosque in Mecca by anti-monarchist militants, which result in the ruling royal family ceding more ground to Islamic scholars known as the Ulama. Some 30 years later, the stars have aligned so that Alzaidi’s Norah is world premiering in the same Official Selection as George Miller’s Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, which screened Out of Competition last week.
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