This Saudi film has been nominated from an award at the Venice International Festival

Seems like there’s more good news for Arab cinema this month.

‘The Perfect Candidate’, a Saudi film directed by Haifaa Al-Mansour, will be in the running for the Golden Lion prize at this year’s Venice International Film Festival along with 14 other international entries. Some of these include works by Canada’s Atom Egoyan, Japan’s Hirokazu Kore-eda and Sweden’s Roy Andersson. Back in 2012, Mansour was the first woman to shoot a film in Saudi Arabia (her movie titled ‘Wadjda’)

This comes as a huge honor since the event is not only the world’s oldest film festivals, but it is also considered to be among the ‘top three’ film events alongside Cannes Film Festival and Berlin International Festival.

Another movie that is making waves at this year’s addition from this region will be ‘Sayidat Al Bahr’ (Scales), which will premiere at the festival. Directed by Saudi Arabian writer Shahad Ameen, the film has been made by Abu Dhabi’s Image Nation.

Supported by the Saudi Film Council, which is the Kingdom’s new national film organization, ‘The Perfect Candidate’ is a story revolving around a Saudi female who is running her local municipal elections. This will be Mansour’s first time at the event; she has previously participated in the Venice Horizons Award with her film, ‘Oujda’, where she won three awards.

The Venice International Film Festival will run from August 28^th – September 9^th.