DUBAI: Mohammed Al-Turki, the CEO of Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Festival, attended the opening ceremony of 77th edition of the Cannes Film Festival as Lebanese actress-director Nadine Labaki posed on the red carpet alongside her fellow Cannes jury members.
Al-Turki took to social media to post pictures from the red carpet, where he posed alongside Jomana Al-Rashid, CEO of the Saudi Research and Media Group. He captioned the post, “Beautiful and inspiring opening night @festivaldecannes repping @redseafilm with @jomanaalrashid! Congratulations Thiery and Iris for a great start for what I’m sure will be an edition that exceeds all expectations,” referring to artistic director Thierry Fremaux and festival president Iris Knobloch.
Mohammed Al-Turki posed alongside Jomana Al-Rashid, CEO of the Saudi Research and Media Group. (Getty Images)
The opening night film was “The Second Act,” a comedy starring Léa Seydoux and Louis Garrel.
However, before “The Second Act” was screened for the audience, Cannes presented its jury, which includes Omar Sy, Lily Gladstone, Nadine Labaki, Ebru Ceylan, Hirokazu Kore-eda, J.A. Bayona and Greta Gerwig.
The Cannes Film Festival jury features Lebanese director-actress Nadine Labaki (fourth from the left). (Getty Images)
The star of the night was US veteran actress Meryl Streep, on hand to receive an honorary Palme d’Or. Taking the stage to receive her honor, the Oscar-winner was greeted with a two-minute standing ovation. Addressing the crowd, Streep remembered words from her mother: “Darling, you’ll see, it all goes so fast.”
Meanwhile, a film from Saudi Arabia will be screened at the film festival for the very first time.
“Norah,” Saudi director Tawfik Alzaidi's feature debut, has been selected in the Un Certain Regard section and will screen with 19 other entries from around the world.
