Events
In Pictures: Cuba Gooding at the Saudi Film Festival
As promised, Oscar-winning star Cuba Gooding Jr. made it to the fifth Saudi Film Festival on Monday, at which he spoke to the audience about his experiences in Hollywood and the kind of challenges that faced him during his careers and how he overcame them.
The Saudi film festival is part of the Sharqiah Season in the Eastern Province, that has been witnessing an impressive success so far; in bringing up international stars, singers and sports to highlight the nation’s own heritage.
Gooding Jr is known for his roles in “A Few Good Men”, “Men of Honor” and “American Crime Story,” among others. The star had previously won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his role the 1996 film “Jerry Maguire,” alongside Tom Cruise and Renee Zellweger.
Gooding Jr. arrived for the event, at the King Abdul Aziz World Center for Culture (Ithra), in the company of Claudine De Niro, the estranged wife of actor Robert De Niro’s son, Raphael. And they were all welcomed by renowned Saudi film producer and Hollywood businessman Mohammed Al-Turki.
The star gave an almost 60 minute talk to the audience, about his career, life challenges and downfalls that faced him during his journey towards success in the field of film industry. Furthermore, Gooding offered advice to those who dream of perusing a career in acting.
“No one prepares you for success,” he said. “That’s why you see a lot of actors that star in movies, then disappear. Or you see athletes that make a $100 million and then they disappear, too. They weren’t ready for it.
“You have to envision yourself standing on that stage, holding an Oscar over your head, saying, ‘This is for the Middle-East’. You have to envision the script that you will write and envision being on that stage, holding that Oscar.
“People asked me after I won that Academy Award if I ever thought I would be on that stage. I always said, ‘Not in a million years.’ But that’s a lie. You have to envision yourself on that stage, winning that award, so that when you succeed it will feel normal, not like it’s something special, so that you can do it again.”
Finally, the American actor expressed his intention in helping and supporting filmmakers from Saudi Arabia; through his production company that has just been recently launched. When asked if he has plans in mind for the region, he said
“I do, actually. I have a couple of things. I don’t want to give it away but let’s just say that there is a lot of great literature that I’ve read, a lot of different books, including Arabian Nights. It’s hard to talk about the things in development because you don’t want to give it away but there is definitely something in development.”
Well, we definitely would love to see production of movies taking place in Middle Eastern countries, and we’re hoping to see the Kingdom more involved in the film industry.
In five days, an international motor show, will take place in Jeddah. The Jeddah superdome, 6th December and until 10th of December, will be one of the biggest international motor shows. The exhibition is sponsored by the ministry of transport and logistics and organized by the Salah company. The Jeddah Superdome, has set a world Record for being the largest freestanding dome in the world, in contrast to the Tokyo Dome which formerly held the title, with 206 meters. Located on the Madinah Road, West of King Abdallah sport City, the Jeddah Superdome has an internal area of 24,000 square meters, and a height of 46 meters, with a diameter of 210 meters, a parking space that accommodates 5200 viceless. The exhibition includes many experiences such as drifting, with professional drivers, on dedicated racks, go karting, off road experience with SUVs with professional drivers in a dedicated circuit, and an opportunity to drive the car of your dreams. In addition to restaurants, cafes that suit all of your tastes. The exhibition includes many important car agencies and exclusive launches of many vintage and antique cars presented for the first time in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in addition to an auction of rare classic cars, with more than 35 luxury and rare cars on display. The auction was held by the Silverstone auctioneers, the biggest UK classic car auction house. The event is the biggest in its name, and the car industry, featuring the oldest cars, but unfortunately nothing was sold.
Beaches of the Kingdom are about to get cleaner with the ‘Let’s Make Them Cleaner’ initiative, which was launched on Friday by the Saudi Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development.
Professional divers are taking part of the campaign as volunteers who are ready to clean the beaches and seabeds of Saudi Arabia, in order to save the marine environment from pollution.
The initiative is one of the events launched for Saudi and International Volunteer Day, which is celebrated every year on the 5th of December.
Entitles ‘Ataa Watan,’ the event covers several programs and activities across Saudi Arabia, they were held in partnership with government bodies and NGOs.
So far, the ministry launched five initiatives throughout this year, as part of the Voluntary Work Platform it launched on March 31, 2020.
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