Al Jazeera - Wael Al-Otaibi:

In Najran, where rocks still preserve inscriptions from thousands of years, and mud villages tell stories of successive civilizations, Saudi cinema continues its journey to build its audience in various regions of the Kingdom. There, where history begins before the camera starts, the 'Our Screen' initiative, organized by the Cinema Society, arrives to affirm that a film is not just a means of entertainment but an extension of the memory of a place, a new language that narrates humanity and rediscovers it.

The Cultural House in Najran will host on Saturday evening, July 18, 2026, a new stop of the program, featuring eight short films ranging from fiction, documentary, and comedy, in an experience that reflects the transformation Saudi cinema is undergoing, and its ability to reach its audience outside major cities, making the screen a space for dialogue, contemplation, and sharing stories.

The evening begins with the film 'Hawd' (Basin) by director Reema Al-Majed, which follows the journey of a girl seeking her freedom within an education system based on rote memorization, while the film 'Service to the Community' by director Jaafar Al-Ghalib tells the story of an employee who finds himself on an adventure that changes his outlook on life.

The program continues its diversity with the film 'The Edge' by director Ahmed Al-Qathami, which examines the fragility of human relationships, while the film 'Journey 1-2' by director Rana Mutair offers a meditation on identity and personal choices through two journeys that reshape the protagonist's self-awareness.

The human and poetic dimension is also present in the film 'Turfa' by director Abdullah Al-Suwaid, which tells a late love story that defies norms, while the film 'Sharshoura' by director Ahmed Al-Nasr approaches existential worlds through the character of a driver whose view of life changes due to an unusual experience.

The film 'Extended Severity' by director Sultan Rabie provides space for everyday comedy, before the program concludes with the film 'Jahīr' by director Mohammed Al-Zahrani, which poses one of the era's most pressing questions: Does human creativity remain unique in the age of artificial intelligence?

The 'Our Screen' program is not limited to transferring films between cities; it seeks to build a sustainable viewing culture and bring cinema to audiences wherever they are, based on a vision that makes culture a right accessible to all, and believes that every city has its story, and every story deserves a screen to be told.

In Najran specifically, the city that wrote its history on stone, cinema today seems to be adding a new chapter... but this time in the language of light and image.

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