Saudi Arabia’s Cultural Development Fund made a strategic appearance at the Cannes Film Festival this week, signaling its ambitions to become a key player in the global film industry.
Founded in 2021, under the Saudi National Development Fund, the CDF aims to contribute to transforming the kingdom into a competitive force in global culture with a mandate to support the development of a self-sustaining cultural economy. And since its inception, the CDF has made significant investments in cinema through a portfolio of $234 million.
More recently, the fund launched the Cultural Financing Program to support all cultural sectors, including film. The CDF also invested in the $100 million Saudi Film Fund, the first of its kind in the region, partnered with the private sector as the anchor investor and contributed 40% of the capital to boost the film sector, both locally and internationally.
Most notably, the CDF is emerging as a financial center of excellence for film financing, working in close collaboration with key stakeholders from the Saudi film ecosystem. This strategic shift focuses on catalyzing creativity by optimizing grants and rebates, streamlining the application process to improve the user experience, and introducing more competitive incentives to attract a wider range of productions. The goal is to create a more efficient pathway for filmmakers across the entire industry, both internationally and locally, and across all company sizes. The new framework aims to reduce processing times for successful applications by 60% and addresses one of the most persistent challenges faced by filmmakers navigating traditional state-backed funding systems.
As Saudi Arabia accelerates its cultural investments, from film and literature to fashion and heritage, the kingdom is unlocking immense of opportunities across cultural sectors and leveraging its vast potential to attract industry professionals seeking prospects in an increasingly competitive global market.
For more information, visit https://cdf.gov.sa and follow the CDF on Instagram, X, YouTube and LinkedIn.
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