RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has the largest national presence in the Cinema Al-Khaleej (Gulf Cinema) program at this year’s Doha Film Festival, with three Saudi titles among the seven selected for the event running Nov. 19-27. The rest of the lineup comes from Oman, Kuwait, the UAE and Bahrain. The program showcases films that reflect the Gulf’s cultural heritage and its contemporary realities. Some follow characters who defy prevailing social expectations, while others draw on folklore, memory and tra

RIYADH: The fifth edition of the European Film Festival in Riyadh will feature 16 films from 16 European countries, the Delegation of the European Union to Saudi Arabia has announced. The event is being held in collaboration with the embassies of its member states and with the support of the Film Commission, reported the Saudi Press Agency. The festival will begin on Nov. 2, with public screenings running from Nov. 3-10. Building on the success of previous years, the program includes a diverse s

Avengers: Doomsday Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth Directors: Anthony and Joe Russo In cinemas: Dec. 16 Robert Downey Jr. returns to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but this time around he’s the villain — Doctor Doom — in this latest entry in MCU Phase Six (the increasingly convoluted multiverse phase). As the multiverse is collapsing, heroes from three different universes team up to face Doom’s “existential threat.” Those heroes include the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, th

DUBAI: Saudi DJ and producer Vinyl Mode, a pioneer of the ‘Hejazi House’ sound, is taking it south with his new single “Seedboya,” out Oct. 22, which sets the dialect of the Kingdom’s southwestern Jazan region to a house beat. “I don’t want to follow any trend. I want to make my own trend,” the artist, whose real name is Muhanned Nassar, tells Arab News. “I want to export my own language to the world.” Hejazi House pairs Chicago and Detroit house influences with the slang of Saudi Arabia’s west

Ivorian reggae musician Alpha Blondy used his concert platform to comment on the political situation in the Sahel, highlighting tensions between Ivory Coast and military-led governments in Africa.