Acclaimed Saudi producer Faisal Baltyuor has been appointed CEO of the Red Sea Film Foundation and will take up the role on June 1.
Baltyuor, the founder of leading distributor CineWaves Films and widely considered an industry pioneer in Saudi, will take over from acting Red Sea FF CEO Mohammed Asseri.
The foundation runs the Red Sea International Film Festival and its funding programmes have supported more than 250 projects from Saudi, MENA and Africa and Asia. Its former CEO, Mohammed Al-Turki, stepped down last June.
Faisal is a leading figure in the Saudi film industry, holding posts as the first head of Ithra Cinema and as the first CEO of the Saudi Film Council, before founding and running Saudi distributor CineWaves Films as well as holding the post of CEO at Muvi Studios. He recently opened Riyadh’s first arthouse cinema, Cinehouse, a milestone in a country where cinemas reopened in 2018 after nearly four decades of closures.
A producer for more than 20 years, Faisal executive produced The Perfect Candidate, which was selected for Venice in 2019, and Saudi box office phenomenon Sattar. He was also a producer on Saudi Netflix feature From the Ashes, and co-produced Mohamed Kordofani’s Goodbye Julia, which became the first Sudanese feature to ever play Cannes, where it screened in Un Certain Regard in 2023 and won the Freedom Prize.
Speaking on Baltyuor’s appointment, Red Sea FF chairwoman Jomana Al-Rashid said: “His visionary leadership and unwavering commitment to unlocking the boundless potential of emerging talent will fuel not only artistic excellence but also the sustainable growth of our industry.”
Baltyuor said he was “committed to building on the success” of the foundation. “Through our diverse programmes, we will continue to support a thriving film industry both locally and internationally, in line with the ambitions of Vision 2030, which places the creative sector at the heart of national development.”
The next edition of Red Sea International Film Festival is set to run from December 4-13 in Jeddah.
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