London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Jan 09, 2026

Eminent British filmmakers unveil plan to share Saudi life with international audience

Eminent British filmmakers unveil plan to share Saudi life with international audience

Two eminent British female filmmakers - Georgina Paget and Thembisa Cochrane - unveil their ambitious plan to share Saudi life with international audience with undertaking joint projects.
Speaking to Saudi Gazette, they revealed that they will shoot their first Saudi joint venture film, written and directed by well-known Saudi woman director Ahd Kamel, in Jeddah in 2022.

“We are keen on exchanging our international experience with Saudi women. We are excited so much to see that Saudi Arabia is changing tremendously and we would like to be part of that monumental change with sharing stories and inspiring Saudi women,” they said.

Paget and Cochrane are producers of “The Colour Room,” a British drama film, which was screened at Red Sea Gala Theatre here on Sunday evening. Kerry Fox, main actress of the film, also accompanied them to attend the Red Sea International Film Festival.

Paget and Cochrane said the film is made by women. “We are the producers and its Script Writer Claire Peate and Director Claire McCarthy are also women, and the story is also about women. If women have dreams and they have the willingness to realize these dreams with actions with the support of other women and members of the society, they can achieve beautiful things for everybody,” they said.

The British producers said it is fabulous to see many young Saudis coming forward to filmmaking industry. “It is incredible to be in the middle of a Saudi audience who are laughing and crying as they are actively engaging with films. The young volunteers are also very helpful to all those coming from outside the Kingdom, with enthusiastically guiding us all around.”

They heaped praise on the young filmmakers from Saudi Arabia and other countries in the region for their passion in filmmaking industry. “It is wonderful to see many young women directors from the Kingdom and the Arab region as well. A lot of films about women from the region and the international scenes are being screened at the festival,” they said.

On her part, Ahd Kamel told Saudi Gazette that the new film “My driver and I” tells the story of unusual friendship that she had with her Sudanese driver and its impact on her life. Referring to the Saudi project, Paget and Cochrane said that they are going to make the film in Jeddah in 2022.

The film sheds light on a young woman growing up in Jeddah in 1980s and 90s and becoming an artist focusing a little bit on the life of the Director Kamel herself who wrote the script and becoming the director too. “In the process of making preparations for the shoot, we are learning more about Saudi society as it is complex like any other society with consisting of people of all kinds. We learn more about each other apart from sharing the Saudi life with the international audience too,” they said.

The Colour Room is a ceramicist biopic, which highlights the pivotal idea that the modern woman is forward-looking and not backward-looking. The film is inspired by the life of history-making British ceramicist Clarice Cliff.

The film, directed by Claire McCarthy from a screenplay by Claire Peate, highlights the women’s struggle to be heard within what is otherwise a feel-good story of talent triumphant. Bridgerton star Phoebe Dynevor plays Cliff, who rose to prominence in the 1920s by introducing modern designs and colors to the traditional English pottery industry.

Potteries employed many women in largely menial roles, but Cliff managed to impress so much one eccentric factory owner with her ingenuity that she was allowed to design her own range and eventually run her own studio.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
UK Prime Minister Starmer Reaffirms Support for Danish Sovereignty Over Greenland Amid U.S. Pressure
UK Support Bolsters U.S. Seizure of Russian-Flagged Tanker Marinera in Atlantic Strike on Sanctions Evasion
The Claim That Maduro’s Capture and Trial Violate International Law Is Either Legally Illiterate—or Deliberately Deceptive
UK Data Watchdog Probes Elon Musk’s X Over AI-Generated Grok Images Amid Surge in Non-Consensual Outputs
Prince Harry to Return to UK for Court Hearing Without Plans to Meet King Charles III
UK Confirms Support for US Seizure of Russian-Flagged Oil Tanker in North Atlantic
Béla Tarr, Visionary Hungarian Filmmaker, Dies at Seventy After Long Illness
UK and France Pledge Military Hubs Across Ukraine in Post-Ceasefire Security Plan
Prince Harry Poised to Regain UK Security Cover, Clearing Way for Family Visits
UK Junk Food Advertising Ban Faces Major Loophole Allowing Brand-Only Promotions
Maduro’s Arrest Without The Hague Tests International Law—and Trump’s Willingness to Break It
German Intelligence Secretly Intercepted Obama’s Air Force One Communications
The U.S. State Department’s account in Persian: “President Trump is a man of action. If you didn’t know it until now, now you do—do not play games with President Trump.”
Fake Mainstream Media Double Standard: Elon Musk Versus Mamdani
HSBC Leads 2026 Mortgage Rate Cuts as UK Lending Costs Ease
US Joint Chiefs Chairman Outlines How Operation Absolute Resolve Was Carried Out in Venezuela
Starmer Welcomes End of Maduro Era While Stressing International Law and UK Non-Involvement
Korean Beauty Turns Viral Skincare Into a Global Export Engine
UK Confirms Non-Involvement in U.S. Military Action Against Venezuela
UK Terror Watchdog Calls for Australian-Style Social Media Ban to Protect Teenagers
Iranian Protests Intensify as Another Revolutionary Guard Member Is Killed and Khamenei Blames the West
Delta Force Identified as Unit Behind U.S. Operation That Captured Venezuela’s President
Europe’s Luxury Sanctions Punish Russian Consumers While a Sanctions-Circumvention Industry Thrives
Berkshire’s Buffett-to-Abel Transition Tests Whether a One-Man Trust Model Can Survive as a System
Fraud in European Central Bank: Lagarde’s Hidden Pay Premium Exposes a Transparency Crisis at the European Central Bank
Trump Announces U.S. Large-Scale Strike on Venezuela, Declares President Maduro and Wife Captured
Tesla Loses EV Crown to China’s BYD After Annual Deliveries Decline in 2025
UK Manufacturing Growth Reaches 15-Month Peak as Output and Orders Improve in December
Beijing Threatened to Scrap UK–China Trade Talks After British Minister’s Taiwan Visit
Newly Released Files Reveal Tony Blair Pressured Officials Over Iraq Death Case Involving UK Soldiers
Top Stocks and Themes to Watch in 2026 as Markets Enter New Year with Fresh Momentum
No UK Curfew Ordered as Deepfake TikTok Falsely Attributes Decree to Prime Minister Starmer
Europe’s Largest Defence Groups Set to Return Nearly Five Billion Dollars to Shareholders in Twenty Twenty-Five
Abu Dhabi ‘Capital of Capital’: How Abu Dhabi Rose as a Sovereign Wealth Power
Diamonds Are Powering a New Quantum Revolution
Trump Threatens Strikes Against Iran if Nuclear Programme Is Restarted
Apple Escalates Legal Fight by Appealing £1.5 Billion UK Ruling Over App Store Fees
UK Debt Levels Sit Mid-Range Among Advanced Economies Despite Rising Pressures
UK Plans Royal Diplomacy with King Charles and Prince William to Reinvigorate Trade Talks with US
King Charles and Prince William Poised for Separate 2026 US Visits to Reinforce UK-US Trade and Diplomatic Ties
Apple Moves to Appeal UK Ruling Ordering £1.5 Billion in Customer Overcharge Damages
King Charles’s 2025 Christmas Message Tops UK Television Ratings on Christmas Day
The Battle Over the Internet Explodes: The United States Bars European Officials and Ignites a Diplomatic Crisis
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie Join Royal Family at Sandringham Christmas Service
Fine Wine Investors Find Little Cheer in Third Year of Falls
UK Mortgage Rates Edge Lower as Bank of England Base Rate Cut Filters Through Lending Market
U.S. Supermarket Gives Customers Free Groceries for Christmas After Computer Glitch
Air India ‘Finds’ a Plane That Vanished 13 Years Ago
Caviar and Foie Gras? China Is Becoming a Luxury Food Powerhouse
Hong Kong Climbs to Second Globally in 2025 Tourism Rankings Behind Bangkok
×