long international comedy festival in Saudi Arabia begins in Abha from July 26. Organized by Rawad Media Production and Distribution, the festival will be held under the patronage of Prince Faisal Bin Khaled, Emir of Asir region. Mamdoh Salem, the Saudi film-maker and organizer of the festival, sounded upbeat. “I am sure people will enjoy this festival as a number of plays will be presented by famous Arab comedians. Cartoon films and a comedy competition will surely capture the hearts of the people,” he said. Salem said the comedy festival will be part of the 18 events during the Asir Summer Festival as announced by Prince Faisal Bin Khaled. These activities will definitely enhance domestic tourism in the region, he said. “The idea of the project is to focus on artistic, cultural, social and traditional events shown through comedy. We hope that this festival continues on an annual basis and becomes a cultural event and part of Abha region's cultural activities,” he said . “We will focus on all categories of the art of comedy and encourage young comic talents and build a bridge between social, cultural and traditional activities of Saudi Arabia and the world,” he explained. The artists who will be honored at the festival include Hassan Hosni and Mohamed Subhee from Egypt; Dread Laham, Ayman Zidan, Yasser Al-Uzmah and Sabah Al- Jazayri from Syria; Abdul Hussain Abdul Rida, Saad Al- Faraj, Mariam Saleh and Tariq Al-Alee from Kuwait and Abdullah Al-Sadhan, Nasser Al-Qasbi and Faiz Al-Maliki from Saudi Arabia. “Tahami Cool,” a special comedy play, starring Hassan Hosni, Abdullah Assiri, Ahmed Al-Hassan and Abdul Majeed Rahdi, will be performed at the festival for three days and a special theater evening for women only will be presented by Gulf artists Saad Ali and Memmi Jamal. There will also be special programs for children throughout the festival.
