RIYADH: Saudi culture has always been rooted in poetry, from the compilation “Mu’allaqat” to the romantic odes of the ghazal. The country has been making significant strides in recognizing this heritage, most notably by dedicating 2023 as the “Year of Arabic Poetry,” and it now seems to have attracted international interest. TaleFlick, a leading platform for curating stories from around the world, has announced its latest initiative aimed at welcoming poems from the Kingdom in a bid to showcase the country’s rich and significant cultural tapestry, ultimately bridging between Saudi literature and Hollywood.
Uri Singer, Hollywood producer and CEO of TaleFlick, told Arab News: “We are accepting poems from around the world, but we have our emphasis to start with Saudi because it’s raw. Nobody tapped into it from Hollywood. As a producer, (intellectual property) is king.
“I think our job and our destiny is to bring good stories that can come from any idea around the world ...
There’s some very great potential and huge investment that opens the door for local stories, so I think poems (are) the right IP to look for in stories from Saudi (Arabia).” While the platform opened its doors to Arabic content last year, its expansion from novels, short stories, and scripts to include poetry aims “to honor and elevate this beautiful art form, providing a platform to transform these stories into powerful visual narratives” a statement read. The submitted poems will b.