Reshaping Perceptions of Saudi Arabia - a Kindgdom in Transition

Challenge

Saudi Arabia is changing – much of it driven by the strategic investments of the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF). They wanted to communicate the shift away from oil toward diversification, infrastructure projects, rich culture and innovation - not through a traditional campaign but through a more authentic approach. The goal was to cut through to international audiences – with a view to attracting global investment and showing a more modern and approachable side of a country in transformation.

Solution

So I conceived, wrote and directed a 30-minute documentary film for Al Arabiya, rooted in observation, extraordinary access and top flight storytelling.

I spent five weeks travelling across the Kingdom, meeting Government Ministers, CEO’s of some of the world’s biggest businesses and filming with communities, industries and institutions to capture the Kingdom in motion as it country actively reshaped itself.

The approach deliberately balanced the macro and the micro - from mega-projects and national infrastructure to intimate portraits of everyday life and tradition

One of the most powerful sequences came unplanned. We stopped our convoy deep in the Empty Quarter when we saw thousands of camels appear over the horizon and asked the camel herders for permission to film with them. Within minutes, carpets were laid, a fire lit, tea poured and we spent hours listening to their stories about survival and transformation.

The film tackled complexity head-on, including the immense logistics around the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, revealing the organisational, technological and human challenges of supporting one of the largest annual movements of people on Earth.

Impact

Initially broadcast on channel Al Arabiya, the film reached a pan-regional and international audience. It was then used by PIF at major global expos as a cornerstone piece to frame Saudi Arabia’s diversification narrative.

The film helped to repositioned the conversation about the Kingdom at a critical time in its development, enabling audiences to better understand the scale, complexity and ambition behind its economic and social transformation.