RIYADH — The Saudi Falcons Club (SFC) launched Monday the first screening of its first documentary film entitled "Wild Allies", which sheds light on the scenes of the King Abdulaziz Falconry Festival, at Fox Cinema in Riyadh.

The film, which was shown for the first time Monday in cinemas in Riyadh and Dubai, and will be on display starting Tuesday on National Geographic digital platforms. It shows the passion and dedication of more than 1,000 falconers from different countries, who raise and trained falcons to compete in the Mazayen and Melwah competitions at the King Abdulaziz Festival.

The CEO of the Saudi Falcons Club, Hossam Bin Abdul Mohsen Al-Hazimi, stressed that falcons are a long-standing heritage of the inhabitants of the Arabian Peninsula, and the film "Wild Allies" embodies this passion for falcons, as about 1,000 falconers gathered in November 2020 to compete in the largest festival in the world.

Al-Hazimi said the film’s production took about six months to appear in its final form, praising the support of the leadership and Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman, deputy prime minister and minister of defense, general supervisor of SFC, and the follow-up of Prince Abdulaziz Bin Saud Bin Naif, minister of interior and chairman of the board of directors of SFC, where the club’s activities and events came to meet the passion of falconers and enthusiasts of falcon care and breeding.

He added that the film would document the events of a festival, which managed to record a distinguished presence on the map of falcon festivals, after setting a world record in the Guinness World Records twice in a row as the largest falcon race around the world. — SPA