“There’s a story that’s been told in Saudi Arabia for years. Long ago, the tale goes, a young tobacco merchant travelling through the desert alone was ambushed by a band of thieves. Robbed of his camel, his food and any means of protecting himself, he set off alone, struggling to survive. And when things seemed as if they couldn’t get any more desperate, he realised he was being pursued by a wolf.

That is the legend that inspired Within Sand, the first Saudi film shot entirely in Neom, directed by young Saudi filmmaker Moe Alatawi. Although it has its debut in cinemas on February 15 after its UAE premiere at Al Ain Film Festival this week, the wide release is a long time coming. The film was an award winner at the Red Sea International Film Festival in 2022, receiving the jury prize in Jeddah in the same year box-office hits such as Saudi’s Sattar and Kuwait’s How I Got There were first screened.”