Saudi Arabia has sharply increased the cash rebate offered to international film productions shooting in the Kingdom, raising the topline figure to as much as 60 percent of eligible local spending, the Saudi Film Commission announced Friday at the Cannes Film Festival. The new scheme makes Saudi Arabia’s incentives among the most generous in the world.
The revised incentive program, unveiled by commission CEO Abdullah bin Nasser Al-Qahtani during the Marché du Film, also introduces faster disbursement processes and a new package of financing solutions developed in partnership with the Cultural Development Fund, the state-backed agency that channels capital into Saudi cultural projects. The commission framed the changes as part of an effort to streamline the operating environment for production companies and improve cash-flow predictability across the shooting cycle — moves that address early gripes some global producers had voiced about the Kingdom’s nascent film support programs.
The renewed film push comes amid a difficult time for the Saudi tourism and hospitality sector. The 2026 war between the U.S./Israel and Iran, which broke out in late February, has battered air travel and inbound tourism across the Gulf. Saudi Arabia, which had been growing inbound tourism faster than any of its neighbors since opening to tourist visitors in 2019, has been among the most exposed to the slowdown.
