Earlier this year, Netflix released Because She Created, a curated collection of 21 Arab movies from Saudi Arabia, Algeria, and Egypt. Today, the streaming giant is releasing  New Saudi Voices, a collection of short films of up-and-coming Saudi filmmakers. The collection includes various genres, such as horror, fantasy, and animation. 

The 11 movies are a part of the New Saudi/New Cinema Shorts program that was presented at the Red Sea Film Festival last year.

The movies include Rami Alzayer’s The Day I Lost Myself, which examines how a young man with anxiety ends up trapped in an elevator on his way to an interview; Mohamed Basalamah’s Hallucinated tells the story of a delivery worker who experiences worsening insomnia until the line between reality and hallucinations blurs.

Arufea, a documentary by Abbas Alshuwayfie, provides a glimpse into a bygone Saudi neighborhood, while Covida the 19th, a film by Omar Al-Omirat, examines post-pandemic lifestyle changes.

Raghad Albarqi’s Whisper Down the Lane, Abdulaziz Saleh’s The Jakar, Hala Alhaid’s The Palm Witch, Mohammad Helal’s Hide and Seek, Abdulaziz Sarhan’s Red Circle, and Khalid Fahad’s Little Bird are among the other animated shorts in the collection.

“We’re very excited to amplify the voices of up-and-coming filmmakers in Saudi Arabia through this collection. There’s incredible talent in the Kingdom, and they have unique stories to tell. We hope that as people tune into the films, they learn more about these creators, and catch a glimpse of their passion, originality, and creativity, as we have,” said Nuha El-Tayeb, director of Content Acquisitions, Netflix, MENA and Turkey.

The streaming giant also collaborated with Haifaa Al-Mansour on Wadjda, the first feature film directed by a woman in Saudi Arabia, and writer and director Hana Al-Omair on Whispers, an eight-part psychological thriller.