Younger audiences are being lured back to the big screen in markets all over the world, said industry executives at a Venice Film Festival roundtable, hosted by Screen International and sponsored by the Saudi Film Commission (SFC).

Despite widespread fears that younger audiences have turned their back on cinema since the pandemic, panellists at the “Young Audience & Cinema” roundtable provided reasons for optimism.

Mashary Al Khayyat, general manager of strategy, regulations and policy at the SFC, pointed squarely at the demographics in emerging markets, noting that 60% of the Saudi population is 30 or younger. Comscore data compiled for the roundtable gave the average Saudi age as 26.6.

Nigeria, which has a population of just under 240 million, slants even younger, with an average age

See Full Page