Variety reports that the Saudi Arabia General Entertainment Authority (also known as the GEA) has announced Big Time Investment, which is a new film fund that hopes to boost the output and quality of Arabic film production. The first film in the slate is El Set, a biopic about Umm Kulthum, one of Egypt’s most acclaimed singers. 

El Set is set to be directed by Marwan Hamad, who recently directed the hit film Kira and El Gen, which told the story of Egyptian resistance to British Occupation. Egyptian actress Mona Zaki is set to play Kulthum, who is famous for being the first major Arab singer to release her work to the masses through methods such as the radio, film, and television in the late 1920s.

The Big Time Investment fund was announced by General Entertainment Authority chairman Turki Alalshikh in Cairo recently. The GEA will be the primary backer behind the $130 million fund along with the Ministry of Culture, and smaller Saudi companies including Sela Studio, SMC Company, Rotana Audio Visual Co., and the Benchmark Company.

The Big Time fund hopes to finance and produce about twenty Arabic films each year. It follows a recent pattern of Arabic art investment including Saudi Arabia’s new Red Sea Fund, which also aims to promote the creation of Arabic films.