“Black Swan” director Darren Aronofsky landed at the Red Sea Film Festival in a situation fitting to an Aronofsky film: the whole of Jeddah suddenly in a panic when rain began falling from the sky. “Thanks for coming out in the middle of this national tragedy of a rainstorm,” he jokingly told the scattered audience who managed to bypass cancelled rides and blocked entrances to get to his festival talk. “You’ve got to get better sewers!”

The director briefly commented on the deal taking over industry news over the last few days, Netflix agreeing to buy Warner Bros. , including its film and TV studios, its gaming business, HBO Max and HBO, with Paramount recently launching a hostile takeover bid.

“I have not digested it yet,” he said. “It’s such brand new news. My sense is it’s not

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