The Red Sea International Film Festival promises to be one of the biggest film events in Saudi Arabia. Taking place in Jeddah’s UNESCO World Heritage Site old-town, Al Balad, it will bring together local and international filmmakers across December 6-15, and gives visitors the chance to watch 138 original films from 67 countries.
The festival kicks off with Cyrano, a musical romantic drama directed by award-winning British director Joe Wright. Given that his CV includes directing Atonement, Pride and Prejudice and The Darkest Hour, this is set to be a film fit for the awards season.
The script is written by Erica Schmidt and is based on Schmidt’s 2018 stage musical of the same name. The film stars Game of Thrones star Peter Dinklage, Hayley Bennett, Kelvin Harrison Jr. and Ben Mendelsohn.
The inaugural edition will close with the world premiere of Bara El Manhag, which is made by a filmmaker closer to home: the Egyptian director Amr Salama. The light-hearted drama features performances from Maged El-Kidwani, Omar Chareef, Rubi and Deena Maher.
Mohammed Al-Turki, RedSeaIFF’s chairman of the committee says, “This is truly a landmark moment as we launch our first international Film Festival to celebrate original cinematic voices and showcase an extensive selection of films from around the world to local, regional and international audiences.
“The Festival will also serve as a launchpad for young Saudi and Arab talent, support the development of our flourishing industry, introduce international festival guests to our vibrant creative scene and bring together the global film industry to network, share knowledge and forge partnerships. We look forward to welcoming everyone to Jeddah for a packed programme of screenings, events and much more.”
We are especially excited that new Saudi films will be shown alongside new international films. In total, there will be an impressive 27 new films from Saudi filmmakers, which includes features and shorts, which explore big themes in Saudi society.
Looking for movie inspiration? Here are four films showing in cinemas this November.
The festival will also be celebrating females and will honour two incredible women in film: Haifaa Al-Mansour and Laila Eloui. Al-Mansour is the first Saudi female filmmaker, she has helped boost the women’s empowerment movement across the region and is best known for her award-winning feature debut, Wadjda. Eloui is one of Egypt’s most famous actresses, as she has starred in more than 70 films including I Love Cinema.
Edouard Waintrop, artistic director of the RedSeaIFF, adds, “We are delighted to announce the incredible slate of films being presented at the inaugural edition of the festival. To be able to start so strongly, with such a wide array of incredible storytelling from both the Arab world and further afield, is significant and speaks to the promising future of this festival, both this year and beyond.”
Jeddah will be rolling out the red carpet, as there’ll be filmmakers and actors in attendance. Plus, over the course of ten days, the programme will feature 25 world premieres, 48 Arab premieres and 17 GCC premieres. That’s a whole lot of movies.
December 6-15. redseafilmfest.com/en
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