The Red Sea International Film Festival (Red Sea IFF), in partnership with VOX Cinemas and the MBC GROUP, has unveiled the program for its second edition, which will run from 1-10 December in Jeddah, nestled on the eastern shore of the Red Sea. The Festival will welcome filmmakers, talent, media, industry professionals, and film fans for a 10-day celebration of global cinema.
The Red Sea IFF is thrilled to announce the opening night gala, What's Love Got to Do with It? directed by Shekhar Kapur (Elizabeth, Bandit Queen), written by Jemima Khan and produced by STUDIOCANAL and Working Title. The film stars Lily James, Shazad Latif, Shabana Azmi, Sajal Aly, Asim Chaudhry and Academy Award winner Emma Thompson. Sliding between London and Lahore, love and friendship, tradition and iconoclasm, What's Love Got to Do with It? is a cross-cultural British romantic comedy that follows a filmmaker who decides to document her best friend's journey towards an arranged marriage. Ivor Novello Lifetime Achievement Award-winning composer Nitin Sawhney CBE has created the music for the film, with British-Pakistani record producer, DJ, songwriter, and musician Naughty Boy and three-time BRIT Award and Mercury Prize nominee, Joy Crookes collaborating on the soundtrack.
The Festival's Closing Film is the world premiere of Valley Road from award-winning Saudi writer and director Khaled Fahd, starring Hamad Farhan, Naif Khalaf, and Aseel Omran. An uplifting and enchanting feature that follows Ali who is perceived by his family and the people of the beautiful Saudi Arabian mountain village where he lives, Alwadi, as having a disability. Only his older sister Siham recognizes that his difference is part of him. The film beautifully explores human values and encounters that can forge a personality and invites us to take a better look at the fragile people around us.
The program will feature 131 feature films and shorts from 61 countries in 41 languages from both established and emerging talent and will host 34 World Premieres, 17 Arab Premieres and 47 MENA Premieres, with a number of filmmakers and actors in attendance for many of the films. With more films expected to be added in the coming weeks. Legendary filmmaker Oliver Stone has been chosen to lead the jury of the Red Sea: Features Competition Jury.
The Red Sea: Competition will showcase the highest creative achievements from filmmakers in its Red Sea Feature and Shorts Competition sections. The line-up of 26 shorts and 15 features showcases an incredible array of talent across both the Arab, African and Asian world, showcasing some of the most exciting, unique and impressive work produced in the past year. Winners in each competition will be selected by esteemed juries and announced on 8 December.
Mohammed Al Turki, CEO of the RedSeaIFF added: “The Red Sea International Film Festival is cementing its position as a unique and powerful platform for celebrating film, connecting cultures, and expanding our horizons. FILM IS EVERYTHING encapsulates the festival this year, a bold, cinematic, progressive, and cultural ten-day event for film lovers, storytellers, talent and industry professionals from around the globe. Our programmers have curated the best of Arab and international cinema, talent led galas of some of the most anticipated films of the year, and an exceptional selection from astonishing new Saudi talents who are paving the way in our country's flourishing industry. We are so grateful to the loyal support of our sponsors and the incredible dedication of our talented RSIFF team, and we are excited to welcome everyone to Jeddah for our highly-anticipated second edition.”
The line-up includes:
World premiering as a Gala screening is Saudi director Fahad Alammari's Alkhallat+. From the creators of the generation-defining digital series “AlKhallat”, which amassed over 1.5 billion views during its 22-episode run, it is an anthology film of social deception and trickery in four unlikely places. Award-winning Lebanese director Lara Saba brings audiences the world premiere of All Roads Lead to Rome, a romantic comedy in the unlikely setting of a convent. Broker, is a South Korean drama directed and written by Hirokazu Kore-eda is inspired by the local baby box phenomenon. The Banshees of Inisherin, a dark comedy-drama and one of the best reviewed films of the year from director and writer Martin McDonagh (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri). Park Chan-Wook won best director honors for his Hitchcockian thriller for Decision to Leave at the Cannes Film Festival this year. Decision to Leave, is a beautifully constructed mystery thriller involving a detective (Park Hae-il) who finds himself too attached to a very complex criminal case that he is investigating. While delving deep into the murder investigation and chasing down leads, he finds himself being bombarded by all sorts of conflicts when he falls in love with the prime suspect (Tang Wei). Set in an English seaside town in the early 1980s, Empire of Light is a powerful and poignant story about human connection and the magic of cinema, directed and written by Academy Award®-winning director Sam Mendes. How I Got There is a co-production between Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, and a labor of love from award-winning director Zeyad Alhusaini who spent 15 years crafting this dramatic action film, the first of its kind to be set in the Gulf. From Egyptian director, writer and producer John Ikram Sawers comes Kamla, the story of the title character who is deeply committed to her work as a psychiatrist. Queens, the uplifting feature debut from Moroccan filmmaker Yasmine Benkiran starring Nisrin Erradi, Nisrine Benchara, and Rayhan Guaran impressed audiences and critics at the Venice Film Festival earlier this year. Prolific Moroccan directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah's latest film Rebel is an immensely powerful, personal, and nuanced portrayal of a family torn apart over a little Muslim boy's future. In Ruben Östlund's wickedly funny Palme d'Or winner Triangle of Sadness, social hierarchy is turned upside down, revealing the tawdry relationship between power and beauty.
Taking place on December 7-8, as part of the Red Sea Souk activities, Talent Days is a series of sessions designed to nurture a new generation of filmmakers. It is an initiation into the cinema industry for aspiring filmmakers through inspirational talks and individual meetings. Acclaimed director Kaouther Ben Hania will lead the second edition of Talent Days and will be joined by creatives from around the world, including Rania Attieh, Raed El Mansari, Hakim Mao, Kathia Bayer and Jonathan Goldman who will be mentoring to support the professional development of talent.
