A popular star of Hindi films for a decade with over 80 million Instagram followers, Alia Bhatt, best known internationally for her 2022 double Gangubai Kathiawadi and RRR, has fast become one of India’s hottest exports.
30.11.2023 - 13:59 / variety.com
Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Though the Red Sea Film Festival will feature a slew of films from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region – including 11 feature films from Saudi Arabia – there is a rich roster of international fare set to launch locally from Jeddah. Kaleem Aftab, the festival’s director of international programming, says they received lots more submissions for this year’s third edition.
He is particularly proud of the presence in competition of Indian-born auteur Tarsem Singh’s romancer “Dear Jassi,” the first film set in India by the flamboyant director of “The Cell,” and of Japanese master Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Venice prizewinner “Evil Does Not Exist.” Peppered through various Red Sea sections are the MENA region premieres of other high-profile titles such as Sofia Coppola’s “Priscilla”; Belgian-based Moroccan duo Adil El Arbi & Bilall Fallah flashy third feature “Gangsta”; British director James Marsh’s biographical film about Irish playwright Samuel Beckett “Dance First”; Argentinian director Rodrigo Moreno’s existential heist movie “The Delinquents”; and the international outing of actor-turned director Jennifer Esposito’s drama “Fresh Kills,” about the women behind New York City mobsters in which she co-stars with Annabella Sciorra, among many other entries. Aftab spoke to Variety ahead of the fest about what he looks for in selecting movies for Saudi audiences.
Are you happy with your “catch” of titles at Red Sea? What we certainly found this year is we had a far higher number of films submitted and a higher caliber of directors that approached us wanting to be in competition. Having directors in competition like Tarsem Singh and Hamaguchi, which we saw early, before they
.A popular star of Hindi films for a decade with over 80 million Instagram followers, Alia Bhatt, best known internationally for her 2022 double Gangubai Kathiawadi and RRR, has fast become one of India’s hottest exports.
There were a bunch of Hollywood A-List stars in Saudi Arabia today for the closing night gala of the 2023 Red Sea International Film Festival!
The third annual Red Sea Film Festival handed out its Yusr Awards on Thursday night, with Zarrar Kahn’s In Flames taking Best Feature and Farah Nabulsi’s The Teacher scoring a pair of wins including Best Actor for Saleh Bakri. See the full list below.
Nick Holdsworth At the closing ceremony of the 3rd edition of the Red Sea Film Festival Thursday, which took place in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in front of an audience that included Hollywood stars Nicolas Cage, Gwyneth Paltrow, Halle Berry, Jason Statham and Adrien Brody, the Golden Yusr for best film and a $100,000 cash prize went to Pakistani-Canadian horror film “In Flames,” directed by Zarrar Kahn. The director said that the indie movie was shot for “just $300,000 — the size of a Red Sea Fund production grant.” He urged “everyone who gets a grant to go make a movie, because this was made for nothing.” The Silver Yusr prize for best feature film went to Tarsem Singh for “Dear Jassi.” The film, an India/Canada/U.S.
Andrew Garfield shared insights into his early days in Hollywood, experiences working on the Spider-Man franchise and thoughts about Red Sea International Festival Festival during his masterclass at the festival today.
MBC Studios is developing a series adaptation of popular Saudi writer Osamah Almuslim’s best-selling debut horror novel Khawf (Fear).
Saudi Arabia‘s Red Sea International Film Festival is midway through its third edition, running November 30 to December 9 in the palatial surroundings of the seafront Ritz Carlton in the port city of Jeddah.
John Bleasdale Guest Contributor Some of the most powerful figures in Saudi film gathered at the Ritz Carlton in Jeddah for a cocktail party hosted by Film AlUla and Stampede Ventures in partnership with Variety last night. Figures such as Saudi producer and film industry pioneer Faisal Baltyuor and Egyptian producer Mohamed Hefzy were spotted along with Zeinab Abu Alsamh, general manager of MBC Studios Saudi Arabia. Stampede Ventures head Greg Silverman was celebrating the $350 million three-year deal just signed with Film AlUla, which will bring 10 projects to the region.
Pan Middle East and North African film distributor Front Row Filmed Entertainment has promoted staffers Nicolas Torloting, Carine Chaiban and Elie Touma to partners.
Will Smith has revealed that the development of I Am Legend 2 is moving at pace, with both him and Michael B. Jordan on board and a first script delivered.
Rafa Sales Ross Guest Contributor It’s a busy year for the Red Sea Souk, the market arm of the Red Sea Film Festival dedicated to discovering new Arab and African talent. The same could have been said of every year of the market’s three-year history, however, with Saudi Arabia’s lightning-fast film industry solidifying the Souk as the principal film market for the Middle East and North Africa. The third edition of the Souk, taking place between Dec.
“The work that exhibitors have done in this market is nothing short of exceptional,” Luke Vetere, Managing Director of Majid Al Futtaim Distribution, one of the largest theatrical distributors in the MENA region, told a crowd of industry figures this morning at Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Festival.
Halle Berry and Gwyneth Paltrow are among the high-profile names that have been added to the popular ‘In-Conversation’ sidebar section at the third edition of Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Festival. Scroll down for the full list of attendees.
French director Maïwenn and Johnny Depp hit Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Festival on Friday for a special screening of period romance Jeanne du Barry followed by a Q&A.
The stars are stepping out for the 2023 Red Sea International Film Festival.
Rafa Sales Ross Guest Contributor The third edition of the Red Sea Film Festival, taking place in Jeddah between Nov. 30 – Dec. 9, will be the culmination of a highly successful funding cycle for the Red Sea Film Foundation.
Former Mister Smith sales executive Antone Saliba has launched management and production company Untamed Talent, with the backing of Dubai-based Front Row Productions.
The Match Factory has acquired international rights to the newly restored 4K version of Fatih Akin’s documentary Crossing The Bridge: The Sound Of Istanbul ahead of its retrospective screening at the Red Sea International Film Festival.
Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Festival launched its third edition on Thursday with a characteristically starry red carpet featuring the likes of Michelle Williams, Johnny Depp, Sharon Stone and Will Smith.
Leo Barraclough International Features Editor AGC Intl., the international sales and distribution arm of Stuart Ford’s fast-growing independent content studio AGC Studios, has picked up world rights from Image Nation Abu Dhabi, MBC Studios and VOX Studios on Yasir Al Yasiri‘s “HWJN,” and from O3 Medya and Dhafer L’Abidine’s Double A Productions on L’Abidine’s “To My Son.” Saudi fantasy romance ‘HWJN’ will open the Red Sea Film Festival on Nov. 30, while the emotional family drama “To My Son” will premiere in Red Sea’s Arab Spectacular section.