City Jeddah Showbiz Latest News and Updates

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.

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.

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.

Stuart Ford’s AGC International has picked up world rights to two Arab-produced titles, HWJN by Yasir Al-Yasiri and To My Son byDhafer L’abidine, ahead of their debuts at Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Festival. 

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Festival stands as testimony to the kingdom’s unwavering drive to become a film and TV industry powerhouse amid regional conflicts, political turbulence and societal changes. The Israel-Hamas war caused cancellations of several movie celebrations across the Arab world, including the Cairo Film Festival and Tunisia’s Carthage Film Days.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Diane Kruger, Bollywood star Ranveer Singh and Saudi actor-writer Abdullah Al-Sadhan are set to receive career honors at Saudi Arabia’s upcoming Red Sea International Film Festival, which has also announced its full jury roster. Joining Baz Luhrmann, who is presiding over the main Red Sea jury, are Swedish-American actor Joel Kinnaman (“Suicide Squad”); Freida Pinto (“Slumdog Millionaire”); Egyptian actor Amina Khalil; (“Grand Hotel”) and Spain’s Paz Vega (“Sex and Lucía,” “The OA”).

Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea International Film Festival has unveiled the juries and honorees of its third edition which kicks off on Thursday in the port city of Jeddah.

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Garry Keane and Stephen Gerard Kelly’s documentary In The Shadow Of Beirut, which is Ireland’s Oscar category this year, is headed to the Red Sea International Film Festival, running November 30 to December 9 in the Red Sea port of Jeddah.

Michael Mann’s high octane biopic Ferrari has been announced as the closing picture of Saudi Arabia’s third Red Sea International Film Festival, running November 30 to December 9 in the port city of Jeddah.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Dubai-based Iraqi director Yasir Al-Yasiri’s “HWJN” has been chosen as the opening film of Saudi Arabia’s upcoming Red Sea International Film Festival. The fest’s third edition is set to run Nov. 30-Dec.

Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea International Film Festival will open its third edition, running from November 30 to December 9, with local movie HWJN, a fantasy romance combining Arabian folklore with modern themes that unfolds against the backdrop of the event’s home of Jeddah.

Anna Kendrick’s directorial debut Woman Of The Hour and family drama Mother Couch, starring Ewan McGregor and Ellen Burstyn, are headed to the third edition of Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea International Film Festival, running from November 30 to December 9 in the port city of Jeddah.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Festival has revealed details of the Red Sea Souk, the fest’s industry market that will offer meeting and networking opportunities revolving around new Arab and African product. The Souk will take place Dec. 2-5 alongside the Nov.

New Riyadh-based acquisition and distribution company TwentyOne Entertainment has announced its launch at upcoming the Red Sea International Film Festival, which is due to unfold in the port city of in Jeddah from November 30 to December 9.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Festival has announced the bulk of its lineup from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), signaling that the event is forging ahead with its third edition despite the Israel-Hamas war that has caused cancellations of several movie celebrations across the Arab world. The fest’s third edition, set to run Nov.

Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea International Film Festival has unveiled it 2023 line-up and theme as it maintains its third edition against the backdrop of the escalating Israel-Gaza Conflict. (scroll down for full list)

In a country where women’s freedoms have historically been marginalized (a nationwide ban on female drivers was only lifted five years ago), new MBC Studios boss Christina Wayne is determined to seek out the strongest female creative voices Saudi Arabia has to offer.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Baz Luhrmann is set to preside over the main jury of the third edition of Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea International Film Festival. The event, which is rapidly becoming the top fest and market in the region and a key driver in Saudi Arabia’s ongoing effort to build a film and TV industry, will run Nov.

EXCLUSIVE: Saudi Arabia’s Red Rea Film Foundation has announced it is investing in Johnny Depp’s Modi, Michael Mann’s Venice title Ferrari and Guy Ritchie’s World War Two spy action feature The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare.

EXCLUSIVE: Uri Singer’s Passage Pictures has announced new feature Sands of Fortune, delving into the story behind the discovery of oil in Saudi Arabia and the birth of the country’s petroleum and natural gas giant Aramco.

‘Top Boy’: Final Season Trailer Drops

French pay-TV giant Canal+ has acquired French and African rights for the Saudi Pro League for the coming two seasons.

A wanted businessman was left 'speechless' as he landed at Manchester Airport to find police waiting to arrest him. Anas Bahbaishi flew out to Saudi Arabia from Heathrow four days before he had been due to appear at Nottingham Magistrates Court on May 10.

Ben Croll An evangelist for the premium format, France’s CGR Cinemas has forged a growing number of international partnerships since the exhibition chain began exporting its proprietary Immersive Cinema Experience (ICE) model in 2017. At the start of this year, CGR – through its export arm ICE Theaters – had already opened premium rooms in Barcelona, Los Angeles, New Dehli and Jeddah, among others; by December, the premium format will win over new converts in Colombia, Ecuador, Thailand and Estonia, with even more to come. As part of its strategy, ICE Theaters teams with local distributors and top exhibition chains, lending “legitimacy” to a still-young brand, designed in-house, that outfits a row of LED panels on both sides of an auditorium and fills them with bespoke visuals extending the action onscreen (“It’s like surround sound but for light,” is how an ICE exec describes it).

Ben Croll An irreverent fable that imagines a civilization’s rise, fracture and fall, Pedro Harres’ “From the Main Square” took top honors at the NewImages Festival on Friday, claiming the festival’s Grand Prize, which came with €6,000 ($6,597) in prize money. Born in Brazil and based in Berlin, Harres channeled his frustrations and heartache about his native country into a tragicomic frenzy, orchestrating a 360-degree symphony of animated antics, human folly, and shocking bursts of violence that follows an allegorical country as it speed-runs toward oblivion. The filmmaker described the project as “a collage of urban absurdities, sometimes funny, sometimes brutal, that arise in societies in the process of political polarization and environmental collapse.”

Saudi Cultural Development Fund (CDF) has officially launched its Film Sector Financing Program (FSFP) offering financial support to local and international film companies that want to get involved in the country’s burgeoning cinema industry.

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Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Hams Fekri, a 29-year-old Saudi wedding singer from Jeddah, has been crowned the winner of the first season of “Saudi Idol” during a moving live finale from The Boulevard Riyadh City recreational complex. The golden-throated Fekri was exultant after battling it out in front of a live studio audience and panel of judges for 13 weeks. She emerged victorious out of three finalists to win most audience votes for the night. Fekri’s mother — who achieved success as a pop singer during the 1980s, but subsequently faded into obscurity — hugged her daughter on stage.  In addition to being named the very first “Saudi Idol,” Fekri also won a recording contract with MBC Group’s Platinum Records label which involves the release of a full studio album in the coming months.

Cristiano Ronaldo has taken to social media in the aftermath of Al-Nassr losing to Saudi Pro League title rivals Al-Ittihad to post a series of workout photos captioned with a cryptic message.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Saudi Arabia’s Film AlUla, the entity looking to attract international productions to a sprawling area of desert and giant boulders that boasts an ancient city, is forging fashion world ties. The film commission for the swathe of northwest Saudi Arabia roughly the size of Belgium that also comprises a lush oasis and vast sandstone canyons, is launching an initiative called AlUla Creates involving use of an eco-friendly studio and the possibility of tapping into development funds for projects by female directors at the intersection of film and fashion. AlUla Creates has partnered with the British Fashion Council and with Saudi actress Mia Al Zahrani (“The Perfect Candidate”); British filmmaker and creative director Alec Maxwell – founder of digital platform Kloss Films whose clients include Bulgari, Stella McCartney, and Carolina Herrera –; and fashion models Helena Christensen and Eva Herzigova as “ambassadors” to promote the platform, according to a statement.

Cristiano Ronaldo and Al-Nassr will be out to extract revenge this week when being reacquainted with fellow Saudi Pro League title contenders Al-Ittihad.

Saudi Arabian family comedy Sattar, set against the world of freestyle wrestling, has continued its record-breaking run at home to become one of the country’s top five highest-grossing local movies ever.

Travel blog by Travels of Adam (Hipster Blog) – Travels of Adam (Hipster Blog) - Travel & Lifestyle Hipster Blog Saudi’s gateway to commerce, art and pilgrimages is the most acclaimed city of Jeddah. This seaport hub is the brainchild of the Kingdom’s efforts to reinvest and proclaim art as its national language. Over the past few years, the cultural reformations made by the Ministry of Culture to promote the art of many forms have been a successful welcome among the residents and tourists.

Naman Ramachandran The Backstreet Boys, who have a massive fan base in India, will be returning to the country after 13 years for two concerts. The band’s world tour began after the release of chart topping 2019 album “DNA,” featuring the hit “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart.” BookMyShow and Live Nation are bringing the tour to India. The band will play at Jio World Gardens, Mumbai on May 4 and Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, New Delhi on May 5. Prior to that the Backstreet Boys have performances lined up in Perth, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Auckland, Hong Kong, Reykjavik and Cairo. After India, the tour carries on in Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Jeddah, Tel Aviv, Cape Town and Pretoria.

Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Fund has unveiled its latest round of feature film grantees from the Arab world and Africa.