The Berlin Film Festival has unveiled the first titles selected for its Panorama section at the upcoming in-person edition that takes place February 16-26. (Scroll down for the full list)
30.11.2022 - 15:47 / deadline.com
Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea International Film Festival (December 1 to 10) kicks off its second edition in the port city of Jeddah this week.
The event unfolds five years to the week that news first broke that the country was lifting its 35-year cinema ban as part of a wider strategy to open up its society and the economy.
The 2021 inaugural edition unfolded amid uncertainty for both organizers and attendees. There were also a handful of last-minute glitches including the emergence of the more virulent Covid-19 Omicron strain and the no-show of figurehead artistic director Edouard Waintrop.
One of the biggest challenges was convincing film and media professionals from outside the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) to attend amid accusations that Saudi Arabia is using culture to deflect from its human rights abuses such as the murder of Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.
Most of those who did make the trip felt they had witnessed a moment in history as pioneering Saudi Arabian director Haifaa Al Mansour took to the stage to the sound of high-pitch approval from local women in the audience on the opening night.
A year on, there’s a sense the festival is charting different waters.
Some industry professionals continue to question the ethics of travelling to Saudi Arabia but judging by the roster of high-profile guests scheduled to attend Red Sea’s second edition, the mood is thawing, while the country’s film and TV industries continue to expand.
Deadline talked to Red Sea’s managing director Shivani Pandya, CEO Mohammed Al Turki and Jomana R. Al-Rashid, chairman umbrella body the Red Sea Foundation on the eve of the second edition
DEADLINE: How has the process of putting this edition together been different from launching the
The Berlin Film Festival has unveiled the first titles selected for its Panorama section at the upcoming in-person edition that takes place February 16-26. (Scroll down for the full list)
It’s 2002 and raining brains in Riyadh, at least from the gormless Nasser’s wonky perspective. Nasser’s doctor is firmly convinced he has a brain tumour, which is his explanation for the protracted hallucinations Nasser experiences and that he, Dr Ahmed, is all too ready to excise. Nasser isn’t so sure: his dreams, fantasies and visions are more fun than the rest of his life, yoked beneath the twin tyrannies of his fanatical father and his boss at the thinly patronized Dove Hotel. Why get rid of the good stuff? Especially once those visions start to include the mysterious young woman who arrived unannounced one day to ask for the key to room 227. She’s welcome to walk the corridors of his mind any old time.
Iraqi filmmaker Ahmed Yassin Al Daradji picked up the Golden Yusr for Best Feature Film at the Red Sea Film Festival with his debut feature Hanging Gardens.
Saudi Arabia’s Cultural Development Fund is poised to launch a new $233m ($879m Saudi Riyal) film industry financing program in the first quarter of 2023, which will be open to both local and international entities.
Writer and stand-up comedian Mo Amer was the latest Hollywood name to pass through Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea film festival Wednesday where he discussed his varied career as part of the festival’s ‘In Conversation’ series and the potential of a second season of his well-received Netflix comedy Mo.
Director, screenwriter and producer Fatih Akin passed through the Red Sea film festival Monday where he discussed his career and what he described as the unique experience of straddling Turkish and German culture in his films.
All eyes are on Saudi Arabia’s burgeoning film industry as the second edition of its Red Sea International Film Festival continues to unfold this week in the port city of Jeddah, running from December 1 to 10.
Saudi Arabia’s Film AlUla, the film agency of the Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU), has announced the start of construction of the first phase of its new ambitious studio complex.
As Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Festival kicks into gear in Jeddah, a parallel film program is underway 300 miles north in the small desert town of AlUla.
Spike Lee is at Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea International Film Festival in the port city of Jeddah this weekend to present a screening of his Oscar-nominated 1992 epic biopic Malcolm X and participate in an In-Conversation event.
Saudi Arabia’s emerging fashion design labels have been making their red carpet world premiere over the past few days at the Red Sea International Film Festival, running December 1-10 in the port city of Jeddah.
walked the red carpet for the Women in Cinema event at the Red Sea International Film Festival in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Dressed in head-to-toe red, Hale wore a pant set with cutouts down the arms and legs with sweet bow details.
Bollywood megastar Akshay Kumar revealed that he is making a feature on the theme of sex education that he hopes to release next spring during an In-Conversation event at Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea International Film Festival on Saturday.
Gurinder Chadha revealed in an In-Conversation at Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea International Film Festival on Saturday, that she had been approached about collaborating on a local version of her hit 2002 hit Bend It Like Beckham during her trip to the festival.