Jeddah: The second Red Sea International Film Festival has started in Jeddah. International movie stars and filmmakers from different countries are participating in the fair. Running until December 10 with the slogan ‘Cinema is Everything’, the festival will screen 131 feature films and shorts from the best of Arab and world cinema in 41 languages from 61 countries. Of these, seven feature films and 24 shorts are from Saudi Arabia. There are 34 international premieres, 17 Arab premieres and 47 other films from the Middle East and North Africa.
Film Festival CEO Mohammad Alturki
Directed by Shekhar Kapur, What’s Love Got to Do With It? This year’s opening film at the festival was the British cross-cultural romantic comedy. The film, which won the best comedy award at the Rome Film Festival last month, stars Lily James, Emma Thompson, Shazad Latif, Rob Brydon, Shabana Azmi, Sajal Ali and Asim Chaudhary. Bollywood’s all-time romantic film ‘Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge’ directed by Aditya Chopra and starring Shahrukh Khan and Kajal was screened at the outdoor free venue Red Sea Corniche on the opening day of the festival.
The festival also hosts a competition for the ‘Yusr Awards’, which will find a selection of 26 shorts and 16 features from Asia, Africa and Arab countries in several categories including Best Feature Film, Best Director, Best Screenwriter, Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Screenplay. The famous US filmmaker Oliver Stone is the head of the award jury this year. The winners of the competition will be announced on December 8. The best future film that wins the Golden Usr Award will receive a cash prize of one lakh dollars.
The Saudi Film Commission has selected ‘Rawan Song’ as the Saudi entry for the Oscars in the Best International Feature Film category. It will have its world premiere at the film festival on December 3. The last film to be screened at the fair is a homebred film called ‘Valley Road’ which was released from Saudi Arabia with Saudi actors, director and writer. Many film stars and actors from different countries are felicitated in the festival. Famous Bollywood actor Shahrukh Khan from India is also among those who are honoured. Other Hindi stars like Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Deepika Padukone and others are also participating in the event.
Several events, masterclasses, workshops, competitions offering funding awards, filmmaking masterclasses, and a virtual reality competition are held as part of the fair to connect Arab filmmakers and professionals with filmmakers from around the world and support emerging talent. The Red Sea Souk Plat, with events designed to promote deals for co-productions and international distribution, and foster new business opportunities, and Red Sea Labs, an educational program to support and assist the growing local film industry, are part of the festival. Delegates from 46 countries will attend the Red Sea Souk, which will be held from December 3 to 6.
‘Saudi cinema is on the rise’
Jeddah: Closing the film festival with a Saudi film is a proud moment for us, said Mohammed Alturki, CEO of Red Sea International Film Festival. This is a clear indicator of where Saudi cinema has come. Accepting a Saudi film at the Red Sea International Film Festival means that it is of the quality it would be screened at an international festival. This is proof that Saudi cinema is on the rise. In the five years since the decades-long ban on cinema was lifted, the popularity of cinema has soared in the country. They have surpassed all neighboring countries in terms of box office tickets. He is confident that in the next few years there will be Saudi films on a global scale. Alturki also said that he hopes to start the film festival with a Saudi film in the coming years.