After a delay of more than a year, The Red Sea International Film Festival has finally found its place on 2021’s calendar.
The first edition of the fest will take place from 11 to 20 November in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Originally set to debut in March 2020, the festival was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The festival will be held under a theme of “Metamorphosis”, celebrating cinema as a force for positive change.
For the Kingdom, cinema has both been just that, as well as a symbol of the country’s move forward. Cinemas returned to Saudi in 2019, and with it the local film scene. The festival will explore that journey, as well as how the Kingdom can create an interface to connect a new, outward-looking Saudi.
In addition, the 10-day festival is set to look at how cinema has successfully adapted from analog to digital and to the new platforms delivering content, as well as focusing on the changing role of women in cinema.
The team behind the festival is made up of Saudi and international curators, film specialists, and industry veterans, including Managing Director Shivani Pandya and Director of Arab Programs & Film Classics Antoine Khalife, both formerly of the Dubai International Film Festival.
Film Critic Kaleem Aftab has also joined as Director of International Programming, bringing distinctive global cinema to Saudi across In Competition, Out-of-Competition, and thematic categories.
Jumana Zahid will lead the Red Sea Lodge, the Foundation’s incubator for Saudi and Arab filmmakers, now in its second edition. The Red Sea Souk, the Festival’s industry platform for distributors, sales agents, and producers is helmed by Zain Zedan, Industry/Souk Manager. Rounding out the team is by Ibrahim Modir, Head of Shared Services.
The team will attend the Berlin Film Festival which begins next week. More programming details are set to be revealed in the coming months.
In terms of location, the inaugural edition of the fest will take place in the UNESCO world heritage site of Jeddah Old Town on the Red Sea Coast, from which the festival gets its name.
International guests such as Spike Lee were announced for the original festival dates in 2020, but it remains to be seen how many will attend more than a year and a half later.
“The Festival provides a vital new platform to strengthen creative connections between Saudi and the world with a program of the best in global cinema, classic and contemporary Arab film, alongside professional and industry strands. Established in 2019, the Red Sea Film Festival Foundation celebrates excellence in film and fosters the resurgent creative energy of Saudi and Arab filmmakers. Through cinema screenings, masterclasses, workshops, exhibitions, and archiving projects, the Foundation cultivates talents from Saudi and across the Arab World. The annual Festival is for film lovers, filmmakers, and the global film industry and will be the largest annual celebration of cinema in the region,” said the Festival in a statement.
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