Lights, camera, action!
The Red Sea International Film Festival is less than a month away and the excitement has been ramped up to eleven with the announcement of Spike Lee as a jury head.
The African-American director is known for wearing multiple hats including that of writer, producer, and actor.
The auteur is a five-time nominee and one-time Oscar award winner and is set to preside over the Red Sea: Features Competition jury.
The festival will also bring some other big names in the international film industry the same way it did last year with everybody’s favorite fictional pirate, Johnny Deep.
This year, the festival will not only have multiple gala nights for the first-ever screenings of much-awaited projects, but will also be honoring Viola Davis.
That’s right, four-time Oscar nominee and one-time winner Viola Davis will be present at the cinephile event this year.
In addition to being honored, she will also host a master class about her career.
Viola Davis and Spike Lee at the Red Sea International Film Festival
The Red Sea film Festival is gearing up for a mighty return. The fourth edition of the festival will see documentaries, feature length films, biopics, and even kid-friendly screenings all under a brand-new theme, the new home of film.
Submissions from across the globe have been sent in and now the festival is set to bring different voices and perspectives to life with three galas and a 16-way film competition.
Last year the festival honored Bollywood star Alia Bhatt and this year it will be honoring Hollywood powerhouse Viola David and once-in-a-generation Egyptian talent Mona Zaki. Spike Lee will be present a jury head for the features competition.
Red Sea International Film Festival location
The festival will be moving back to its original location this year in historic Al Balad which is a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Red Sea International Film Festival dates
Get ready to enjoy nine days of cinema as the event runs from Thursday, December 5 to Saturday, December 14.
Red Sea International Film Festival tickets
There is no special ticket that will cover all nine days of the event but you can choose the screenings you wish to attend on redseafilmfest.com.
Red Sea International Film Festival events
Red Sea Film Festival Competition
Superboys of Malegaon, Reema Kagti (India)
Hanami, Denise Fernandes (Switzerland, Portugal, Cape Verde)
To a Land Unknown, Mahdi Fleifel (Greece-Denmark-U K -Netherlands)
Moon, Kurdwin Ayub (Austria)
Songs of Adam, Oday Rasheed (Iraq)
Red Path, Lotfi Achour (Tunisia, France)
Snow White, Taghrid Abouelhassan (Egypt)
Bin U Bin (Border Elsewhere), Mohamed Lakhdar Tati (Algeria, France)
Saify, Wael Abumansour (Saudi Arabia)
Aïcha, Mehdi M Barsaoui (Tunisia, France, Italy)
Seeking Haven for Mr Rambo, Khaled Mansour (Egypt, Saudi Arabia)
Sima’s Song, Roya Sadat Netherlands, (France)
6 in the Morning, Mehran Modiri (Iran)
To Kill a Mongolian Horse, Xiaoxuan Jiang (Malaysia, Hong Kong, U S )
Saba, Maksud Hossain (Bangladesh)
Opening Night Gala
Daye, Karim Shenawi (Egypt, Saudi Arabia)
Awards Night Gala
Modi — Three Days on the Wing of Madness, Johnny Depp (U.K., Hungary, Italy)
Closing Night Gala
Better Man, Michael Gracey (Australia, U.S.)
Cultural activities and Saudi
Saudi Arabia is quickly becoming a cultural hub with bopping concerts for Riyadh Season, cool activations for Jeddah Season, and awesome things to do at haps like AlUla’s Winter at Tantora and the Ancient Kingdoms Festival.
Thu Dec 5- Sat Dec 14. Al Balad, redseafilmfest.com.
