by Gill Pringle in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Not entirely convinced that he should be associated with Saudi, the Elvis and Moulin Rouge! director decided to undertake a fact-finding mission after being invited to preside over the festival’s main features competition jury.
Speaking at the opening night gala opening ceremony, the Oscar-nominated director told the audience, “I am really genuinely honoured to be asked to preside over the jury here at the Red Sea Festival. And, you know, when I was asked to come and do this about six months ago, I had a very quiet trip here to Jeddah – and to so many other beautiful places in this country,” he revealed.
“And what I learned – and what was amazing to me – was that there was no cinemas for 35 years. But five years ago, suddenly it burst to life again and in a short five years such a vibrant and exciting film culture is with us,” he said, going on to praise the country’s new soundstage and infrastructure, adding, “I’m available to make a movie actually if you need me – it’s an amazing environment to make a film so that was wonderful.
“But what was really, really exciting to me was the young filmmakers – young men and young women – and their aspirations, and their desire to tell their stories, and to be heard. And I think in a world where sometimes we’re failed by so many other things, it’s unbelievably important that we stand up and make sure that the voices of storytellers are heard. And that has driven me in this moment to come and visit.”
Looking emotional, he continued, “I’m here with my wife, Catherine Martin. She’s in the house! Yeah, she’s the one with the four Oscars, just saying… and I’m here more than anything to see the remarkable voices and storytelling from here and around the region. But to do that, I’m not doing it alone. I’m doing it with a wonderful, wonderful jury,” he said.
On his original visit, Luhrmann met with filmmakers, saw new studios being built, was taken around an Andy Warhol exhibition in the desert, and visited AlUla, the ancient region that has become a major film hub and shooting location.
As Hollywood has become more convinced of Saudi’s commitment to change – as well as recognising it as a growing film market and financial partner – so has western talent been more willing to attend its fledgling festival with marquee names like Spike Lee, Sharon Stone and Oliver Stone attending last year.
And while the Israel-Hamas conflict initially threatened to derail celebrity attendance at this year’s third edition, in the end, Luhrmann was joined by A-listers Will Smith, Michelle Williams, Johnny Depp, Sofia Vergara, Diane Kruger, Freida Pinto, Joel Kinnaman, Indian actor Ranveer Singh, Egyptian actor Amina Khalil and Spanish actress Paz Vega, with even Sharon Stone returning.
Later in the week, Zoe Saldana and her husband Marco Perego will also attend in support of their immigration drama The Absence of Eden on which Perego makes his directorial debut.
With many executive producers behind the project – not least Martin Scorsese and Saldana herself – the film stars the Avatar actress alongside Garrett Hedlund and Tom Waits.
Likewise, Smith said that he, too, had paid a visit to the region nine months earlier and was very impressed.
If attending a glitzy film festival hosted at Jeddah’s extravagant Ritz Carlton Hotel didn’t seem like the correct optics for some filmmakers – Ava DuVernay and Anna Kendrick both cancelling their scheduled attendance – then Luhrmann thought long and hard about his decision to attend as war rages in the nearby region.
“I considered it deeply. And what transpired was that some filmmakers who can’t attend because of what’s going on but have films still showing, reached out and said ‘Please, at this time, don’t cancel’,” he told the Hollywood Reporter earlier.
In a world where “politics and military solutions fail all of us,” he added that the “voices of storytellers, no matter who they are, no matter where they come from, need to get out there.
“What storytelling does is humanise life. That’s really important and what’s always getting lost is the sheer humanity. All life is precious and I just thought that I couldn’t just run for the hills and not be there to help bring light on these storytellers, all of whom have very different points of view, when now it’s more important than ever,” he said.
The festival opened with a gala premiere of Yasir Al Yasiri’s Saudi romantic fantasy HWJN, based on Ibraheem Abbas’ young adult fantasy novel. “The festival has a special place in my heart because the story takes place in Jeddah. To see how it has evolved from the novel, to script, to shooting and now opening in the same city – it’s a surreal experience,” Al Yasiri says.
With Luhrmann presiding over the main competition, The Red Sea: Shorts will be judged by jurors Saudi filmmaker Hana Alomair, French-Moroccan actor Assad Bouab and award-winning Turkish-German director/screenwriter Fatih Akin.
“We have a cohort of immense talent in this year’s jury, representing some of the leading creators of cinema from all corners of the world – and we are thrilled to have them join us in Jeddah to participate in this year’s competition,” says Shivani Pandya Malhotra, Managing Director of the Red Sea Film Foundation. “We have the strongest programming line-up yet, so it’s no mean feat to crown the winners amongst a stand-out year of cinema, and look forward to seeing the finalists celebrated at our Yusr Awards ceremony.”
