By Gill Pringle in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Even as western leaders cosied up to KSA’s ruling family and the country declared it was open for business as a filming location, Hollywood was initially reluctant to embrace the notion of a Saudi Arabian film festival; a country with questionable human rights records, notably the 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi who had been critical of the regime.
But this year’s second edition of the Red Sea International Film Festival marks a clear shift in perception, with triple Oscar-winning filmmaker Oliver Stone – jury president for the festival’s Red Sea: Features Competition – setting the tone when he took to the stage at the opening gala night, declaring, “People who judge too harshly should come and see for themselves”.
Or, as Oscar-winning film director, Shekhar Kapur later told the packed theatre at Jeddah’s Ritz Carlton Hotel, “Cultural elements generally flow from west to east but Saudi Arabia is the country with the resources to make it flow from east to west”.
An ambitious programme showcasing 131 feature films and shorts from 61 countries in 41 languages, this second edition of RSIFF features talent from Hollywood to Bollywood, south Asia, Arabia and everywhere in-between.
With films representing both established talent – such as Kapur’s opening night gala romcom What’s Love Got To Do with It?, written by Jemima Khan, starring Emma Thompson and Lily James – and also showcasing emerging talent, RSIFF will host 34 World Premieres, 17 Arab Premieres and 47 MENA (a grouping of countries situated in and around the Middle East and North Africa) premieres.
Located in Jeddah, nestled on the eastern shore of the Red Sea, between 1 – 10 December, the festival welcomed filmmakers, talent, media, industry professionals, and film fans for a 10-day celebration of global cinema.
Saudi writer-director Khaled Fahd’s drama Valley Road is the closing film while two Saudi films feature in competition. The red-carpet programme includes Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Broker, Martin McDonagh’s The Banshees of Inisherin, Park Chan-wook’s Decision to Leave, Sam Mendes’ Empire of Light, Zeyad Alhusaini’s How I Got There, Yasmine Benkiran’s Queens, Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah’s Rebel, Ruben Östlund’s Triangle of Sadness and Lara Saba’s All Roads Lead to Rome.
Coincidentally, the festival 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.
In listing the many global filmmakers involved, Oliver Stone told the audience that Saudi Arabia had been “much misunderstood in the present world”, saying that, “we can see the changes here before us”.
Mohammed Al Turki; CEO of the RedSeaIFF added: “The Red Sea International Film Festival is cementing its position as a unique and powerful platform for celebrating film, connecting cultures, and expanding our horizons.”
Embracing a new logo for the festival, “Film is Everything’, Al Turki says, “Film is Everything encapsulates the festival this year, a bold, cinematic, progressive, and cultural ten-day event for film lovers, storytellers, talent and industry professionals from around the globe. Our programmers have curated the best of Arab and international cinema, talent led galas of some of the most anticipated films of the year, and an exceptional selection from astonishing new Saudi talents who are paving the way in our country’s flourishing industry.”
Ric Roman Waugh’s upcoming action thriller Kandahar starring Gerard Butler, and Rupert Wyatt’s Desert Warrior, starring Ben Kingsley, Anthony Mackie and Sharlto Copley, mark the first of a slew of Saudi filmed movies, drawn to the second largest country in the Arab world by KSA’s diverse terrains and generous tax rebates.
