Red Sea Film Festival 2024 Brings Cinematic Celebration to Jeddah’s Old City
The world of cinema converged on Jeddah’s Al Balad old city district, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, in early december for the 4th edition of the globally acclaimed Red Sea International Film Festival (RSFF). Bringing together film lovers, creators, and visionaries from around the world, this year’s festival showed over 120 films from 81 countries, including 48 world premieres.
First launched in 2019, the Red Sea Film Festival is quickly becoming an unmissable event in calendars of the global film industry who flock to Jeddah – Saudi Arabia’s second largest city steeped in culture on the shores of the Red Sea – to celebrate a mix of global voices and cinematic giants in a quintessentially Saudi shindig. This independent non-profit organization fosters the film industry in Saudi Arabia, as well as Africa, Asia, and the wider Middle East. It’s an authentic new voice in cinema, championing women and new voices in a setting that puts their work in front of a global audience of fans, filmmakers and enthusiasts.
RSFF opened this year with “The Tale of Daye’s Family,” an Egyptian drama directed by Karim Shenawy, setting the stage for ten days of cinematic excellence before closing with Michael Gracey’s dazzling, “Better Man,” a biopic chronicling the life of British pop icon Robbie Williams. Also hailed as a standout film to catch was “Norah” – the first Saudi film to be shot entirely at the growingly popular AlUla Studios, directed by Saudi filmmaker Tawfik Alzaidi and stars up-and-coming Saudi actress Maria Bahrawi in the title role. “Norah” has already received critical acclaim, with Variety describing Alzaidi’s story “a self-reflexive testament to the deep and profound need for artistic expression”, and the film has also been selected for the Cannes Film Festival in May 2024 as part of the Un Certain Regard competition.
The buzz at the festival continued off-screen, with a brilliant program of workshops, panel discussions, and networking events, that brought us closer to the art and the logistics of making good movies. There were masterclasses with Hollywood legends like Spike Lee and Brendan Fraser, alongside thoughtful creator-led discussions on the future of Middle Eastern stories. British-American actor Andrew Garfield returned to RSFF this year not only to promote a movie, but also as a mentor at the Souk – the festival’s industry arm – and spoke to aspiring filmmakers, expanding their vision with advice from some of the best in the industry.
Impact Beyond the Screen
Celebrating diverse voices and bridging cultural divides, the Red Sea Film Festival uplifts some of the greatest upcoming film-making talent across the globe, while opening up a world of stories, experiences, and scenes most people simply haven’t come across before.
It really is a testament to the power of storytelling that you can being so many people from very different walks of life together to enjoy a really good movie, and may be share an anecdote or two. The setting certainly helps too, so why not stop by next time? See you in the Kingdom of Stories!
