As Saudi Arabia works hard to become a regional hub for filmmaking, the third edition of the Red Sea International Film Festival is all set to unspool in the city of Jeddah from 30 November-9 December. The gathering boasts a film programme and guests from the MENA region as well as Europe, Asia, the Americas and Australia. German actress Diane Kruger will be celebrated with an Honorary Award, along with Indian actor Ranveer Singh and Saudi thesp Abdullah Al-Sadhan.

Seventeen films are in the running for the festival’s top prize, the Golden Yusr, in the international competition, with as many as eight titles being co-productions with Europe. The award hopefuls are Inshallah a Boy [+lire aussi :
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fiche film] by Amjad Al Rasheed (Jordan/Saudi Arabia/Egypt/France/Qatar), Behind the Mountains [+lire aussi :
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interview : Mohamed Ben Attia
fiche film] by Mohamed Ben Attia (Tunisia/France/Belgium/Italy/Saudi Arabia/Qatar), Norah by Tawfik Alzaidi (Saudi Arabia), Hiding Saddam Hussein [+lire aussi :
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fiche film] by Halkawt Mustafa (Norway/Iraq), Backstage [+lire aussi :
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interview : Afef Ben Mahmoud, Khalil B…
fiche film] by Afef Ben Mahmoud and Khalil Benkirane (Morocco/Tunisia/Belgium/France/Qatar/Norway/Saudi Arabia), The Teacher [+lire aussi :
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fiche film] by Farah Nabulsi (UK/Palestine/Qatar), Dalma by Humaid Alsuwaidi (UAE), Mandoob by Ali Kalthami (Saudi Arabia), Six Feet Over [+lire aussi :
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fiche film] by Karim Bensalah (Algeria/France), Dear Jassi by Tarsem Singh Dhandwar (India), In Flames by Zarra Khan (Pakistan/Canada), Wakhri (One of a Kind) by Iram Parveen Bilal (Pakistan/USA), Sunday by Shokir Kholikov (Uzbekistan), Tiger Stripes [+lire aussi :
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interview : Amanda Nell Eu
fiche film] by Amanda Nell Eu (Malaysia/Taiwan/Singapore/France/Germany/Netherlands/Indonesia/Qatar), Roxana by Parviz Shahbazi (Iran), Omen [+lire aussi :
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interview : Baloji
fiche film] by Baloji (Belgium/Netherlands/DRC) and Evil Does Not Exist by Ryûsuke Hamaguchi (Japan).

Baz Luhrmann is heading up the jury comprising actors Joel Kinnaman, and actresses Freida Pinto, Amina Khalil and Paz Vega, who will hand out a sizeable clutch of awards, including the aforementioned Golden Yusr for Best Film, the Best Actor Award and the Jury Award, which come with cash prizes of $100,000, $30,000 and $20,000, respectively. The Red Sea: Shorts competition has its own jurors – filmmaker and critic Hana Alomair, actor Assad Bouab and director Fatih Akin.

The Red Sea IFF has also programmed sections called New Saudi/New Cinema, Arab Spectacular, Red Sea: Festival Favourites, Red Sea: Families and Children, Red Sea: New Vision, and Red Sea: Series.

The Red Sea Souk industry sidebar offers a selection of panels on new forms of storytelling, how to capture the audience and co-producing with MENA-region countries, as well as a presentation of works in progress. In addition, the festival will celebrate films that have been supported by either its Red Sea Souk grant programme or work-in-progress showcase awards: Four Daughters [+lire aussi :
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interview : Kaouther Ben Hania
fiche film] by Kaouther Ben Hania, Omen by Baloji and Goodbye Julia [+lire aussi :
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interview : Mohamed Kordofani
fiche film] by Mohamed Kordofani are among them.