Unspooling between 5 and 14 December in Jeddah, the fourth edition of the Red Sea International Film Festival has completed its programme line-up, which spotlights 120 films from more than 80 countries. The Tale of Daye’s Family (Egypt/Saudi Arabia), from the Arab Spectacular strand, by Egyptian filmmaker Karim Elshenawy will open the festival. The 2024 edition also marks the gathering’s return from the Ritz Carlton Hotel to its first home in the historic district of Al-Balad, a UNESCO World Heritage site.

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Sixteen films make up the festival’s Red Sea: Competition line-up, which highlights films from the Middle East, Africa and Asia. Standouts include the Locarno selection Red Path [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by Lotfi Achour, the Venice pick Aïcha [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by Mehdi M Barsaoui (Tunisia/France/Italy/Saudi Arabia/Qatar), Hanami [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Denise Fernandes
scheda film] by Locarno Best Emerging Director Award winner Denise Fernandes (Switzerland/Portugal/Cape Verde), Locarno Special Jury awardee Moon [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Kurdwin Ayub
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intervista: Mahdi Fleifel
scheda film] by Mahdi Fleifel (UK/Palestine/France/Greece/Netherlands/Germany/Qatar/Saudi Arabia).

The stylistically eclectic International Spectacular section will feature films including Pablo Larraín’s Maria [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] (France) by Mehdi Idir and Grand Corps Malade as well as My Way by Thierry Teston and Lisa Azuelos (France/USA); and several commercial works including Peter Chelsom's A Sudden Case of Christmas (Italy), a Danny DeVito-led remake of the 2022 film Improvvisamente Natale [+leggi anche:
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The Festival Favourites section includes Pavlo Ostrikov’s U Are the Universe [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Pavlo Ostrikov
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intervista: Lawrence Valin
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intervista: Sandhya Suri
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The Arab Spectacular sidebar includes prolific Algerian director Merzak Allouache's Front Row [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Hala Elkoussy
scheda film] by Hala Elkoussy (Egypt/Netherlands/Qatar) and the documentary Yalla Parkour by Areeb Zuaiter (Sweden/Palestine/Qatar/Saudi Arabia) will play in the Red Sea: New Vision strand.

Several “In Conversation” sections will also be hosted, including with US actress-producer Viola Davis, Egyptian filmmaker Mohamed Sami and acclaimed US filmmaker Spike Lee. Lee will also serve as president of this year’s feature competition jury. Programmes for families and children, series, shorts, retrospectives, and dedicated strands for new Saudi cinema round off the selection.

The full festival selection can be viewed on the festival’s website.