2024 Red Sea International Film Festival

Red Sea International Film Festival
مهرجان البحر الأحمر السينمائي الدولي
LocationJeddah, Saudi Arabia
Founded2019
Hosted byRed Sea Film Festival Foundation
Festival date5 December 2022 (2022-12-05)–14 December 2022 (2022-12-14)
LanguageArabic
English
WebsiteRSFF

The 2024 Red Sea International Film Festival took place from December 5 to 14, 2024, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and marked the fourth edition of the film festival.[1] It was held in the newly built Cultural Square venue in the Al-Balad district of Jeddah.[2]

The Red Sea jury was headed by Spike Lee; over 120 films from 81 countries were featured for the film festival's lineup, and 16 films were selected for competition.[1][3] A new short film competition, sponsored by TikTok, was added to the lineup.[4]

In addition to screening films for competition, the film festival also hosted talks and discussions, galas and parties, and other events for the industry.[2]

Jury

Features

Shorts

Official selection

The festival lineup was announced on November 11, 2024.[6]

Red Sea International Film Festival: In Competition

Title Director(s) Production country
Superboys of Malegaon Reema Kagti
Hanami Denise Fernandes
To a Land Unknown Mahdi Fleifel
Moon Kurdwin Ayub
Red Path Lotfi Achour
Snow White Taghrid Abouelhassen
Bin U Bin, Border Elsewhere Mohamed Lakhdar Tati
Saify Wael Abumansour
Aïcha Mehdi Barsaoui
Seeking Haven for Mr. Rambo Khaled Mansour
Sima's Song Roya Sadat
6 in the Morning Mehran Modiri
To Kill a Mongolian Horse Jiang Xiaoxuan
Saba Maksud Hossain

Red Sea International Film Festival: Arab Spectacular

Title Director(s) Production country
40 Acres R. T. Thorne Canada
A Sudden Case of Christmas Peter Chelsom Italy
Better Man Michael Gracey United Kingdom, United States, Australia
K-Pops! Anderson .Paak United States
Kraven the Hunter J. C. Chandor United States
Maria Pablo Larraín Italy, Germany, United States
Modì, Three Days on the Wing of Madness Johnny Depp United Kingdom, Italy, Hungary
Monsieur Aznavour Mehdi Idir, Fabien Marsaud France
My Way Thierry Teston, Lisa Azuelos France, United Kingdom
Naples to New York Gabriele Salvatores Italy
Ravens Mark Gill France, Japan, Spain, Belgium
State of Silence Santiago Maza Mexico
We Live in Time John Crowley France, United Kingdom

Special Screenings

Title Director(s) Production country
Abdo & Saneya Omar Bakry
Front Row Merzak Allouache
Hobal Abdulaziz Alshlahei
Lail Nahar Abdulaziz Almuzaini
My Driver and I Ahd Kamel

Families & Children

Title Director(s) Production country
Night of the Zoopocalypse Richard Curtis, Rodrigo Perez-Castro
Panda Bear in Africa Richard Claus, Karsten Kiilerich
Sukkar: Sabaabaa W Houboub Al Kharziz Tamer Mahdy

New Vision

Title Director(s) Production country
Alroshan Mohammed Ous
Kemokazi Abdulrahman Batawie
Othman in the Vatican Yasir Bin Ghanem
When the Light Shines Ryan Al Bishri
Yalla Parkour Areeb Zuaiter

Series

Title Director(s) Production country
Ghost Train Tak Se-Woong
Lost Worlds With Bettany Hughes: The Nabataeans Jim Greayer
Tales on Banks of the Bosphorus Zeina Sfeir
Zorro Jean Baptiste Saurel

Short Competition—Arab Selection

Title Director(s) Production country
Fragments of Life Anis Ben Dali
Saint Rose Zayn Alexandre
The Signal Nasser Alqattan
Shams Adam Rayan
Chikha Ayoub Layoussifi, Zahoua Raji
African Family Dinner Ibrahim Mursal
In Three Layers of Darkness Houcem Slouli
Children of Barzagh Ahmed Khattab
Mera, Mera, Mera Khaled Zidan
Malika Maram Taibah
Land of God Imad Benomar
Nemshi? Assaf Al Rousan
Fizr Rani Nasr
Zahra Hadi Shatat
One Last Time Karim Rahbani

Short Competition—International Selection

Title Director(s) Production country
Across the Water Viv Li
Alazar Beza Hailu Lemma
Hatch Alireza Kazemipour, Panta Mosleh
Lai Lei Binglin Cui
Lunge Negar Hassanzadeh
Nails Triparna Banerjee
Never Have I Ever Joyce A. Nashawati
Pie Dan Lo Kim Yip Tong
Radikals Arvin Belarmino
Sanki Yoxsan Azer Guliev
Urefu We Kamba Mageto Ndege
Washhhh Mickey Lai

New Saudi, New Cinema Selection

Title Director(s) Production country
A Mosquito Raneem Almohandes, Dana Almohandes
The Post Zakaria Albashir
Underground Abdulrahman Sandokji
Pavlov's Bells Khalid Fahad
Khamsen Abdullah Alrowis
Two Sisters Waleed Alqahtani
Tied Yam Fida
Where's the Imam? Abrar Qari
When the Shelves Hymn Hanaa Saleh Alfassi
Aseer Memory Saad Tahaitah
Diaa Shamsi Lama Jarkas
Sugar Khalid Bin Waleed

Awards

Award[7] Winner
Golden Yusr Award—Best Feature Film Red Path, dir. Lotfi Achour
Silver Yusr Award—Best Feature Film To a Land Unknown, dir. Mahdi Fleifel
Film AlUla Audience Award—Best Film Little Jaffna, dir. Lawrence Valin
Film AlUla Audience Award—Best Saudi Film Hobal, dir. Abdulaziz Alshlahei
Best Documentary State of Silence, dir. Santiago Maza
Chopard Rising Talent Trophy Roula Dakheelallah for My Driver & I
Cinematic Achievement To Kill a Mongolian Horse, dir. Jiang Xiaoxuan
Best Actor Mahmoud Bakri for To a Land Unknown
Best Actress Mariam Sherif for Snow White
Best Screenplay Songs of Adam, written by Oday Rasheed
Best Director Lotfi Achour for Red Path
Jury Prize Seeking Haven for Mr. Rambo, dir. Khaled Mansour
Golden Yusr—Best Short Film Hatch, dir. Alireza Kazemipour, Panta Mosleh
Silver Yusr—Best Short Film Alazar, dir. Beza Hailu Lemma
Short Special Mention Children of Barzagh, dir. Ahmed Khattab
48Hr Film Challenge[6] All in One Night, dir. Thoraya Akram
Afen, dir. Nawaf Alkinani, Othman Al Khowiter
Red Sea Honorees[8] Aamir Khan
Viola Davis
Emily Blunt
Mona Zaki

References

  1. ^ a b Anwer, Baraa (2024-12-06). "Hollywood and the Middle East mix at Red Sea International Film Festival". AP News. Retrieved 2025-12-22.
  2. ^ a b "Red Sea returns for 2024 edition with new purpose-built venue in heart of Jeddah". Screen. Retrieved 2025-12-22.
  3. ^ Botelho, Renan (2024-12-05). "Red Sea International Film Festival 2024 Opening Ceremony: Eva Longoria, Emily Blunt and More [PHOTOS]". WWD. Retrieved 2025-12-22.
  4. ^ Szalai, Georg (2024-12-02). "TikTok Joins Saudi Arabia's Red Sea Film Festival as Sponsor, Unveils Shorts Competition". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2025-12-22.
  5. ^ "Juries 2024 – Red Sea Film". redseafilmfest.com. Retrieved 2025-12-22.
  6. ^ a b Goodfellow, Melanie (2024-11-11). "Johnny Depp's 'Modi' & Robbie Williams Biopic 'Better Man' Head To Saudi Arabia's Red Sea Film Fest With Karim Shenawy's 'The Tale Of Daye's Family' Set As Opener". Deadline. Retrieved 2025-12-22.
  7. ^ Vlessing, Georg Szalai,Etan (2024-12-12). "'Red Path' Wins Top Award at Red Sea Fest; Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Viola Davis Get Honored". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2025-12-22.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  8. ^ Szalai, Georg (2024-12-02). "Emily Blunt, Aamir Khan to Receive Honors at Red Sea Film Fest in Saudi Arabia". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2025-12-22.