Diane Kruger, Indian actor Ranveer Singh, Joel Kinnaman, Freida Pinto and Paz Vega are set to add star power to the third edition of the Red Sea International Film Festival in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Pinto (Slumdog Millionaire, Knight of Cups), Vega (Sex and Lucía, The OA), Kinnaman (Silent Night, For All Mankind, Suicide Squad) and Egypt’s Amina Khalil (Grand Hotel, Eugenie Nights) are joining the event’s main feature competition jury, which will be led by Baz Luhrmann.
The Red Sea: Shorts competition will be judged by jurors Hana Alomair, a Saudi writer, filmmaker and film critic behind Netflix series Whispers, French-Moroccan actor Assad Bouab (Call My Agent, Whatever Lola Wants) and Turkish-German director, screenwriter and producer Fatih Akin (Head-On, In the Fade).
Organizers on Monday also unveiled that Singh, Kruger and Saudi actor and writer Abdullah Al-Sadhan will be honored at the fest.
“This year we are honoring Ranveer Singh, an icon of Hindi cinema; Diane Kruger, who has delivered us a series of unforgettable characters from Helen of Troy to Tarantino’s Bridget von Hammersmark and affected us with her powerhouse performance of the avenging Angel Katja in Fatih Akin’s In the Fade; as well as the hugely beloved Abdullah Al-Sadhan who has been a mainstay of Saudi entertainment through Tash ma Tash for two decades and will also appear in this year’s competition title Norah,” said Mohammed Al-Turki, CEO of the Red Sea Film Festival Foundation. “We are thrilled to be recognizing each of their varied and deep contributions to cinema and to have them with us for our third edition.”
The Red Sea Honoree Award is for “prominent cinematic figures and icons who contributed to shaping the history of cinema as we know it today and immortalized it in the hearts of the masses,” organizers highlighted. “The award expresses great respect and appreciation on the part of the festival for those with profound cinematic contributions from all over the world.”
The third edition of the Saudi event will take place Nov. 30-Dec. 9 on the Eastern shore of the Red Sea.
“We have a cohort of immense talent in this year’s jury, representing some of the leading creators of cinema from all corners of the world,” said Shivani Pandya Malhotra, managing director of the Red Sea Film Foundation. “We have the strongest programming lineup yet, so it’s no mean feat to crown the winners amongst a stand-out year of cinema.”
