Honors for and on-stage appearances by Viola Davis and Egyptian star Mona Zaki (Perfect Strangers, Flight 404, Abserb: The Squadron, The Spider), Johnny Depp‘s new movie as a director, and a biopic about Robbie Williams will be part of this year’s Red Sea International Film Festival (RSIFF) in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, organizers said on Monday.
They also unveiled the competition lineup for the fest’s fourth edition. Organizers said that the overall lineup features 49 world and international premieres, also highlighting that six female filmmakers will be featured in the competition program.
Among the 15 competition titles announced are Reema Kagti’s Superboys of Malegaon, which bowed at the Toronto Film Festival, and Kurdwin Ayub’s Moon, which had its world premiere at the Locarno Film Festival where it won the special jury prize.
The RSIFF on Monday also added several galas to its lineup, plus unveiled its Families & Children program. The opening night gala screening will be Karim Shenawi’s The Tale of Daye’s Family. It tells “the story of an 11-year-old Nubian albino with a beautiful voice who faces adversity due to his unique appearance,” according to a synopsis. “Abandoned by his father and bullied by his peers, he dreams of following in the footsteps of his idol, singer and actor Mohamed Mounir. When he gets a chance to audition for The Voice, Daye and his family embark on a perilous journey from Aswan to Cairo.”
Meanwhile, Johnny Depp’s Modi – Three Days on the Wing of Madness will receive an awards night gala screening in Jeddah, and the Robbie Williams biopic Better Man from director Michael Gracey will be featured as the closing night gala screening.
Previously, the RSIFF picked 12 movies for its Festival Favorites selection of standouts from the fest circuit, including U.K. Oscar submission Santosh, an Indian police procedural about two women who form an unlikely alliance directed by Sandhya Suri, and Chinese auteur Guan Hu’s Black Dog, which won the Un Certain Regard Prize at Cannes.
“Our foundation has long been dedicated to championing the female voice in film, so it feels especially meaningful that our first two honorees this year are two legendary women in cinema: Mona Zaki and Viola Davis,” said Jomana Al Rashid, chairwoman of the Red Sea Film Foundation. “Both are not only immensely talented artists but also passionate advocates beyond their craft.”
The actresses will both discuss their careers in the fest’s “In Conversation” strand.
“I am deeply honored to be recognized alongside such phenomenal talent,” said Davis. “As a producer who is personally passionate about championing diverse narratives, I’m excited to collaborate with Red Sea to reach new audiences, and create a global platform for meaningful cultural exchange.”
Said Zaki: “I have closely followed and admired the many cultural achievements, particularly in cinematography, that have emerged in Saudi Arabia and through the Red Sea Film Festival. I look forward to the festival and to celebrate the magic of filmmaking with everyone from across the world.”
Mona Zaki
Courtesy of Red Sea International Film Festival
Check out the RSIFF 2024 competition lineup and families & children program below.
Red Sea Film Festival Competition
Superboys of Malegaon (Reema Kagti)Hanami (Denise Fernandes)To a Land Unknown (Mahdi Fleifel)Moon (Kurdwin Ayub)Songs of Adam (Oday Rasheed)Red Path (Lotfi Achour)Snow White (Taghrid Abouelhassan)Bin U Bin, Border Elsewhere (Mohamed Lakhdar Tati)Saify (Wael Abumansour)Aïcha (Mehdi M. Barsaoui)Seeking Haven for Mr Rambo (Khaled Mansour)Sima’s Song (Roya Sadat)6 in the Morning (Mehran Modiri)To Kill a Mongolian Horse (Xiaoxuan Jiang)Saba (Maksud Hossain)
Families & Children program
Night of the ZoopocalypseRicardo Curtis, Rodrigo Perez-Castro“All the animals at friendly Colepepper Zoo are turning into zombies, thanks to a viral attack; the few survivors, led by young wolf Gracie, must find a cure before the virus infects the whole world.”
Panda Bear in AfricaRichard Claus, Karsten Kiilerich“When his dragon friend is kidnapped as a gift for an African lion king, adventurous Panda Ping makes his way across seas, deserts and jungles to rescue him.”
Sukkar: Sabaabaa W Houboub Al KharzizTamer Mahdy“A bout of chickenpox becomes the unlikely catalyst for a series of adventures for young orphan Sukkar and her friends in this Arabic musical.”
