Seven classic feature films, to be screened for the first time in Saudi Arabia, are showing at the Red Sea Film Festival’s Treasures sidebar in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Director of Arab programs and film classics Antoine Khalife tells Variety: “We really wanted to focus this year on the musical, as well as films about cinema itself.”
Films with a musical theme include a screening of a 4K restoration of Fatih Akin’s 2005 documentary about the music scene in Turkey “Crossing the Bridge: The Sound of Istanbul” and Jacques Demy’s classic French musical “Les Demoiselles de Rochefort,” starring Catherine Deneuve, Françoise Dorléac and Gene Kelly from 1967.
“From the Arab world, we wanted to have something unusual: ‘The Victory of Youth,’ which stars Farid Al-Atrash and Asmahan,” Khalife says. The real-life siblings play brother and sister singer-musicians looking for fame via the silver screen. “We looked really hard to find...
Director of Arab programs and film classics Antoine Khalife tells Variety: “We really wanted to focus this year on the musical, as well as films about cinema itself.”
Films with a musical theme include a screening of a 4K restoration of Fatih Akin’s 2005 documentary about the music scene in Turkey “Crossing the Bridge: The Sound of Istanbul” and Jacques Demy’s classic French musical “Les Demoiselles de Rochefort,” starring Catherine Deneuve, Françoise Dorléac and Gene Kelly from 1967.
“From the Arab world, we wanted to have something unusual: ‘The Victory of Youth,’ which stars Farid Al-Atrash and Asmahan,” Khalife says. The real-life siblings play brother and sister singer-musicians looking for fame via the silver screen. “We looked really hard to find...
- 11/30/2023
- by John Bleasdale
- Variety Film + TV
Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Festival has announced a new batch of mostly international titles set to launch in its Festival Favorites and Treasures strands, including the international premiere of U.S. actor-turned-director Jennifer Esposito’s New York City mob drama “Fresh Kills.”
Inspired by Esposito’s upbringing in Staten Island, “Fresh Kills” – in which Esposito co-stars with Annabella Sciorra – bowed stateside at the Tribeca Festival in June.
Other international talents peppered throughout the Red Sea sections likely to be making the trek to Saudi include Anna Kendrick with her period crime drama “Woman of the Hour”; David Oyelowo, producer of high-profile soccer doc “Allihopa: The Dalkurd Story”; Ewan McGregor and Ellen Burstyn for Swedish director Niclas Larsson’s “Mother, Couch”; Serena and Venus Williams as executive producers of “Copa 71,” the story of the groundbreaking 1971 Women’s World Cup; and French writer-director Laetitia Colombani with her drama “The Braid.
Inspired by Esposito’s upbringing in Staten Island, “Fresh Kills” – in which Esposito co-stars with Annabella Sciorra – bowed stateside at the Tribeca Festival in June.
Other international talents peppered throughout the Red Sea sections likely to be making the trek to Saudi include Anna Kendrick with her period crime drama “Woman of the Hour”; David Oyelowo, producer of high-profile soccer doc “Allihopa: The Dalkurd Story”; Ewan McGregor and Ellen Burstyn for Swedish director Niclas Larsson’s “Mother, Couch”; Serena and Venus Williams as executive producers of “Copa 71,” the story of the groundbreaking 1971 Women’s World Cup; and French writer-director Laetitia Colombani with her drama “The Braid.
- 11/9/2023
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Anna Kendrick’s directorial debut Woman Of The Hour and family drama Mother Couch, starring Ewan McGregor and Ellen Burstyn, are headed to the third edition of Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea International Film Festival, running from November 30 to December 9 in the port city of Jeddah.
The titles will play in the Festival Favorites sidebar which was announced on Thursday alongside the event’s Red Sea: Treasures strand.
Kendrick directs and stars in Netflix-acquired drama Woman Of The Hour as a woman whose path crosses notorious serial killer Rodney Alcala, whilst in Niclas Larsson’s first film Mother Couch, McGregor plays a man whose mother squats the family furniture store.
Further films in the line-up – showcasing 21 buzzy festival titles from the last 12 months – include the David Oyelowo produced documentary Allihopa: The Dalkurd Story; Women’s World Cup doc Copa 71, executive produced by Serena and Venus Williams, Jennifer Esposito’s Fresh Kills,...
The titles will play in the Festival Favorites sidebar which was announced on Thursday alongside the event’s Red Sea: Treasures strand.
Kendrick directs and stars in Netflix-acquired drama Woman Of The Hour as a woman whose path crosses notorious serial killer Rodney Alcala, whilst in Niclas Larsson’s first film Mother Couch, McGregor plays a man whose mother squats the family furniture store.
Further films in the line-up – showcasing 21 buzzy festival titles from the last 12 months – include the David Oyelowo produced documentary Allihopa: The Dalkurd Story; Women’s World Cup doc Copa 71, executive produced by Serena and Venus Williams, Jennifer Esposito’s Fresh Kills,...
- 11/9/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Moroccan-born French director Yasmine Benkiran, whose feature debut “Queens” opened at Venice and is playing at the Marrakech Film Festival, is now developing two ambitious features.
“Queens,” which was developed at the Atlas Workshops, the industry sidebar running alongside the Marrakech Film Festival, is a rare Moroccan film weaving adventure and genre with strong female protagonists.
Benkiran is set to continue exploring complex female characters which her upcoming projects, including a spy movie titled “Elles ont brillé sur le Nil” (“They Shined on the Nile”). The project, which has received support from the Ile de France region, is set in 1950’s Cairo, Egypt. The story revolves around Zeyna, a makeup artist who is investigating the mysterious death of Amal El Abrach, a famous Syrian-born actress known as Asmahan.
“Asmahan was an amazing actress and singer whose fame was compared with that of Marilyn Monroe and she also died in tragic circumstances,...
“Queens,” which was developed at the Atlas Workshops, the industry sidebar running alongside the Marrakech Film Festival, is a rare Moroccan film weaving adventure and genre with strong female protagonists.
Benkiran is set to continue exploring complex female characters which her upcoming projects, including a spy movie titled “Elles ont brillé sur le Nil” (“They Shined on the Nile”). The project, which has received support from the Ile de France region, is set in 1950’s Cairo, Egypt. The story revolves around Zeyna, a makeup artist who is investigating the mysterious death of Amal El Abrach, a famous Syrian-born actress known as Asmahan.
“Asmahan was an amazing actress and singer whose fame was compared with that of Marilyn Monroe and she also died in tragic circumstances,...
- 11/19/2022
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
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