Red Sea Film Fest has gems, including Rekha-starrer Umrao Jaan

The Red Sea Film Festival, whose fifth edition began on 4 December, has probably grown to be the best in the region, given that similar events in Dubai and Abu Dhabi have wound up, leaving a lacuna. Yes, we do have Cairo, Doha and Marrakech – the first has been there for many years – but somehow all these have not developed into something major. Backed by Saudi Arabia, the Red Sea has enough funding to see it fly high.

I saw this happen even last December. The Festival will open with a biopic of Prince Naseem, Giant, with a star cast of Pierce Brosnan, and this will be followed by a captivating lineup of movies starring big names: Angelina Jolie, Paul Dano, Jude Law, Anthony Mackie and Ben Kingsley. The cinematic event’s most prestigious section, Competition, will showcase gems from Asia, Africa and the Arab world — including seven titles supported by the Red Sea Film Foundation’s ecosystem, including Saudi Arabia’s Academy Award submission Hijra, directed by Shahad Ameen. Some of the others here are: A Sad and Beautiful World (a drama by Cyril Aris tracing the never-say-die bond of love between childhood sweethearts), Zain Duraie’s Sink (a debut feature that focuses on a mother struggling with her son’s mental state), and the supernatural plot Roqia by Yanis Koussim (set in Algeria’s Black Decade).

Advertisement

In the section called International Spectacular, we will watch the Angelina Jolie-led drama Couture by Alice Winocour; Mamoru Hosoda’s anime Scarlet, based on Shakespeare’s Hamlet; Olivier Assayas’ political thriller-cum-comedy The Wizard of the Kremlin, starring Paul Dano and Jude Law; Spanish dance documentary Farruquito: A Flamenco Story; and Rupert Wyatt’s Saudi drama Desert Warrior with Ben Kingsley and Anthony Mackie.

The Arab Spectacular will feature Annemarie Jacir’s Palestine 36, a Red Sea-funded portrait of a photographer documenting rebellion in Mandate Palestine; Haifaa Al Mansour’s Unidentified, a female-driven detective thriller that challenges preconceived notions of violence against women; A Matter of Life and Death, a tender Saudi romance set in the Festival’s home turf, Jeddah; and Amine Lakhnech’s The Fakenapping, a Netflix production. Some of the other highlights include Barni, Mohammed Sheikh’s debut drama set in Somalia, about a missing child; Lost Land, the first-ever Rohingya-language drama from Akio Fujimoto; Cherien Dabis’ All That’s Left of You, which tells the tale of a Palestinian teenager swept into the West Bank; Stories, the new work of Abu Bakr Shawky; and the Iraqi drama Irkalla Gligamesh’s Dream, helmed by Mohamed Al-Daradji. Finally, Indian actress Rekha would arrive at Jeddah with Muzaffar Ali’s restored version of Umrao Jaan – almost poetry with the sweetest of music and melody.