Red Sea International Film Festival announces 2021 Festival dates

The 1st edition of the Red Sea International Film Festival will take place from the 11th  to the 20th of November 2021 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

The 2021 theme of "Metamorphosis" celebrates cinema as a force for positive  change. It reflects on the Festival's local context: the impact of cinema's triumphant  return to Saudi Arabia since 2019, as well as the blossoming local and regional film  scenes, exploring how cinema culture can create an interface connecting a new,  outward-looking Saudi and the world.

The 10-day Festival looks at how cinema has successfully adapted from analog to  digital and to the new platforms delivering content. It will also focus on the changing  role of women in cinema  

The Festival is delivered by a team of Saudi and international curators, film  specialists, and industry veterans, including Managing Director Shivani Pandya and  Director of Arab Programs & Film Classics Antoine Khalife – both formerly of the  Dubai International Film Festival. Film Critic Kaleem Aftab joins as Director of  International Programming, bringing distinctive global cinema to Saudi across In  Competition, Out-of-Competition, and thematic categories. Jumana Zahid leads the  Red Sea Lodge, the Foundation's incubator for Saudi and Arab filmmakers, now in  its second edition. The Red Sea Souk, the Festival’s industry platform for  distributors, sales agents, and producers is helmed by Zain Zedan, Industry/Souk  Manager. The senior team, which has a 50/50 gender split, is completed by Ibrahim  Modir, Head of Shared Services.  

Members of the Red Sea International Film Festival team shall be attending the  Berlin Film Festival and more programming details are set to be revealed in the  coming months.

The inaugural edition of the Festival will take place in the UNESCO world heritage  site of Jeddah Old Town in the cosmopolitan city on the Red Sea Coast. The  physical event looks to life beyond the Coronavirus pandemic that postponed the  Festival's debut in March 2020 and will bring together local film lovers, filmmakers,  and international industry leaders. The Festival provides a vital new platform to  strengthen creative connections between Saudi and the world with a program of the  best in global cinema, classic and contemporary Arab film, alongside professional  and industry strands.

Established in 2019, the Red Sea Film Festival Foundation celebrates excellence in  film and fosters the resurgent creative energy of Saudi and Arab filmmakers.  Through cinema screenings, masterclasses, workshops, exhibitions, and archiving  projects, the Foundation cultivates talents from Saudi and across the Arab World.  The annual Festival is for film lovers, filmmakers, and the global film industry and will  be the largest annual celebration of cinema in the region.