Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Festival has unveiled a first batch of titles that will screen as part of its “Festival Favorites” lineup, showcasing the cream of the international fest crop for Arab audiences.
Besides including recent Cannes standouts such as Sandhya Suri’s crime thriller “Santosh” (pictured) –which will represent the U.K. in the international Oscars race — and Chinese auteur Guan Hu’s noir “Black Dog,” this year’s selection has a strong accent on titles from Africa and the Arab world.
Arabic titles span from Tunisian auteur Ala Eddine Slim’s atmospheric drama “Agora,” which launched from Locarno, to Egyptian director Hala Elkoussy’s allegorical tale “East of Noon” and Jaylan Auf’s drama “Inevitable Journey of a Wedding Dress” that is bowing from Egypt’s El Gouna Film Festival.
African entries being showcased include two films that bowed in Toronto: “The Legend of the Vagabond: Queen of Lagos,” which is the debut film from The Agbajowo Collective and revolves around an impoverished young mother living in Lagos, and Afolabi Olalekan’s “Freedom Way,” also set in Lagos, about the impact of a new ride-sharing app on its founders and customers.
The sole U.S. entry in the section is first-time director Sarah Friedland’s tender drama “Familiar Touch,” which premiered in Venice’s Orizzonti section and is about an aged woman struggling with dementia and transitioning to living in an assisted living facility.
“These films explore a range of real, human themes – from contemporary social issues to relationships and the search for meaning in an increasingly complex and chaotic world,” said Kaleem Aftab, Red Sea’s director of international programming, in a statement.
The fourth edition of the fest will run Dec. 6-14 in Jeddah, on the Red Sea’s eastern shore.