One of the buzziest screenings of this year’s Red Sea Film Festival, John Crowley’s “We Live in Time” attracted droves of young, eager audience members to Jeddah’s Culture Square on Monday night. True to the festival’s promise, the film, which features extended sex scenes and female frontal nudity, was not censored. Some audience members shied their eyes away during such scenes but mostly reacted positively to Garfield’s latest outing.
The British actor is immensely popular in the region. This is, in fact, the second time Garfield attends Red Sea, having done so last year for an in-conversation event and to visit the sprawling region of AlUla where films like “Cherry” and “Kandahar” were shot. This time around, Garfield is in town not only to present his film with Florence Pugh but also as a mentor at the Souk — the festival’s industry arm. Earlier on the day of the premiere, the actor gave a closed session to aspiring filmmakers taking part at the festival’s talent initiatives.
“That is very exciting and moving,” Garfield tells Variety when told of the audience’s reaction to the film. “I have the utmost respect for all cultures I am not a part of and a fascination with how human beings organize themselves and create belief systems. I am also very excited and curious about how a culture can change, open up, cross thresholds and dip its toe into a new way of thinking. I have the utmost compassion and empathy for how difficult that is. It’s an inspiring thing that’s happening here in Saudi.”
Cumberbatch, who produced “We Live in Time” under his SunnyMarch productions banner, tells Variety that culture — and filmmaking, in this case — is the “thing that starts to shape the perception and gear shift in societal terms. It’s very exciting to see so much support for that to happen [in Saudi].”
Garfield took to the stage to introduce the film by greeting the audience in Arabic with the Muslim salutation of “Assalamu alaikum,” translated literally to “peace be with you.” The actor, who has often took on greatly spiritual roles, says that he felt a “profound” sense of spirituality in Jeddah following the screening of the film.
“It was a profound night,” he says, adding that he went out to dinner with Cumberbatch, former CEO of the Red Sea Film Foundation Mohammed Al Turki, and Jeremy Renner, also in town for the festival. “We were all on a rooftop in the old town, with traditional Saudi music being played live and traditional Saudi food being served. People were smoking shisha and this very beautiful, low-hanging, rust-colored moon was floating over us, a beautiful sea of stars above us and the energy of the land here is so very beautiful. It felt like a magical atmosphere. I slept incredibly well. I had amazing dreams. I feel the magic of the place.”
Cumberbatch echoed this sentiment, recalling looking out from the rooftop restaurant and realizing “one road leads to Mecca and the other to the sea.” “There is this potency of what this place means. It’s very intoxicating, the Arabian night. It’s the stuff of fairytales and magic and a deep, profound connection to a sense of importance. I come with an open heart and an amazing amount of respect for that aspect of it.”
The actor-turned-producer also said he is excited to be in town as someone who has long championed the work of female creatives in the film industry, as the Red Sea Film Festival has a foundational dedication to championing female voices in film — including their annual Women in Cinema gala.
“That is what made me lean into the festival when I first got invited last year but for logistics couldn’t make it,” he says, commenting that he had breakfast with jury member Minnie Driver, who talked about her desire to create “real, productive creative impact with the synergy between this culture that is continuing to open up and continuing to empower women in culture.”
According to Cumberbatch, Driver has been talking about opening a “creative lab” in Saudi. “She is building the logistics for it to become real. People can come here, talk big and dream big, but she is actually dreaming that this is a place where you could make it happen.”
As for Garfield, he is excited to be able to participate in the festival’s talent development initiatives this year as someone who “needed a lot of encouragement and help” when he was starting. “I got a lot of wonderful help from a lot of angelic places and it would make me happier than anything to be that for other people. I don’t know if I have anything to offer but I will offer myself, whatever I have, and that feels very good.”
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