Viola Davis will be honored by Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Festival, where the Oscar winner and four-time nominee will also be holding a master class highlighting her career.
On Monday, the festival — which will run Dec. 6 to 14 in Jeddah, on the Red Sea’s eastern shore — announced the main lineup of its fourth edition, which will open with the world premiere of Egyptian director Karim Shenawy’s musical drama “The Tale of Daye’s Family.” The film follows an 11-year-old Nubian albino with a beautiful voice “who faces adversity due to his unique appearance,” as the provided synopsis puts it.
“For us, this a perfect representation of where this region is headed and what’s happening here,” said the fest’s general manager Shivani Pandya Malhotra at a press conference, noting that the inspirational film is a co-production between Egypt and Saudi.
The Red Sea fest – which is putting the accent on Saudi and regional cinema this year – will also be honoring Egyptian star Mona Zaki, who toplines Egyptian female empowerment thriller “Flight 404” in which she plays a woman whose tainted past resurfaces as she is about to embark on a pilgrimage to Mecca.
As for the rest of this year’s selection, roughly half the films are either world or international premieres spanning 80 countries.
These include the West African island nation of Cape Verde, repped by Denise Fernandes’ magical realism coming-of-age story “Hanami,” and Bangladesh with Maksud Hossain’s “Saba,” about a young woman who is the sole caregiver for her paraplegic mother in Dhaka.
The 16-title competition also comprises Jordanian first-timer Amjad Al Rasheed’s dark drama about archaic patriarchal inheritance laws, “Inshallah a Boy,” as well as “Seeking Haven for Mr. Rambo,” a first feature by Egypt’s Khaled Mansour about a young man forced to confront his fears. Also in competition are Danish-Palestinian director Mahdi Fleifel’s Cannes Directors’ Fortnight standout “To a Land Unknown”; Tunisian director Lotfi Achour’s depiction of the wounded psyche of a young shepherd “Red Path”; Tunisian director Mehdi M. Barsaoui’s “Aïcha”; and bold satirical drama “Saify,” which involves banned religious sermons and is directed by Wael Abu Mansour, whose smash local hit “Mandoob” already pushed the kingdom’s cultural envelope.
The closing film is Michael Gracey’s profile of British pop star Robbie Williams, “Better Man,” which is screening as a gala event. It’s possible Williams will be on hand, though this remains to be confirmed.
The other Red Sea gala is Johnny Depp’s biopic of Italian artist Amedeo Modigliani, “Modi – Three Days on the Wing of Madness,” which is partly funded by the event’s parent organization the Red Sea Foundation. Depp attended the fest last year.
As previously announced, this year the Red Sea fest is moving from Jeddah’s Ritz Carlton Hotel back to its original digs in the historic district of Al-Balad, which is a Unesco World Heritage site.
See all the titles below.
Red Sea Film Festival Competition
“Superboys of Malegaon,” Reema Kagti (India)
“Hanami,” Denise Fernandes (Switzerland, Portugal, Cape Verde)
“To a Land Unknown,” Mahdi Fleifel (Greece-Denmark-U K -Netherlands)
“Moon,” Kurdwin Ayub (Austria)
“Songs of Adam,” Oday Rasheed (Iraq)
“Red Path” Lotfi Achour (Tunisia, France)
“Snow White” Taghrid Abouelhassan (Egypt)
“Bin U Bin” (“Border Elsewhere”), Mohamed Lakhdar Tati (Algeria, France)
“Saify,” Wael Abumansour (Saudi Arabia)
“Aïcha,” Mehdi M Barsaoui (Tunisia, France, Italy)
“Seeking Haven for Mr Rambo,” Khaled Mansour (Egypt, Saudi Arabia)
“Sima’s Song,” Roya Sadat Netherlands, France
“6 in the Morning,” Mehran Modiri (Iran)
“To Kill a Mongolian Horse,” Xiaoxuan Jiang (Malaysia, Hong Kong, U S )
“Saba,” Maksud Hossain (Bangladesh)
Opening Night Gala
“Daye,” Karim Shenawi” (Egypt, Saudi Arabia)
Awards Night Gala
“Modi — Three Days on the Wing of Madness,” Johnny Depp (U.K., Hungary, Italy)
Closing Night Gala
“Better Man,” Michael Gracey (Australia, U.S.)
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