The Red Sea Film Festival and its associated market, the Red Sea Souk, are marking their most ambitious and expansive edition yet in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Market director Holly Daniel concisely described this year's Souk as "Bigger," highlighting its significant growth and enhanced facilities. The event has moved to a new, larger home connected to the festival base in Culture Square by a physical overpass, a symbolic representation of its ambition to bridge the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region with Asia and the rest of the world.

This year, the Red Sea Souk boasts an expanded exhibition hall with over 70% new exhibitors, totaling 166 participants, an increase from 142 last year. This diverse international mix includes 13 country pavilions, underscoring the growing recognition of Red Sea as a crucial hub for the global film industry. Senior executives from major players like Netflix, Amazon, Disney, and MBC are attending the Souk, which runs from December 6-10, to participate in numerous talks and events. These include case studies on major Hollywood productions filmed in Saudi Arabia, such as “Desert Warrior” and “Kandahar.”

Holly Daniel emphasized her team's priority to "engage with partners more," facilitated by the increased physical space of the Souk. This expansion has provided additional rooms for talks and workshops, dedicated to industry partners to curate their own sessions. The team also welcomed new curator Wendy Mitchell, renowned for steering industry sidebars at prestigious festivals like San Sebastian and Sundance London, further enriching the talks program. Key discussions this year cover topics such as collaborating with MENA partners, India’s creative economy, understanding Saudi audiences, contemporary Palestinian cinema, and Arab distribution. The Red Sea Labs, another arm of the Red Sea Film Foundation, organizes talent-focused events, offering participants exclusive conversations and workshops with acclaimed Hollywood figures, including “Breaking Bad” actor Giancarlo Esposito and “Black Swan” director Darren Aronofsky.

The festival, now in its fifth edition, runs from December 4-13 in Jeddah's historic Al Balad, a UNESCO Heritage site. The opening film, presented out of competition, is Rowan Athale’s boxing biopic “Giant,” starring Egyptian-British actor Amir El Masry as "Prince" Naseem Hamed and Pierce Brosnan as his trainer. This choice deliberately aligns with the festival's "East meets West" mission, as articulated by Red Sea Foundation CEO Faisal Baltyuor. Shivani Pandya Malhotra, the festival's managing director, further asserted the Souk's position as "the biggest market in the MENA region," emphasizing its inclusivity towards Asia and Africa.

The festival's competition features seven titles supported by the Red Sea Film Foundation, showcasing films from Asia, Africa, and the Arab world. Notable entries include Saudi filmmaker Shahad Ameen’s “Hijra,” Saudi’s Academy Award submission; Cyril Aris’ “A Sad and Beautiful World,” Lebanon’s Oscar candidate; Jordanian director Zain Duraie’s debut feature “Sink”; and Algerian horror film “Roqia.” Sean Baker, the Oscar-winning director of “Anora,” presides over the jury and will also conduct a master class. Other celebrated figures holding master classes or mentoring sessions include Adrien Brody, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, and Giancarlo Esposito, who is hosting a mentoring session for the Red Sea Labs’ SeriesLab, an initiative to foster Arab TV writers and producers.

The "In Conversation" lineup for this edition is equally star-studded, featuring Dakota Johnson, Jessica Alba, Ana de Armas, Kirsten Dunst, Nina Dobrev, Queen Latifah, and Kriti Sanon, alongside previous speakers Adrien Brody, Sean Baker, and Kaouther Ben Hania. Festival honorees include luminaries such as Michael Caine, Sigourney Weaver, Juliette Binoche, Rachid Bouchareb, and Stanley Tong. The International Spectacular strand includes high-profile films like Angelina Jolie-led drama “Couture,” Mamoru Hosoda’s anime “Scarlet,” Olivier Assayas’ “The Wizard of the Kremlin,” Spanish dance documentary “Farruquito: A Flamenco Story,” and Rupert Wyatt’s Saudi Arabia-set drama “Desert Warrior.” The latter, touted as Saudi’s first Hollywood-style tentpole movie, revolves around a princess played by British-Saudi actress Aiysha Hart and features Anthony Mackie and Ben Kingsley.

The Red Sea Film Foundation actively promotes Saudi cinema, with CEO Faisal Baltyuor proudly noting the wide range of genres showcased by Saudi films at the festival, from the epic “Desert Warrior” to arthouse features like “Hijra” and Haifaa Al Mansour’s thriller “Unidentified.” Many titles from the New Saudi Cinema section have been acquired by Netflix over the past three years. This year’s Souk has seen a 25% increase in registered attendance from last year’s roughly 4,000 industry executives. The Souk is also becoming increasingly competitive for project selection, particularly with the expanded outreach to Asia, which has led to a surge in applications. To manage this, the selection process now involves a wider pool of international project readers, with each project receiving a minimum of three reads, ensuring diverse industry feedback.

Holly Daniel reiterated the festival's aspiration to be a "bridge" between different territories, showcasing regional talent and projects to the global industry. The work of the Red Sea Fund, which supports numerous projects, and the close collaboration with the Saudi Film Commission, further bolster the festival's international image and engagement. Ultimately, a successful edition for Daniel is defined by the genuine connections forged on the ground, leading to positive business outcomes for exhibitors and future festival successes for projects pitched at the Souk.