The Fifth Edition of Red Sea Int’l Film Festival Gets Personal

The Red Sea International Film Festival (RSIFF) was founded primarily for and through a love for films. In this year’s edition of the festival, set to take place from December 4th to 13th in Jeddah’s historic Al-Balad, this love is made ever the more apparent.

In the words of Red Sea Film Foundation CEO Faisal Baltyuor, at the official press conference for RSIFF, “We meet for the love of cinema, and in celebration of both the film and the filmmaker.”
Under the theme ‘for the love of cinema’, this edition of RSIFF comes with a programme of film screenings, the majority of which are described as deeply intimate. “The stories in these films are derived directly from filmmakers’ lives and the lives of their families,” said Antoine Khalife, director of international programmes at Red Sea International Film Festival.

This year, the festival also acts as a showcase for projects created with support from the Red Sea Film Foundation, including the Red Sea Film Fund and Lab. The screening program includes 15 films supported by the Red Sea Film Fund, three of which were also products of the Lab. The Red Sea Souk - where filmmakers can apply for fund titles, present their projects in a market, exhibit their work, explore projects from the Lab, and attend talks - expands this year, with film submissions from China, India, Turkey, Russia, and more.

The fund is open to all, and often lends its focus to spotlighting women filmmakers. “We’re very committed to platforming women both behind the camera and in front of it,” she said, “Since its inauguration, the Fund has supported over 170 women globally.”

To further expand their reach, the Red Sea Film Foundation also launched a program aimed specifically at early rising filmmakers aged 10-16 years old. “The future of filmmaking in Saudi depends on a new generation that loves cinema.” Baltyuor said, and the Red Sea Film Foundation intends to nurture it.