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Production has now started on “AlGaid,” the latest feature from fast-rising Saudi Arabian production house Telfaz11, which smashed local box office records with their first two local releases, “Sattar” and “Mandoob.”

Directed by Hussam Alhulwah and shooting in the sprawling production hub of Neom, “AlGaid” unfolds against the backdrop of the early 20th-century Arabia desert and is described as blending the revenge genre with Bedouin soap opera tropes. The film was penned by Saudi novelist and writer Ahmed Alhokail.

Among the newly-announced ensemble cast for the feature is renowned actor Yagoub Alfarhan, recently seen in the Red Sea Film Festival-winning film “Norah” but best known for the mini-series “Rashash.” Joining Alfarhan is Saad Alshatti and Khalid Abdulaziz (“Head to Head”), plus Husam AlHarthi (“The Matchmaker”) Asem Alawad (“Raven Song”), Ayman Mutahar (“Rashash”) and Fahad Bin Salem (“Mandoob”).

AlGaid

Behind the camera are director of photography Son Doan (“Sofia”), production designer...

Stuart Ford’s AGC International has picked up world rights to two Arab-produced titles, Hwjn by Yasir Al-Yasiri and To My Son by Dhafer L’abidine, ahead of their debuts at Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Festival.

AGC nabbed Hwjn, which opens Red Sea this evening, from Image Nation Abu Dhabi, Mbc Studios, and Vox Studios. To My Son was acquired from O3 Medya and L’Abidine’s Double A Productions.

Adapted from the best-selling Young Adult fantasy novel by Ibraheem Abbas, Hwjn combines Arabian folklore elements of fantasy, blended with modern themes. Set in modern-day Jeddah, Hwjn follows the story of a kind-hearted jinn as he discovers the truth about his royal lineage. Synopsis reads: Hwjn (Baraa Alem) sets off on an epic journey to reclaim his birthright, and while battling ancient evils to maintain the harmonious balance between his world and ours, falls in love with Sawsan (Nour Alkhadra), a young medical student.

AGC Intl., the international sales and distribution arm of Stuart Ford’s fast-growing independent content studio AGC Studios, has picked up world rights from Image Nation Abu Dhabi, Mbc Studios and Vox Studios on Yasir Al Yasiri’s “Hwjn,” and from O3 Medya and Dhafer L’Abidine’s Double A Productions on L’Abidine’s “To My Son.”

Saudi fantasy romance ‘Hwjn’ will open the Red Sea Film Festival on Nov. 30, while the emotional family drama “To My Son” will premiere in Red Sea’s Arab Spectacular section.

The deals mark another significant step in AGC Studios’ drive to bringing theatrical features from the Middle East and North Africa region to global audiences. AGC has partnered with Image Nation Abu Dhabi on Arabic blockbusters “Al Kameen” and “Voy! Voy! Voy!” (with Vox), Egypt’s box-office juggernaut and selection for Academy Award consideration for best international feature. AGC is also partnered...

Deal furthers AGC Studios’ commitment to championing Mena region theatrical features.

AGC International has acquired world sales rights to Hwjn and To My Son on the eve of their world premieres at Red Sea International Film Festival.

Iraqi filmmaker Yasir Al Yasiri’s Saudi fantasy romance Hwjn from Image Nation Abu Dhabi, Mbc Studios and Vox Studios will open the festival today (November 30) and is adapted from the YA novel by Ibraheem Abbas.

The feature combines Arabian folklore elements with contemporary themes and takes place in modern-day Jeddah as the kind-hearted titular jinn (Baraa Alem) discovers the truth about his...

Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea International Film Festival will open its third edition, running from November 30 to December 9, with local movie Hwjn, a fantasy romance combining Arabian folklore with modern themes that unfolds against the backdrop of the event’s home of Jeddah.

Deadline exclusively revealed a trailer for the production earlier this year. Watch it here.

The choice of a Saudi movie marks a break with Red Sea’s first two editions – which kicked off with English-language features Cyrano and What’s Love Got To Do With It? in 2021 and 2022 respectively.

Hwjn is the most ambitious production to date to come out of a partnership between major Gulf players Image Nation Abu Dhabi, Vox Studios and Mbc Studios first announced in Cannes in 2019.

“Opening the festival with a highly anticipated film like Hwjn is a momentous event,” Rsiff Arab Programs & Film Classics Director Antoine Khalife said of the opening night honor,...

Story of a kind-hearted jinn is a co-production from Image Nation Abu Dhabi, Mbc Studios and Vox Studios.

Red Sea International Film Festival has set the world premiere of Saudi feature Hwjn, directed by Yasir Al Yasiri, as its opening-night gala on November 30.

Adapted from the young adult fantasy novel by Ibraheem Abbas, Hwjn combines elements of Arabian folklore with modern themes.

A co-production from leading regional players Image Nation Abu Dhabi, Mbc Studios and Vox Studios, Hwjn is set in modern-day Jeddah and follows the story of a kind-hearted jinn. As he discovers the truth about his royal lineage,...

The Red Sea International Film Festival will open with a local Saudi Arabian film for the first time, with Yasir Al Yasiri’s fantasy romance Hwjn set to raise the curtain on the third edition of the Jeddah event on Nov. 30.

Adapted from the best-selling young adult fantasy novel by Ibraheem Abbas, Hwjn blends Arabian folklore and modern themes for a story set in modern-day Jeddah and follows a kind-hearted jinn (Baraa Alem) on an epic journey to reclaim his birthright. Along the way, he meets and develops an unexpected romantic connection with Sawsan (Nour Alkhadra), a young medical student. Hwjn, which had already been announced as screening at the festival in the Arab Spectacular section, is one of the biggest projects to date under a 2018 production partnership between regional giants Image Nation Abu Dhabi, Mbc Studios and Vox Studios.

“The story of Hwjn is an epic tale of romance,...

Growing entertainment giant Telfaz11 is striving to become a major player locally and regionally.

Burgeoning Saudi entertainment group Telfaz11 has acquired independent production house Last Scene Films in a deal scaling up its move into feature film production.

Founded by Alaa Yousef Fadan, Ali Al Kalthami and Ibrahim Al Khairallah, Riyadh-based Telfaz11 was at the forefront of Saudi Arabia’s YouTube youth content revolution in the early 2010s and is now a major player in its content boom following the lifting of the country’s 35-year cinema ban.

Specialising in producing independent arthouse features, documentaries and short films, Riyadh-based Last...

The session takes place on Wednesday November 17 at 14:00 GMT.

The latest in our ScreenDaily Talks live Q&a series will take place on Wednesday November 17 at 14:00 GMT (17:00 Ksa) and will look at Saudi Arabia’s growing film business on the eve of the inaugural edition of the country’s Red Sea International Film Festival (Rsiff).

Register here

The speakers are Rsiff managing director Shivani Pandya Malhotra, renowned Egyptian producer and head of Cairo-based production house Film Clinic Mohamed Hefzy, pioneering Saudi producer, filmmaker and screenwriter Mohammed Alhamoud, Saudi director and screenwriter Sara Mesfer, and Mohamed Al Hashem,...

In today’s Global Bulletin, Fremantle passes 130 territories sold for Samuel L. Jackson’s “Enslaved,” Lineup Industries is set to license Nhk’s formats slate, Red Sea International awards more than $1 million in grants, and Walter Presents nabs five Nordic series.

Distribution

Samuel L. Jackson’s Epix docuseries “Enslaved: The Lost History of the Transatlantic Slave Trade” will air in 130 territories after Fremantle closed deals including France’s Histoire TV, History in Germany and Movistar Plus and Rtve in Spain.

Directed by Simcha Jacobovici, “Enslaved” is a Canada-u.K. co-production between Associated Producers and Cornelia Street Productions in collaboration with the CBC and the Documentary Channel in Canada as well as Epix, Anonymous Content and Samuel and Latanya Richardson Jackson’s television production company UppiTV in the U.S.

Narrated by and starring Jackson, the series uses cutting-edge technologies, including advanced 3D mapping and ground-penetrating radar, to find and explore...

The Trial of the Chicago 7 writer-director Aaron Sorkin, Stephen Colbert, Sienna Miller, Kingsley Ben-Adir and Lee Isaac Chung have been set for Montclair Film Festival‘s first Storyteller Series during the virtual fest, set to run October 16-25 in Montclair, NJ. All events will will streamed on the Montclair’s Virtual Cinema platform.

The “2020 Filmmaker Tribute to Aaron Sorkin” will be available as of October 17 and will be moderated by Colbert, who will also be the subject of a live read of his 1998 pilot script Sometimes Live, a comedy set behind the scenes at a fictional variety show.

The fest will also have conversations with Miller, whose Lionsgate pic Wander Darkly screens in the lineup; Ben-Adir, whose Regina King-directed One Night in Miami is the closing-night film; and Chung, whose Minari is the the Virtual Centerpiece.

The full 2020 Montclair lineup will be announced October 2.

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The Middleburg Film Festival will...

New initiative is organised in collaboration with the TorinoFilmLab.

The Red Sea International Film Festival, which is due to take place for the first time in the Saudi port city of Jeddah from March 12-21, 2020, has unveiled the 12 projects that will participate in its inaugural Red Sea Lodge feature film development lab.

The selection comprises six Saudi projects as well as six productions from Jordan, Egypt, Palestine, Iraq, and Lebanon, by both emerging and established filmmakers.

They include new films by Lebanese director Hadi Ghandour, Palestinian producer and filmmaker Amira Diab and Jordanian director Amjad Al-Rasheed

Ghandour will attend with...