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Winner of the Best Actor Award for Yasna Mirtahmasb in Tokyo, where it premiered, “Roxana” is a very interesting amalgam of a film, focusing on entertaining while presenting a number of comments regarding Iran nowadays, until, unfortunately it doesn't. Let us take things from the beginning, though.

Roxana screened at Red Sea Film Festival

Fred is a 23-year-old unemployed man, who lives with his essentially senile mother, while spending his time hanging with his best and only friend, Mansour, or gambling at a snooker illegal parlor. Roxana is a young photographer mostly dealing with filming weddings, and in general, a woman who seems in control of her life, despite the fact that when the two meet, she has just had her handbag stolen, including an hd disc with the material from her last work. Fred is immediately smitten by her, and decides to help her, which eventually leads Roxana to hire him as an assistant.

Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Festival has announced the bulk of its lineup from the Middle East and North Africa (Mena), signaling that the event is forging ahead with its third edition despite the Israel-Hamas war that has caused cancellations of several movie celebrations across the Arab world.

The fest’s third edition, set to run Nov. 30-Dec. 9 in Jeddah, on the Red Sea’s eastern shore, will feature a slew of films from the Mena region and comprise 11 feature films from Saudi, underlining the local film industry’s growth. This year’s theme is “Your Story, Your Festival”.

There are two Saudi films in the 17-title competition dedicated to features from the Arab world as well as Africa and Asia. They are “Norah,” a drama by first-time helmer Tawfik Alzaidi set in 1990s Saudi Arabia, when conservatism was at its height, and Ali Alkalthami’s bold comedy “Mandoob...

The Red Sea International Film Festival has unveiled its selection of 36 movies from Saudi Arabia, as well as its Arab Spectacular and Red Sea: Competition lineups for this year’s third edition.

“Collectively, these strands will showcase the rich and varied work by established and new filmmakers from the region, including documentaries and titles produced by the Red Sea Film Foundation,” organizers said on Monday.

The program will put a spotlight on films made in the Middle East and North Africa region, featuring 36 feature-length and short films from Saudi Arabia. “The lineup includes internationally recognized talent plus new voices; from Maïwenn’s historical romance Jeanne du Barry, starring Johnny Depp which opened at Cannes with support from the Red Sea International Film Financing arm, to Kaouther Ben Hania with Four Daughters, nominated as Tunisia’s submission for international feature at the forthcoming Academy Awards,” the festival said. “Further directors selected...

Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea International Film Festival has unveiled it 2023 line-up and theme as it maintains its third edition against the backdrop of the escalating Israel-Gaza Conflict. (scroll down for full list)

The edition, running from November 30 to December 9 in the port city of Jeddah, will unfold under the theme of “Your Story, Your Festival”.

Among the key sections announced on Monday was the Red Sea International Film Festival: In Competition section which will showcase 17 narrative and documentary features from Asia, Africa, and the Arab world.

Contenders include UK-Palestinian director Farah Nabulsi critically-acclaimed West Bank-set first feature The Teacher, Tunisian-Moroccan filmmaking couple Afef Ben Mahmoud and Khalil Benkirane’s Atlas Mountains-set, theatre troupe road movie Backstage, Tawfik Alzaidi’s Norah, which is billed as the first Saudi feature shot in the country’s growing location hub of AlUla, and Iranian director Parviz Shahbazi’s drama Roxana, for which its...

Maïwenn’s Jeanne du Barry, starring Johnny Depp, will have a special screening at the festival

The Red Sea International Film Festival (Red Sea Iff) has unveiled the line-up for its Competition and Arab Spectacular strands.

The festival will take place from November 30-December 9 in the port city of Jeddah under the theme ’Your Stories, Your Festival.’

Red Sea Iff’s line-up throws a spotlight on films made in the Mena region and includes 36 feature length and short films from Saudi Arabia, including documentaries and titles produced by the Red Sea Film Foundation.

The Competition strand includes 17 films from Asia,...

Maïwenn’s Jeanne du Barry, starring Johnny Depp, will have a special screening at the festival

The Red Sea International Film Festival (Red Sea Iff) has unveiled the line-up for its Competition and Arab Spectacular strands.

The festival, which takes place from November 30-December 9, will also give special screenings to Maïwenn’s historical romance Jeanne du Barry, starring Johnny Depp, which was supported by Red Sea’s financing arm and opened Cannes, and to Dhafer L’abidine’s Saudi-uae co-production To My Son, which world premieres at the festival.

Red Sea Iff’s line-up throws a spotlight on films made in...