Notizie

Saudi Arabian film industry pioneer Faisal Baltyuor has been appointed CEO of the Red Sea Foundation which oversees the Jeddah-based Red Sea Film Festival, the Red Sea Fund, and its year-round Red Sea Labs.

He will replace acting CEO Mohammed Asseri effective June 1.

Baltyour has been a driving force in the Saudi film industry ever since a religion-related ban on cinema was lifted in late 2017 holding posts as the first head of Ithra Cinema, which is financed by Saudi Aramco Oil Company, and then by founding and running Saudi distributor CineWaves Films, which has the biggest library of Saudi films, as well as holding the post of CEO at Muvi Studios, the production arm of Saudi’ s biggest cinema chain. He recently opened Riyadh’s first arthouse cinema called Cinehouse.

As a producer Baltyour executive produced groundbreaking Saudi director Haifaa Al Mansour’s “The Perfect Candidate,” which launched from Venice...

Paradise City Sales (formerly Memento International) has boarded Warwick Thornton’s “Wolfram: A Sequel to Sweet Country,” following his 2017 movie which won Venice’s special jury prize and Toronto’s Platform prize.

Currently filming in Australia, around Alice Springs, “Wolfram” is a colonial thriller set in the 1930’s, four years after the events of “Sweet Country” and revolving around David Tranter’s Alyawarra family history. It follows three irrepressible kids who escape from their cruel white masters and embark on a journey across the sweet country of central Australia to try and find a safe

home.

The film stars Deborah Mailman (“The New Boy”), Thomas M. Wright (“Sleeping Dogs”), Pedrea

Jackson (“Sweet As”), alongside Errol Shand (“The Clearing”), Joe Bird (“Talk to Me”), John Howard (“Mad Max: Fury Road”), Aidan Du Chiem (“Last Days of the Space Age”), Ferdinand Hoang (“Jasper Jones”), Jason Chong (“Little Monsters”) and Matt Nable (“Riddick...

The Sundance Institute has revealed the fellows for the 2025 directors, screenwriters and Native labs. The Native lab begins in-person April 28 through May 3 in Santa Fe, N.M. while the directors lab returns for its 45th anniversary June 1 through 16 in Estes Park, Colo. The 2025 screenwriters lab will be held online from June 24 through 27, offering filmmakers an “Immersive environment to develop their projects and refine their artistic voice under the guidance of accomplished creative advisors,” according to a press release.

The 2025 Native lab fellows are: Jared Lank, (Mi’kmaq), Isabella Dionne Madrigal (Cahuilla/Turtle Mountain Ojibwe), Alex Nystrom (Ojibwe) and Jordan Waunch (Métis). The 2025 Native lab artists-in-residence are Sabrina Saleha (Diné) and Svetlana Romanova (Sakha/Even). All six filmmakers will receive guidance from creative advisors including Bryson Chun (Kanaka Maoli), Sarah Friedland, Kiva Reardon, and Erica Tremblay (Seneca-Cayuga). The Native Lab is overseen by Sundance Institute Indigenous program director Adam Piron (Kiowa...

The Sundance Institute has announced the fellows selected for the 2025 edition of its Directors, Screenwriters, and Native Labs.

Taking place since the mid-’90s, the Native Lab kicks off in person today, continuing through May 3 in Santa Fe, New Mexico. In addition to artists named below, artists-in-residence Sabrina Saleha (Diné) and Svetlana Romanova (Sakha/Even) will be participating. The Lab is designed for artists of Native and Indigenous backgrounds who aim to center Indigeneity in their work. Over five days, fellows refine their scripts for feature and episodic projects in one-on-one feedback sessions, screenplay readings, and roundtable discussions with advisors, while building community on Native land in Santa Fe.

The Native Lab is overseen by Adam Piron (Kiowa and Mohawk), Director of the Institute’s Indigenous Program, alongside Senior Manager Ianeta Le’i. Creative advisors will include Bryson Chun (Kanaka Maoli), Sarah Friedland, Kiva Reardon, and Erica Tremblay (Seneca-Cayuga).

“Every year...

Exclusive:Paradise City Sales, formerly known as Memento Films International, has taken on international sales rights to Portuguese director Pedro Pinho’spolitically charged Africa-set dramaI Only Rest In The Storm,which is set to world premiere in Un Certain Regard at theCannes Film Festival.

The film explores neocolonialism, climate anxiety, and identity in a story about an environmental engineer who travels to a West African metropolis to work on a road project for an Ngo. There, he becomes entangled in a relationship between a couple of the city’s inhabitants as the dynamics of the expat community unravel around them.

Sérgio Coragem,...

Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay’s Hysteria unfolds in a Berlin soundstage and a claustrophobic apartment, weaving Germany’s ongoing dialogue about migration into a self‑reflexive thriller. The film follows a crew shooting a reenactment of the tragic 1993 Solingen arson, when far‑right extremists set fire to a Turkish family’s home. After a charred copy of the Koran turns up among the props, extras recruited from a nearby refugee center voice their outrage, forcing the secular filmmakers to confront the ethics of staging sacred trauma.

At the center of this cultural fault line is Elif, a Turkish‑German intern whose career aspirations collide with mounting suspicion when she misplaces the apartment keys—and then discovers the master footage has vanished. By intercutting CCTV, Hi8 video and smartphone clips, the film shifts perspectives between director’s monitor, extras’ testimony and Elif’s panicked point of view, heightening a sense of moral ambiguity.

The Cannes Film Festival will announce the lineup for its 78th edition Thursday morning at 11 a.m. Paris time (2 a.m. Pt/5 a.m. Et). Cannes Delegate General Thierry Frémaux and President Iris Knobloch, who was recently confirmed for a second three-year term in the role until 2027, will preside over the press conference.

The stream can be found on the official Cannes website as well as the festival’s official Facebook page, Twitter feed, and YouTube channel.

You can also watch the stream live here.

Deadline will also be live reporting the list of Official Selection films as the names come in. This year’s festival will run from May 13 to 24. Earlier this week, the fest confirmed Tom Cruise and Paramount‘s Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning will debut on the Croisette. The movie will play Out of Competition on May 14 with Cruise, director Christopher McQuarrie, and cast treading the carpet.

The Cannes Film Festival will announce the Official Selection for its 78th edition, running from May 13 to 24, on April 10 in Paris.

Cannes Delegate General Thierry Frémaux and President Iris Knobloch, who was recently confirmed for a second three-year term in the role until 2027, will preside over the press conference.

The world’s biggest film festival and market is currently riding high on a record performance at the Academy Awards earlier this month, with 2024 selections Anora, Emilia Pérez, Flow and The Substance taking nine Oscars between them.

Sean Baker’s 2024 Palme d’Or winner Anora led the pack, winning Best Picture, Director, Screenplay, Actress, and Editing.

Ahead of the press conference, the traditional Cannes prediction talk is in full tilt.

Titles for which speculation is running high include Tom Cruise’s Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, Wes Anderson’s The Phoenician Scheme, Richard Linklater’s Nouvelle Vague, Maryam Touzani’s Calle Malaga,...

Exclusive: Saudi director Haifaa Al Mansour’s thriller Unidentified has secured distribution in a raft of territories out of the European Film Market.

Paris-based Paradise City Film, which recently rebranded from Memento International, has unveiled pre-sales to France (Kmbo), Spain, Italy (Eagle Pictures), Benelux (Imagine Film), Scandinavia (Triart Film) and Greece (Cinobo).

Unidentified marks Al Mansour’s first movie in her native Saudi Arabia since the 2019 drama The Perfect Candidate and reunites her with its star Mila Al Zahrani.

The film is currently in post-production and is expected to launch as a major film festival over the summer.

The European deals follow hot-on-the heels of Sony Pictures Classics’ multi-territory acquisition of rights for North America, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Turkey, Australia, New Zealand, and worldwide airlines, announced ahead of the EFM.

Unidentified takes its cue from the discovery of the lifeless body of a teenage girl...

While the official lineup of films at the Cannes Film Festival taking place in May won’t be made public until mid-April, there are already some early rumblings of what projects we should expect to see on that list and there are plenty of reasons to get excited.

That group of potential entries as compiled by Deadline includes directorial debuts with Kristen Stewart‘s “The Chronology Of Water” (still a chance it might not be completed in time), and Scarlett Johansson‘s “Eleanor The Great.”

Read More: Tom Cruise’s ‘Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning’ Potentially Eyeing Cannes Film Festival Screening

Notable and high-profile films that are expected to screen at Cannes, pending official confirmation: Jim Jarmusch‘s latest effort “Father, Mother, Sister, Brother,” Spike Lee‘s “Highest 2 Lowest” (a remake of the Akira Kurosawa kidnap drama that stars Lee’s longtime muse Denzel Washington), Wes Anderson‘s...

Exclusive: With one of Europe’s three flagship film festivals approaching half way stage, minds are already beginning to focus on the shape of the next two: Cannes and Venice. The former will be upon us before we know it.

As ever, there is no shortage of anticipated movies in contention. Indeed, one leading producer we spoke to remarked that 2025 is looking like “a particularly tough year, a much stronger year than 2024”. The surprise to us during our research for this piece is just how many big movies look like they will push to fall rather than launch on the Croisette. That’s not to say that Cannes won’t be box office. It remains the gold standard. The importance of both Cannes and Venice as launchpads is at an all-time high. Just look at how many Oscar nominees now start out at those two festivals — five of this year...

Memento Intl., the well-established Paris-based international sales company behind “Call Me by Your Name,” is rebranding as Paradise City Sales and is bringing “My Notes on Mars,” starring Greta Lee and Andrew Scott, to the EFM.

Emilie Georges, who founded Memento Intl. 20 years ago, launched the production vehicle Paradise City a few years ago with London-based Naima Abed. The pair have had great success with the pics they delivered, notably 2025 Sundance hit ”Atropia,” starring Alia Shawkat and Channing Tatum, and Anthony Chen’s 2023 drama ”Drift,” with Cynthia Erivo. “My Notes of Mars,” Hungarian director Lili Horvát’s English-language debut feature, is the latest co-production on Paradise City’s slate.

The rebranding comes at a pivotal time as Georges and Abed seek to build a closer bond between production and sales. As such, the sales outlet will now operate under the same Paradise City banner, which has offices in Paris and London,...

“The Ugly Stepsister” — the Cinderella-inspired horror that emerged from Sundance as one of the festival’s buzziest titles — has sold worldwide for Memento International.

From director Emilie Blichfeldt and a beauty-horror reimagining of the classic fairy tale — the film already sold to Shudder for North America, the U.K. and Australia-New Zealand before it’s world premiere in Park City, while Mer Film and Scanbox will release it in Scandinavia.

The film has also now sold to Esc FIlms (France), Capelight (Germany and Austria), Beta Films (Spain), Lev Cinema (Israel), Ads (Hungary), Cay Films (Romania), Cine Canibal (Latin America), New Select (Japan), House of M (Thailand), Pt Falcon (Indonesia), Estin Film (Baltics) and Vendetta Filmes (Portugal). Negotiations are reportedly ongoing in Italy, Greece and Ukraine, among others.

“The Ugly Stepsister” follows Elvira as she prepares to earn the prince’s affection at any cost. In a kingdom where beauty is a brutal business,...

One of the hottest sales titles at TIFF 2024 is finally hitting theaters. Sony Pictures Classics will release “On Swift Horses,” the period war drama and romance from director Daniel Minahan this April, after it closes out the SXSW Film & TV Festival next month.

“On Swift Horses” features a cast that’s as buzzy as it gets with Jacob Elordi, Daisy Edgar-Jones, and Will Poulter, and is based on a novel by Shannon Pufahl with a screenplay by Bryce Kass. The film also stars Sasha Calle and Diego Calva.

The film follows Muriel and her husband Lee as they are beginning a bright new life in California upon Lee’s return from the Korean War. But their newfound stability is upended by the arrival of Lee’s charismatic brother, Julius, a wayward gambler with a secret past. A dangerous love triangle quickly forms. When Julius takes off in search of the...

Berlin-based Arthood Entertainment has taken international sales rights to Yalla Parkour, a documentary filmed in Gaza before the recent war, which is set to play in Panorama at the Berlinale next week.

It marks the feature directorial debut of US-based Palestinian filmmaker Areeb Zuaiter and follows parkour athlete Ahmed Matar through Gaza’s devasted landscape.

The film premiered at Doc NYC in November, winning the international competition grand jury prize, before playing at Red Sea. It will receive its European premiere in Berlin on February 19.

Produced by Basel Mawlawi of Malmo-based Kinana Films, the feature is a Sweden-Qatar-Saudi Arabia-Palestine co-production...

Sundance prizewinning director Lemohang Mosese’s documentary feature “Ancestral Visions of the Future” has been boarded by Memento International ahead of its world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival.

“Ancestral Visions of the Future” marks Mosese’s follow up to “This Is Not a Burial, It’s a Resurrection” which won premiered at Venice in 2019 and went on to win the special jury award for visionary filmmaking at Sundance in 2020. The documentary reteams Mosese with Memento which had sold “This Is Not a Burial, It’s a Resurrection” to more than 20 countries and presented it at more than 80 festivals despite the pandemic. It won more than 30 awards around the world and is part of the Criterion Collection.

In “Ancestral Visions of the Future,” Mosese, a Berlin-based filmmaker and visual artist, blurs the lines between reality and reconstruction and explores his own childhood in Lesotho, a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Mosese confronts...

Sony Pictures Classics has acquired Unidentified, Haifaa Al Mansour’s latest, in North America, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Turkey, Australia, New Zealand, and for worldwide airlines.

Directed by Al Mansour and written and produced by Al Mansour and Brad Niemann, the film is described as a “contemporary Saudi-language thriller” and is currently in post-production.

The synopsis reads: In Unidentified, the drama is sparked by the discovery of the lifeless body of a teenage girl in the desert. When no one claims the body, Noelle Al Saffan, a newly divorced, true crime aficionado who recently lost a child of her own, gets obsessively involved. Despite a ticking clock that seemingly guarantees the girl’s senseless death will be discarded as a cold case, Noelle is determined to identify the body and uncover the truth. She slowly unravels a mystery entangled within a traditional society in transition, where women are learning to...

Sony Pictures Classics has acquired “Unidentified,” the latest feature from groundbreaking Saudi director Haifaa Al Mansour.

The film reunites Al Mansour with SPC 13 years after it came aboard her landmark 2012 debut “Wadjda,” which became the first feature to be shot entirely in Saudi Arabia, the first feature shot by a female Saudi director and the first Saudi Oscar submission.

Currently in post-production and described as a contemporary Arab-language thriller, “Unidentified” — written and produced by Al Mansour and Brad Niemann (“The Perfect Candidate”) — stars Mila Al Zahrani (“The Perfect Candidate”) and Shafi Al Harthi (“A Woman’s Life”). The story revolves around the discovery of the lifeless body of a teenage girl in the desert. When no one claims the body, Noelle Al Saffan, a newly divorced, true crime aficionado who recently lost a child of her own, gets obsessively involved. Despite a ticking clock that seemingly guarantees the girl’s...

Sony Pictures Classics is reteaming with Wadjda director Haifaa Al Mansour on her upcoming contemporary Saudi thriller Unidentified, taking North America, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Turkey, Australia, New Zealand, and worldwide airlines.

Al Mansour wrote, directs and is producing alongside Brad Niemann. This is her first feature since 2019 The Perfect Candidate after several years directing American TV and commercials.

Currently in post, Unidentified stars Mila Al Zahrani (The Perfect Candidate) and Shafi Al Harthi (A Woman’s Life) and centres on a true crime aficionado who tries to solve the case of a teenage girl’s corpse found in the desert.

Sony Pictures Classics have pre-bought Unidentified, the new feature from Saudi filmmaker Haifaa Al Mansour (Wadjda, The Perfect Candidate), acquiring the contemporary Saudi-language thriller film for North America, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Turkey, Australia, New Zealand, and worldwide airlines. Writen, directed by Al Mansour, and produced together Brad Niemann (The Perfect Candidate), Unidentified is currently in post-production.

Mila Al Zahrani (The Perfect Candidate) and Shafi Al Harthi (A Woman’s Life) star in the thriller, in which the discovery of a teenage girl’s lifeless body in the desert sparks an investigation. When no one claims the body, Noelle Al Saffan, a newly divorced true crime aficionado who recently lost a child of her own, becomes obsessed with uncovering the truth. Facing a ticking clock that threatens to turn the case cold, Noelle’s determination leads her into a mystery embedded within a society in transition, where women are fighting for greater autonomy.

Memento International has taken on international sales rights for Shatara Michelle Ford’s second feature Dreams In Nightmares, a road movie about a trio of queer Black friends on a life-changing journey that will play in Berlin Film Festival’s Panorama selection.

The film follows the three protagonists as they set off across the US on a search to find a missing fourth friend, revealing truths about themselves and contemporary American society along the way. It stars Denée Benton, Sasha Compère, Charlie Barnett, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Mars Storm Rucker and Dezi Bing.

Ford produces alongside Pin-Chun Liu of US/Taiwan outfit 120E Films,...

Memento International has scored a wave of deals for “Gazer,” a neo-noir psychological thriller by Ryan J.Sloan which had its world premiere at Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight.

Set in New Jersey, the paranoia thriller was lensed in 16mm stock, and stars Ariella Mastronianni as Frankie, a young mother with a rare degenerative brain condition called dyschronometria. Struggling to perceive time, she uses cassette tapes for guidance and is unable to find steady work with her condition. When a mysterious woman offers her a risky job, she takes it, unaware of the dark consequences that await.

“Gazer” picked up by Rialto Distribution for Australia & New Zealand, Gulf Film for the Middle East, Av-Jet International for Taiwan, Pt Falcon for Indonesia, Feather Stone for Vietnam and Skeye for Airlines. The movie was previously acquired in North America by Metrograph Pictures who will set a theatrical rollout across the U.S. and Canada on Feb.

Memento International has boarded Belgian filmmaker Laurent Micheli’s French-language thriller Nino In Paradise (Nino Dans La Nuit) for international sales.

The adaptation of Capucine Azaviele and Simon Johannin’s best-selling novel follows a 20-year-old whose failed attempt to join the Foreign Legion sets him on a path of odd jobs and wild nights as he and his friends try to find their place in a world that seems to have given up on them.

It is Belgian filmmaker Micheli’s third feature after his 2016 debut Even Lovers Get The Blues and 2019’sLola starring Benoit Magimel. Newcomer Oscar Högström stars with Mara Taquin,...

Inspired by Saudi writer-director-producer Ahd Kamel’s childhood, the nostalgic coming-of-age story “My Driver & I” unfolds against the backdrop of Jeddah in the 1980s and ’90s and traces the relationship of a rebellious girl and the Sudanese chauffeur her affluent family hires as a driver. A more conventional-looking and less compelling watch than “Wadjda” (2012), the Saudi picture to which it is sure to be compared and in which Kamel played a key acting role, “Driver” lacks the convincing struggle against limitations depicted by director Haifaa Al Mansour’s earlier movie.

Indeed, where “Wadjda” was tart, “Driver” is over-sweet to the point of sentimentality. Despite some sad circumstances, just how easy and nice everything seems to be for the central family and their staff somewhat beggars belief. Nevertheless, further festival play is likely and the drama will disseminate widely in Arabic-speaking territories through Dubai-based pay TV and streaming service Osn+.

A bright,...

Exclusive: Joanne Froggatt, best known for starring in the long-running ITV/PBS period drama Downton Abbey, has signed on to join Guy Ritchie’s untitled crime series starring Tom Hardy (Venom: The Last Dance) for Paramount+ with Showtime.

Froggatt joins as a series regular alongside Mandeep Dhillon (CSI: Vegas) and Jasmine Jobson (Top Boy).

Production on the global crime series, previously known as The Associate (w/t), is currently underway in London. The show’s leads are Hardy, Pierce Brosnan, and Helen Mirren. Hardy stars as Harry Da Souza, the professional conciliator of the fictional Harrigan Irish crime family, Brosnan will play Conrad Harrigan, the Harrigan family head, and Mirren is Maeve Harrigan, Conrad’s wife, and the Harrigan family matriarch.

Froggatt will play Jan Da Souza, Harry’s wife. Dhillon will play Seraphina, Conrad’s daughter. Jobson has the role of Zosia, who works for Harry and is one of his closest associates.

Ava DuVernay, Chloë Sevigny, Cailee Spaeny and Cannes Film Festival president Iris Knobloch were among the luminaries who took part in the chic vernissage (preview) hosted by Miu Miu for its first ever Tales & Tellers spotlight during Art Basel Paris at the Palais d’Iéna on Tuesday.

Running Oct. 16 – 20 as part of Art Basel Paris, the exhibition showcases more than 20 short films from the Miu Miu Women’s Tales series, bringing the work to life with bespoke installations and live performances by actresses and models dressed as characters from each title.

The retrospective exhibition, designed and curated by Goshka Macuga and Elvira Dyangani Ose, features Miu Miu commissioned shorts from the likes of DuVernay, Sevigny, Zoe R. Cassavetes (“Broken English”), Lila Avilés (“Tótem”), Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović (“Murina”), Crystal Moselle (“Skate Kitchen”), Carla Simón (“Alcarràs”), Catherine Martin (“Elvis”), Haifaa Al-Mansour (“Wadjda”) and Isabel Sandoval (“Lingua Franca”) – all of whom were on...

Miuccia Prada’s fashion brand Miu Miu has unveiled the talent-packed program of its Tales & Tellers conversations lineup which will unfold at the Palais d’Iena during the Art Basel Paris. Miu Miu is an official partner of the public program.

Tales & Tellers was conceived by Polish artist Goshka Macuga and curated by Elvira Dyangani Ose, director of the Museum of Contemporary Art of Barcelona. An immersive, site-specific art project and series of short film screenings and conversations, Tales & Tellers was influenced by Miu Miu’s collaborations within the worlds of filmmaking and art.

Kicking off with a chic vernissage on Oct. 15 on the eve of opening of Art Basel Paris, this year’s inaugural Tales & Tellers program will bring together directors, talent and artists coming from different horizons who have participated in Miu Miu’s Women’s Tales and/or collaborated with the brand on the fashion shows.

Five panels hosted in two days,...

Antonio Vivaldi, the Italian Baroque composer and violinist who penned “The Four Seasons,” will be portrayed in “Primavera,” the feature debut of Damiano Michieletto, a leading opera director. Memento International has boarded the film which begins shooting this month in Rome and Venice.

“Primavera” was penned by Ludovica Rampoldi, the award-winning screenwriter of movies such as “The Traitor” and “Gomorrah – the series,” among others. The script is loosely adapted from Tiziano Scarpa’s critically acclaimed novel “Stabat Mater.”

Set in 18th century Venice, “Primavera” follows Cecilia, a 20-year-old violin virtuoso who lives at the Pièta orphanage. Despite her talent, Cecilia remains confined within the orphanage, knowing that marriage is the only way out. Yet, her life takes a turn after she meets Antonio Vivaldi, a brilliant and ambitious composer who becomes the new violin teacher. Guided by Vivaldi and his music, Cecilia “finds the strength to challenge the destiny that once seemed inevitable,...

Will Seefried’s romance drama “Lilies Not for Me,” led by Fionn O’Shea (“Normal People”) and Robert Aramayo (“The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power”), has been boarded by Memento International in the run up to its world premiere at the Edinburgh Film Festival.

The cast of rising actors also includes Erin Kellyman (“Willow”), Jodi Balfour and Louis Hofmann (“Dark”).

Set in 1920s England, “Lilies Not for Me” revolves around a gay novelist and his psychiatric nurse who form an unlikely friendship over a series of doctor-prescribed dates. “Through their conversations, he tells her the story of his relationship with an old friend which spiraled out of control when they turned to a risky procedure to cure themselves of their forbidden feelings for one another,” the synopsis reads.

The film hails from “Call Me by Your Name” producers Emilie Georges and Naima Abed at Paradise City, as well as Hannes Otto,...

Exclusive: Director Haifaa Al Mansour is returning to her native Saudi Arabia for the shoot of crime feature Unidentified, exploring the reality of women amid the current period of immense social change in the country.

“I am so excited to return home to Saudi Arabia for my third film exploring the hidden lives of Saudi women, and to use the criminal mystery genre to explore a gripping story rooted in the deeper issues that affect women in the Kingdom,” said Al Mansour.

The movie is in pre-production and due to begin shooting soon. UTA Independent Film Group and Memento International are teaming up to co-sell and will launch the project in Cannes.

The drama is sparked by the discovery of the lifeless body of a teenage girl in the desert outside a small town. When no one claims the body, Noelle Al Saffan, a newly divorced, true crime aficionado who...

The right costume can evoke emotions and awaken a character in a way that no other part of a film can. And this is why Film AlUla, the Royal Commission for AlUla’s film agency, has just announced that Italian-Japanese artistic and creative director Nicola Formichetti is its new costume mentor for its AlUla Creates initiative.

Developing AlUla as a tourist destination is a mega project for Saudi Arabia, and Film AlUla positions this northwest region in the country as an international filming destination, building it out with facilities and infrastructure for blockbuster film production. The 2023 film Kandahar, featuring Gerard Butler, was filmed in AlUla.

So, tapping Formichetti is a strategic move by Film AlUla, as his accomplishments in fashion have created iconic pop cultural moments in history. It was Formichetti who was behind Lady Gaga’s 2009 MTV Video Music Awards appearance, with her five dress changes in Jean Paul Gaultier...

A full house greeted Chris Hemsworth as he dropped into the Red Sea Film Festival for an In Conversation event with jury head, Baz Luhrmann. It was something of an Oz fest as the beginning of the conversation was dominated by George Miller and littered with references to fellow antipodean superstars like Hugh Jackman, Nicole Kidman and Mel Gibson. It was natural Miller was predominant as Hemsworth had flown directly from Comic Con in Brazil, where the first trailer of Miller’s “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” was premiered.

“There was a lot of enthusiasm,” Hemsworth said. “We finished filming a year and a bit ago, so there was a lot of anticipation from me and the fan base.” Both Luhrmann and Hemsworth credited Miller as an inspiration on their careers. Luhrmann quoted Akira Kurosawa in praising Miller’s ability to create an “immaculate reality” as a storyteller who showed...

Baz Luhrmann has discovered a surprising result of his stint as head of jury at the Red Sea Film Festival: empathy for film critics.

“I’ve never done this before. I’ve never been forced to sit and watch three to four movies a day,” Luhrmann tells Variety. “It’s given me more compassion for those journalists and people on juries. And I don’t mean in a bad way, because I’ve got unbelievable energy from it. And it’s not easy — just the amount of movies you see. But it’s really, really stimulating. I’ve been reminded that, actually, movies can be really powerful and really good.”

The movies have also provided Luhrmann with an argument for his decision, not without controversy, to participate in the festival. “When people talk about the Red Sea Festival, my answer is really simple. Go and see the movies, then come...

The programme may open to filmmakers from other regions, beyond the Middle East and Africa.

Red Sea International Film Festival is set to launch a programme dedicated to developing animated features.

Previously, animation projects were able to apply for the Red Sea Fund, which provides grants to support films that spotlight narratives and new talents emerging from Arab and African filmmakers. They could also be submitted to the Red Sea Lodge development and mentorship programme.

However, animation was excluded from this year’s Lodge selection as Red Sea Labs organisers forged plans to establish a programme focussed solely on animated projects.

The third edition of the Red Sea Film Festival, taking place in Jeddah between Nov. 30 – Dec. 9, will be the culmination of a highly successful funding cycle for the Red Sea Film Foundation. Created in 2019 following the lifting of Saudi Arabia’s 30-year cinema ban, the foundation aims to support the local and regional film industry through the organizing and championing of the festival, plus a focus on education and grants.

In 2021, the foundation launched the Red Sea Fund, a financing arm focused on supporting emerging filmmakers and established directors from the Arab world and Africa. Grants were distributed between projects in development, production and post-production. The fund supported 94 projects in the first year and over 250 films in the two years since, including films by acclaimed filmmakers such as Abderrahmane Sissako, Haifaa Al-Mansour and Kaouther Ben Hania.

The impact of the fund was felt throughout the biggest festivals in the world...

Mubi has unveiled their November 2023 lineup, featuring notable new releases such as Ashley McKenzie’s Queens of the Qing Dynasty and Alain Gomis’ Thelonious Monk documentary Rewind & Play. Also in the lineup is three stellar earlier films from Christian Petzold––Yella, Jerichow, and The State I Am In––along with John Cassavetes’ Husbands and Gloria, a Hayao Miyazaki short, and a retrospective dedicated to Argentinian-born, French-educated filmmaker and theorist Nelly Kaplan.

Check out the lineup below and get 30 days free here.

November 1

A Very Curious Girl, directed by Nelly Kaplan | A Mischievous Rebellion: Films by Nelly Kaplan

The Pleasure of Love, directed by Nelly Kaplan | A Mischievous Rebellion: Films by Nelly Kaplan

Charles and Lucie, directed by Nelly Kaplan | A Mischievous Rebellion: Films by Nelly Kaplan

Papa the Little Boats, directed by Nelly Kaplan | A Mischievous Rebellion: Films by Nelly Kaplan

Yella, directed by Christian Petzold | Phantoms Among Us: The Films of Christian Petzold

Jerichow,...

Lionel Messi Gets Animated With Sony

Argentinian soccer star Lionel Messi has inspired an animated series from Sony Music Entertainment and Sony Picture Television – Kids. Messi and the Giants, which also counts Leo Messi Management as a co-creator, will launch at Mipcom next week. The series depicts a 12-year-old Messi as he confronts various obstacles while traveling a video game on a quest to get home. “Football is the only sport around the world that can inspire excitement and connection in the same way that storytelling does,” said Joe D’Ambrosia, EVP & General Manager, Sony Pictures Television – Kids. Story editor and writer Guy Toubes (Odd Squad) is attached to the project, while Canary Islands-based Atlantis Animation serves as the lead creative studio driving graphic development and art treatment.

Srmg and Warner Bros. Discovery Launch Asharq Discovery

Riyadh-registered, pan-mena integrated media group Srmg and Warner Bros. Discovery have partnered to launch Arabic-language infotainment platform Asharq Discovery.

Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea International Film Festival has cancelled its swanky Women in Cinema gala event at the upcoming Venice Film Festival in response to the ongoing actors’ strike.

Red Sea CEO Mohammed Al Turki announced the move on his Instagram account on Monday.

“Due to the actors’ strike and in solidarity with the actors. We are unable to proceed with the Women in Cinema event,” he wrote.

Venice, running from August 30 to September 9, is one of the first big film events to feel the heat of the actors’ strike, with original opening film Challengers pulled after its announcement due to the fact its key cast, topped by Zendaya, would be unlikely to attend.

Festival head Alberto Barbera has pulled together an impressive line-up nonetheless but it remains to be seen how much talent will be swilling around the Lido with little end in sight for the actors’ strike which began mid-July.

Submissions Now Open for Short Film Competition

AlUla – 25 July, 2023: Film AlUla, the Royal Commission for AlUla's film agency, today launches ‘AlUla Creates' short film competition, joined by acclaimed production company Vertigo Films (Monsters, Britannia, Bronson), award-winning Saudi Filmmaker Haifaa Al Mansour (The Perfect Candidate, Wadjda) and internationally renowned director, producer and actor Katie Holmes (Rare Objects, Alone Together, Batman Begins). Vertigo Films and Film AlUla will helm the competition to support and establish three Saudi women directors in the international marketplace.

Vertigo Films has a longstanding history of discovering and supporting new talent since launching in 2002, with a number of their films and Hetv productions kick-starting the international careers of leading names, including Tom Hardy (Bronson), Gareth Edwards (Monsters), Vanessa Kirby (Kill Command), Sofia Boutella (StreetDance 2), Tom Shankland (The Children), Nicholas Winding Refn (Bronson) and Issa Lopez (Britannia).

Haifaa Al Mansour is the first female filmmaker in Saudi...

Vertigo Films & Haifaa Al Mansour Join Saudi Female Filmmaker Program

UK production company Vertigo Films (Monsters, Britannia, Bronson) and pioneering Saudi director Haifaa Al Mansour (The Perfect Candidate, Wadjda) have come on board a Film AlUla program aimed at mentoring emerging female Saudi filmmakers. The initiative, bannered the AlUla Creates’ Saudi Women Director Program, was first announced this year at Cannes Film Festival, alongside news that Katie Holmes was also getting involved. Vertigo, Al Mansour and Holmes will work together to select and then support three emerging female filmmakers from Saudi Arabia. Submissions for the program run until August 31. “When I first started making films the idea of working as a female Saudi director seemed outlandish. But I knew that the world was curious to hear from us, to hear our side of the story, and that films from home would strike a chord with audiences around the world,” said Al Mansour,...

Cannes, France – 18 May 2023 – In celebration of female voices in film, the Red Sea International Film Festival (RedSeaIFF) and Vanity Fair Europe hosted the Women's Stories Gala event this evening, shining a light on the achievements of women both on and behind the camera who are helping shape the film industry and inspire a new generation of talent in Saudi Arabia, Africa, and India.

During the event held alongside the 76th Cannes Film Festival at the spectacular Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc in Cap d'Antibes, the RedSeaIFF and Vanity Fair Europe honoured six women making significant strides, breaking down barriers and paving the way for future generations.

They include; Fatima AlBanawi – Saudi actor, director and writer who received international acclaim for her leading role in Barakah Meets Barakah (2016) and broke cinema records with her latest AlHamour (2023). She has played an array of roles ranging from the road-trip thriller Route 10, family drama Champions,...

This article contains spoilers for Mayfair Witches episode 5.

In Mayfair Witches episode 5 “The Thrall,” Alexandra Daddario plays with double indemnity as her Dr. Rowan Fielding gets a taste of forbidden fruit, served up as a perennially fresh egg. Until recently, she was a neurosurgeon with a particularly special talent for predictive diagnosis, who found how to weaponize it. Now, as newly inherited designee of the Mayfair family, she is endowed with all the gifts of “the 13th Witch.” Rowan’s first dinner at the head of the table didn’t go very well, and it’s a damned shame. It started with a blessing.

For the majority of “The Thrall,” Rowan gets to spend quality time with Ciprien Grieve (Tongayi Chirisa), after the aftermath of the fiery and sticky attack of “Curiouser and Curiouser.” But the psychometry specialist of the occult research society Talamasca invests far greater quantity in the...

Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Fund has unveiled its latest round of feature film grantees from the Arab world and Africa.

The announcement comes just days after the fund revealed it had boarded French director Maïwenn’s upcoming costume drama Jeanne du Barry starring Johnny Depp, in its first European investment as executive producer.

In its latest funding round for Arab and African filmmakers, it is getting behind 36 productions by Saudi, Arab and African filmmakers, 25 in or on the verge of production, 11 in post-production.

The 25 production grant winners include upcoming films by established directors such as Abderrahmane Sissako’s The Perfumed Hill, Haifaa Al-Mansour’s Miss Camel, Annemarie Jacir, Kaouther Ben Hania’s Mime, Cherien Dabis, and Karim Moussaoui’s The Vanishing.

The fund has also gotten behind buzzy, emerging talents such as Saudi Arabian filmmaker Sara Mesfer, who is gearing up for her first solo feature Habibi And I In Eden.

Further projects come from Mehdi M. Barsaoui, Ameer Fakher Eldin, Haifaa Al-Mansour and Annemarie Jacir.

The Red Sea Film Festival Foundation has unveiled the 36 recipients of the Red Sea Fund’s 2022 production and post-production funding cycles.

All titles are from Arab and African filmmakers, who will receive grants to help them complete films that shine a light on narratives and new talents emerging from the region.

Two films selected have previously received support at the development stage by the Red Sea Fund. Captain Mbaye from Rwandan filmmaker Joel Karekezi follows a Un observer sent to Rwanda as genocide breaks out.

Saudi director Haifaa Al Mansour’s long-gestating female empowerment feature film “Miss Camel” is among the projects being supported by Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Festival Foundation. The org has announced the recipients of the Red Sea Fund’s latest round of grants for Saudi, Arab and African films.

Al Mansour made waves in 2013 with “Wadjda,” about a 10-year-old Saudi girl who wants to ride a bicycle even though it is forbidden in her country. She more recently directed English-language biopic “Mary Shelley,” starring Elle Fanning, and the comedy drama “The Perfect Candidate,” which launched from Venice in 2019, about a young female physician who manoeuvres through her male-dominated society to run in municipal elections.

“Miss Camel” is about a Saudi teen who will do anything to escape her arranged marriage and fulfill her goal of attending art school outside of Saudi Arabia, according to a synopsis.

Other well-known directors...

Saudi Arabian actress Ahd Kamel’s long gestated feature directorial debut My Driver And I is a step closer to coming to fruition, following the arrival of fresh partners on the project.

Dubai-based pay-tv and streaming giant Osn has boarded the project to make an Osn Original.

It announced its commitment to the project and partnership with the Red Sea Fund, Mad Solutions and the U.K.’s Caspian Films at dinner at the Red Sea International Film Festival on Tuesday evening.

Jeddah-based production companies Yellow Camel and Millimeter are also on board as co-producers.

The partners have also unveiled the key cast including Jordanian star Saba Mubarak as well as Saudi Hip-Hop Artist Qusai Kheder, Sudanese You Will Die At 20 breakout Mostafa Shehata, and Baraa Alem, who co-starred in Saudi road movie-thriller Route 10 and will soon be seen in fantasy series Hwjn.

The feature is being produced as an...

Dubai-based pay-tv and streaming service Osn has partnered with Arab film distributor Mad Solutions, the Red Sea Fund, and the U.K.’s Global Screen Fund, plus U.K. companies Corniche Media and Caspian Films, on Saudi multihyphenate Ahd Kamel’s long gestating feature film debut “My Driver and I.”

The production partnership for the feature was announced during a gala dinner at this week’s Red Sea Film Festival, which is taking place in Jeddah, where the film is also set.

Jordanian actress Saba Mubarak will star alongside regional acting talents, Qusai Kheder, Mostafa Shehata and Baraa Alem.

The feature is being produced as an Osn Original for its pay-tv and streaming network that will showcase the film for its Mena audiences. Mad Solutions holds all international distribution rights outside those Arab-speaking territories.

Kamel grew up in Saudi Arabia and moved to New York in 1998, where she studied at the Parsons School of Design,...

Saudi Arabia’s emerging fashion design labels have been making their red carpet world premiere over the past few days at the Red Sea International Film Festival, running December 1-10 in the port city of Jeddah.

A raft of regional and international celebrity guests has been hitting gala red carpets in local creations, alongside other stars in outfits by long-established luxury brands, in an initiative spearheaded by the country’s fledgling Fashion Commission.

Related: Red Sea Film Festival News, Red Carpet & Deadline Studio Video: Full Coverage

The campaign comes just three years after the country relaxed ultra-strict dress codes stipulating that women had to wear an abaya and cover their hair in public, as part of reforms to open up society and diversify the economy away from a reliance on oil revenues.

The push to promote Saudi Arabia’s emerging fashion labels on the Red Sea’s red carpet is the brainchild of Burak Cakmak,...

Oscar-winning director Oliver Stone voiced support for Saudi Arabia at the opening of the country’s Red Sea International Film Festival on Thursday (1 December), saying that the nation is “misunderstood in the present world”.

Stone, who is attending the event’s second ever edition as president of the international jury, said at the ceremony: “You see the changes that are coming here, the reforms. I think people who judge too harshly should come and visit this place and see for themselves.”

The festival, running until 10 December in Jeddah, coincides with the fifth anniversary of Saudi Arabia lifting its 35-year cinema ban.

The event’s chief executive, Mohammed Al Turki, has promised a “zero-censorship” festival that will feature LGBTQ+ themes, despite being held in a country where homosexuality is illegal.

Mr Al Turki told the film industry news website Deadline Hollywood: “The festival has a zero censorship policy. I don...

Shekar Kapur says “winds need to change” in international film industry cultural dynamics.

US director Oliver Stone spoke out in support of Saudi Arabia at the opening ceremony of the second Red Sea International Film Festival in Jeddah on Thursday night (December 1).

Attending the festival as the president of the international jury, Stone said the country is “much misunderstood in the present world – people who have judged too harshly should come and visit to see for themselves”, to applause from the room. He also noted “changes” and “reforms” that he feels are making the nation a more hospitable place to visit.