News

Exclusive: Oscar winner Jamie Foxx has boarded Egyptian filmmaker Sarah Goher’s directorial debut Happy Birthday as a producer under his banner Foxxhole Productions with producing partner Datari Turner.

The film is set to premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival today as part of the International Narrative Competition. Goher’s Egyptian narrative feature is the only Arab film in the festival, as well as the only film in the Arabic language.

Happy Birthday is described as a reflection of class disparities in Egypt and tells the moving story of Toha, a child maid, who goes against all odds so that Nelly, her best friend and the daughter of the family she works for, has a birthday party. Her mother Laila, caught in a pending divorce, is reluctant to make it happen but with Toha’s determination, Nelly’s wish for a birthday party comes true.

Goher co-wrote Happy Birthday with...

Exclusive: Dubai-based global management and production company 75East has signed Egyptian writer, director and producer Omar Hilal, director of feel-good drama comedy Voy! Voy! Voy!, which was Egypt’s 2023 Oscar submission.

The picture, which is Hilal’s first feature, is inspired by the true story of a man who fakes blindness to join a team of visually impaired footballers bound for Poland to fulfil his dream of escaping Egypt to live in Europe.

75East Principal and Talent Manager Antone Saliba announced the signing at the Red Sea Film Festival, where he is attending the Red Sea Souk market and joined FilmNation CEO Glen Basner and Mbc Studios General Manager Zeinab Abul Al Samh among others on an industry panel this week.

Voy, Voy, Voy! was Hilal’s first feature after a 20-year career as one of the preeminent advertising directors of the Arab world.

After topping the Egyptian box office...

Prominent Egyptian producer Mohamed Hefzy is branching out into Saudi Arabia by setting up an outpost of his prolific Film Clinic shingle – which has six titles at Saudi’s Red Sea Film Festival – in the Saudi capital of Riyadh.

The milestone move comes after Hefzy has been busy forging rapports with Saudi’s film community on a number of projects including Egyptian director Abu Bakr Shawky’s high-end Saudi-set adventure movie “Hajjan” – which had its regional premiere at Red Sea last year after launching from Toronto. “Hajjan” was produced by Film Clinic in tandem with the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture, known as Ithra.

“This is something that’s been in the cards for a couple of years,” Hefzy told Variety. He added that though Film Clinic’s Saudi base will be in Riyadh, the idea is to be active throughout the entire kingdom. “We’re talking about Riyadh.

Exclusive: Marvel’s Moon Knight Director Mohamed Diab has revealed fresh details about his new feature Lion, starring Egyptian megastar Mohamed Ramadan in a role inspired by Ancient Rome rebel slave Spartacus.

“It’s a period piece, a kind of Spartacus meets Braveheart set in 1850s Egypt,” said Diab, talking to Deadline on the fringes of Egypt’s El Gouna Film Festival.

Currently mid-way through shooting in Cairo, Lion marks Diab’s first picture back in his native Egypt since 2016 breakthrough Clash. In between times, he made the Palestine-set drama Amira, followed by directing Moon Knight for Marvel.

Diab has revealed very little about the new movie, which was originally announced under the title of Black Lion and is being billed as his most ambitious Arab-language production to date.

“It’s about slavery in the 1850s. It’s an epic film. It’s not based on a real person but inspired by true events.

The Red Sea International Film Festival (Red Sea Iff) has confirmed the third edition will take place from 30 November – 9 December 2023 in Jeddah, nestled on the eastern shore of the Red Sea. The second edition, was widely applauded for significantly expanding the industry and events program alongside presenting 143 films from 66 countries to 39,410 filmgoers and 4,345 film professionals, media and students, with an overall percentage capacity increase of 12.

The 2022 Festival showcased seven new Saudi feature films and 16 short films from an exciting wave of filmmakers, demonstrating the flourishing local industry and innovative filmmakers responsible for driving and bringing an exciting new vibrancy to Saudi cinema.

Shining a light on films from Saudi Arabia, the Arab world, Asia, and Africa, the Festival’s film competition saw Academy Award-winning filmmaker Oliver Stone at the helm and along with his fellow jurors, present 13 Yusr Awards to recognise the highest achievements in storytelling. The Golden Yusr for...

Lotfy Nathan receives best director award for ‘Harka’.

Iraqi director Ahmed Yassin Al Daradji’s Baghdad-set feature Hanging Gardens took home the best film award at the 2022 Red Sea International Film Festival, which announced its Yusr award winners on Thursday, December 8.

Hanging Gardens follows a young boy living as a rubbish picker in the dumps of Baghdad, nicknamed the ‘hanging gardens’, who hits the jackpot when he finds discarded US sex doll.

Scroll down for the full list of winners

The Arabic-language film is a Iraq-Palestine-Egypt-uk-Saudi Arabia co-production. The UK producer is Margaret Glover, who also wrote the script with...

Iraqi filmmaker Ahmed Yassin Al Daradji picked up the Golden Yusr for Best Feature Film and the Yusr Award for Best Cinematic Achievement at the Red International Sea Film Festival with his debut feature Hanging Gardens on Thursday evening.

Co-written by Al Daradji with Margaret Glover, the film follows As’ad, a 12-year-old rubbish picker, who adopts an American sex doll from the Baghdad dumps, and crosses into a perilous red zone, finding himself caught in the crossfire.

The film won Venice’s 2021 edition of Final Cut for the best film in post-production and debuted in the festival’s Horizons Extra sidebar this year.

The award was handed out at a ceremony on Thursday evening by Red Sea Festival Execs Mohammed Al Turki, Jomana Al-Rashid, and Egyptian actress Yousra.

In other top prizes, American filmmaker Lotfy Nathan won the Yusr Award for Best Director for his Tunisia-set debut feature Harka,...

Egyptian superstar Yousra over the course of a four-decade career has starred in a multitude of Arabic film and TV milestones comprising classic movies such as Youssef Chahine’s “Alexandria: Again and Forever” and Marwan Hamed’s “The Yacoubian Building,” and hit Ramadan series “Public Opinion Case,” which was instrumental in changing Egypt’s rape victim legislation.

But while Yousra has appeared in several co-productions, she recently had the first-time experience of working on the Mbc series “Rose & Layla” with a non-Arabic writer-director duo: British screenwriter Cris Cole, creator of the BAFTA-nominated series “Mad Dogs,” and Adrian Shergold, who directed “Mad Dogs.” “Rose & Layla,” which is produced by Maged Mohsen and Safa Aburizik, will be distributed internationally by veteran Brit exec Stewart Till’s Till Entertainment.

The groundbreaking 10-episode show – which will be launching on Mbc’s Shahid streamer by year’s end – marks another first, pairing Yousra with popular...

Vox Cinemas, the dedicated cinema arm of Majid Al Futtaim, has unveiled its debut slate of original Arabic films at the Red Sea International Film Festival in Jeddah, which it proudly sponsors. The diverse line-up, featuring titles from new and established filmmakers in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, UAE and Lebanon, reaffirms Vox Cinemas’ commitment to become a major player in Arabic film production

Ignace Lahoud, Chief Executive Officer, Majid Al Futtaim Leisure, Entertainment & Cinemas said, “It is an exciting time for Arabic film, which has been gaining plaudits and audiences in the region and beyond, and tends to outperform foreign films. Distinctly local productions, particularly in a nascent market like Saudi Arabia, offer an untapped and real opportunity. As the leading cinema company in the region, we are committed to growing a sustainable film industry and believe that establishing a dynamic content ecosystem is integral to achieving this goal.”

He added,...

Slate includes sequel to hit Saudi comedy ‘Masameer’.

Leading Middle East exhibitor and distributor Vox Cinemas has unveiled its debut slate of original Arabic films, including a sequel to Saudi hit comedy Masameer.

Details of its debut slate come after Vox, the largest exhibitor in the Mena region, committed at last year’s Red Sea film festival to produce 25 Arabic films in five years. Vox said the line-up reaffirmed its plan to become a major player in Arabic film production.

Vox is joining forces with Sirb Productions, the sister company of Myrkott Animation Studio which was behind YouTube hit-turned-theatrical feature Masameer.

Dubai-based Middle Eastern exhibition giant Vox Cinemas has unveiled its first slate of original Arabic films, which it is producing under a commitment first announced in 2021 to make 25 films out of the region in five years.

The company, which operates 600 cinema theatres across the Middle East, announced the new projects on the second day of Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea International Film Festival which it is sponsoring this year.

They include Iraqi Dubai-based director Yasir Al Yasiri’s Hwjn. Based on a best-selling Saudi YA novel, it revolves around a mythical jinn whose world is turned upside-down when a human family moves into their home.

The production marks the third collaboration between Vox Cinemas, Image Nation Abu Dhabi and Mbc Studios, under an alliance first announced at the Cannes Film Festival in 2019 to launch a major production partnership for film and TV projects across the Middle East.

Previous collaborations under...

Top Middle East exhibitor Vox Cinemas, which is also active in distribution and production, is ramping up its investment in producing Arabic feature films and unveiling its first full-fledged slate of local original movies at Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Festival.

Vox’s Arabic line-up caters to local market demands by providing commercially viable works in a range of different genres, directed both by Arab newcomers and known names and starring top talents such as Egyptian star Nelly Karim (pictured) who is on the Red Sea fest’s main jury.

Karim is co-starring with popular actors Mohamed Farrag and Bayoumi Fouad (“A Stand Worthy of Men”) in the ensemble dramedy “Voy! Voy! Voy!” that is being launched and teased at the fest today with a press conference and sneak peak footage.

“Voy! Voy! Voy!” marks the directorial debut of hotshot Egyptian commercials director Omar Hilal. Vox is producing the...

Olive Stone voiced support for Saudi Arabia at the opening Thursday of the second edition of country’s Red Sea International Film Festival, which he is attending as president of the international jury.

Related Story Shah Rukh Khan Lands At Red Sea Film Festival To Talk First Ksa Shoot With ‘Dunki’ And Moving Into Action Movies With ‘Pathaan’ Related Story Jackie Chan, Spike Lee, Nadine Labaki Head To Saudi Arabia's Red Sea Fest For High-Profile In-Conversation Line-up Related Story Saudi Arabia's Mbc Group Expands Anime Partnerships With Toei, Aniplex; Acquires TV Tokyo's Hit Reboot 'Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War'

The Oscar-winning director said Saudi Arabia was a country that is “misunderstood in the present world.”

“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,” he told the opening ceremony to cheers and applause.

Stars and industry execs attend Jeddah for second edition of the festival.

International filmmakers including Guy Ritchie, Luca Guadagnino, Spike Lee, Andrew Dominik, Fatih Akin, Adil El Arbi & Bilal Fallah, Gaspar Noe and Kaouther Ben Hania and actors Andy Garcia, Akshay Kumar, Jackie Chan, Nelly Karim, Ranbin Kapoor and Hrithik Roshak are among the talent heading to this month’s Red Sea International FIlm Festival (Rsiff) in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, to participate in talks and in-conversation events.

Gurinder Chadha is delivering a Master Class session.

Mohammed Al Turki, CEO of Red Sea, said: “Our schedule of In-Conversations taking place at...

The main competition of the 2nd edition of the Red Sea Film Festival – the Red Sea: Features Competition – underlines the fest’s ambition to celebrate pioneering works from filmmakers in the Arab region, Asia and Africa.

Oliver Stone presides the jury, whose other members include Palestinian actor Ali Suleiman (“Paradise Now”), Egyptian star Nelly Karim (“The Blue Elephant”), Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania (Oscar nominee “The Man Who Sold His Skin”), and Georgian director Levan Koguashvili (“Blind Dates”).

The 15 titles include nine films from the Middle East and North Africa region (of which six are from Middle East and three from North Africa), two films from Sub-Saharan Africa, and four films from Asia. They are directed by four women and 11 men. The competition includes two world premieres, four Mena premieres and one Arab premiere.

“Before Now and Then” – Indonesian helmer Kamila Andini’s third feature set in 1960s Indonesia, where the influential Mr.

Click here to read the full article.

Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Festival, due to kick off its second edition Dec. 1, is continuing to add significant talent to its lineup, including two Oscar winners.

Spike Lee, Jackie Chan and Andrew Dominik are joining a growing assortment of big-name directors flying out to the coastal city of Jeddah to participate in a series of in-conversation sessions over the course of the next 10 days.

They join the likes of Andy Garcia, Akshay Kumar, Nadine Labaki, Guy Ritchie, Luca Guadagnino, Fatih Akin, Adil El Arbi & Bilall Fallah, Kaouther Ben Hania, Michel Ocelot, Gaspar Noé, Nelly Karim, Ranbir Kapoor and Hrithik Roshan, with more names still set to be confirmed.

“Our schedule of In-Conversations taking place at this year’s festival brings together some of the leading voices in international, Bollywood and Arab cinema, sharing their journeys to the big screen and the...

Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea International Film Festival has unveiled a star-studded In-Conversations program as the second edition gets underway in the port city of Jeddah today.

Confirmed guest speakers include Oscar winners Spike Lee and Jackie Chan, Oscar-nominees Andy Garcia and Luca Guadagnino as well as actors Akshay Kumar, Nelly Karim, Ranbir Kapoor, and Hrithik Roshan and actress-director Nadine Labaki.

A raft of top directors will also be talking about their careers including Guy Ritchie, Gurinder Chadha, Andrew Dominik, Fatih Akin, Adil El Arbi & Bilall Fallah, Kaouther Ben Hania, Michel Ocelot, and Gaspar Noé.i

“Our schedule of In-Conversations taking place at this year’s Festival brings together some of the leading voices in international, Bollywood and Arab cinema, sharing their journeys to the big screen and the wisdom that they have learned along the way,” said Red Sea Film Festival CEO Mohammed Al Turki.

“We are thrilled to...

Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Festival Unveils Jury

Egyptian star Nelly Karim, best known internationally for her performance in The Blue Elephant and Clash, Tunisian Oscar-nominated The Man Who Sold His Skin director Kaouther Ben Hania, Georgian film director Levan Koguashvili (Brighton 4th) and Palestinian actor Ali Suleiman have been unveiled as members of the jury for Saudi Arabia’s upcoming second edition of the Red Sea International Film Festival (Dec 1-10). They join previously announced jury president Oliver Stone. The jury will decide the winner of the main feature competition focused on Arab world, Asian and African cinema. Last year, Koguashvili won the inaugural prize for Brighton 4th.

Warner Bros. Discovery Appoints China President & Western Pacific Commercial Boss

Warner Bros. Discovery has come close to rounding off its international leadership structure by setting two key leadership roles in its Western Pacific team, appointing a China President and SVP,...

Also on the jury is Egyptian actor Nelly Karim and Georgian filmmaker Levan Koguashvili.

Palestinian actor Ali Suleiman and Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hani will sit on the feature competition jury for the 2nd edition of the Red Sea International Film Festival.

Also on the jury is Egyptian actor Nelly Karim and Georgian filmmaker Levan Koguashvili.

They join US director Oliver Stone who was previously announced as jury president.

The line-up for the feature competition comprises 15 titles including July Jung’s Next Sohee, Lotfy Nathan’s Harka and Wissam Charaf’s Dirty Difficult Dangerous.

The films are competing for the...

Lauded British screenwriter Tony Jordan and BAFTA nominee Colin Teague have combined on The Devil’s Promise, the latest big-budget TV series to come from Saudi Arabia’s Mbc Studios.

The pair have written and directed respectively and Hitch star Paula Patton is starring as the nation continues to ramp up its TV offering.

Airing on streamer Shahid VIP later this month, the show follows Ibrahim, who secures a gigantic project to redevelop a Cairo slum on the day is his wife is diagnosed with an incurable brain tumor. Refusing to accept the prognosis, Ibrahim tries everything in his power to save her, including promising his soul to Iblis, Aka the devil, after his death.

The show stars Patton along with Amr Youssef, Aïcha Ben Ahmed, Fathy Abdel Wahab, Yaqoub Alfarhan, Ahmed Magdy, Ahmed Al Refaei, Mohamed Yousry, Mohamed Marzban, Khaled Kamal, Moataz Hisham, Mourad Makram, Amr Gamal, Nelly Karim, and the late Maha Abou Ouf.

Prominent Dubai-based distribution and production outfit Front Row is going forward on its Arabic remake of French hit comedy “Intouchables,” with a writer and director team now attached and plans to start shooting in Egypt in May 2022.

For the task of adapting the French original about a grumpy white paraplegic billionaire who strikes a friendship with his street-smart Black ex-con caretaker, Front Row has recruited Egyptian screenwriter Amr El Daly who is best known for hit ensemble drama “Dawaran Shoubra,” for which he incorporated the 2011 Tahrir Square revolution in the narrative as it was unfolding. More recently, El Daly was behind “Ded El Kasr” (Can’t Be Broken), a series toplining Egyptian megastar Nelly Karim, which was a Ramadan season hit on streamer Shahid earlier this year.

The Arabic “Intouchables” redo will be directed by Lebanon’s Jad Aouad making his feature film debut after making a name for himself...

The Middle East premiere of caustic Spanish comedy “Official Competition” will open the Cairo Film Festival, which has assembled a rich roster of international titles for its upcoming 43rd edition, to be held in person Nov. 26-Dec. 5.

Mariano Cohn and Gastón Duprat, who are co-directors of the colorful pic starring Penélope Cruz and Antonio Banderas — which turns on a billionaire businessman determined to bankroll a memorable movie — are expected, barring complications, to attend the regional launch of their Venice-premiering comedy.

Cairo, which is the grande dame of the Arab world’s cinema shindigs — and the only festival in the Middle East and North Africa region to be accorded category “A” status by the International Federation of Film Producers Associations in Paris (Fiapf) — has been subjected to some disruption lately caused by Saudi Arabia’s deep-pocketed Red Sea Festival.

The Red Sea Festival in May decided to move the dates for...

Nelly Karim and Dhafer L’Abidine star in groundbreaking genre picture by Rami Yasin.

Groundbreaking Arabic-language vampire feature Bloodline has secured a Halloween launch on Shahid VIP, the rising Mena region streaming platform which has seen subscriber numbers surge since a revamp by parent company Mbc Group earlier this year.

The feature, which will launch on Shahid on October 30, brings together some of the Arab world’s hottest directing, acting and producing talent.

It marks the feature debut of respected UAE-based producer and director Rami Yasin, whose producing credits include Sea Shadow, Rattle The Cage and The Worthy. His short film...

The deal is part of a new collaboration aimed at bolstering the international release of Egyptian features.

Egypt’s Misr International Films (Mif) and Arab cinema promotional agency Mad Solutions have announced they are teaming to co-distribute worldwide record-breaking hit The Blue Elephant: Dark Whispers (El Feel-el Azra’a) as part of a new collaboration aimed at bolstering the international release of Egyptian features.

Also known simply as The Blue Elephant 2, the film is the sequel to Marwan Hamad’s 2014 horror mystery drama starring Karim Aziz as a psychiatrist specialised in working with interned mental patients who are also criminals.

Seven of the world’s foremost festivals dedicated to, or with strong traditions of highlighting genre cinema, have banded together to form the Fantastic 7, an initiative which sees each bring one project to be pitched at the Cannes Film Market.

The seven festivals include: Sitges Intl. Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia – which initiated the idea along with the Cannes Market; Bucheon Intl. Fantastic Film Festival, Cairo Intl. Film Festival, Guadalajara Intl. Film Festival (Ficg), International Film Festival & Awards – Macao; South by Southwest and the Toronto Intl. Film Festival (Tiff).

Cannes Film Market executive director Jérôme Paillard, Sitges deputy general manager Mónica Garcia Massagué, and Ventana Sur and Blood Window founder Bernardo Bergeret initialized and head the program.

In addition to the project pitches, Spanish director J.A. Bayona will godfather the event. Bayona has a memorable relationship with the Cannes Festival. In 2007 he premiered his now classic debut feature “The Orphanage” at Critics’ Week.

Exclusive: Drama set in the aftermath of Egyptian revolution takes top slot at home box office; film gets Tom Hanks endorsement.

Egyptian director Mohamed Diab’s hard-hitting post-revolution drama Clash is proving a hit at home and abroad following its premiere as the opening film of Cannes Un Certain Regard in May.

Set against the backdrop of riots in Cairo at the end of Islamist President Mohamed Morsi’s reign in 2013, its snapshot of Egypt’s divided post-revolution society has struck a chord with local audiences.

Cairo-based distribution and film promotion company Mad Solutions reports the title grossed a record-breaking $225,000 (LE2m) during its first week on release in Egypt, beginning July 27. The film easily outperformed a number of Hollywood blockbusters.

“The film started in 36 screens and we added 11 screens on the second day to meet demand, ” commented Mad Solutions co-chief Alaa Karkouti.

The release was expanded to 52 screens across Egypt for the second week.

“One multiplex...

The strand will be bookended by Alice Lowe’s Prevenge and Xander Robin’s Are We Not Cats [pictured].Scroll down for line-up

The Venice International Film Festival’s (Aug 31 - Sept 10) 2016 Critics’ Week line-up has been revealed.

The independent section of the festival – dedicated to features from debut directors – includes seven titles from five continents.

Opening the strand with be UK director Alice Lowe’s Prevenge (out of competition), which stars Lowe as a pregnant woman on a killing spree and will have its world premiere at the festival.

Lowe was co-writer and co-star of Ben Wheatley’s Sightseers. The film is a Western Edge Pictures/Gennaker production and was shot in Wales last year.

Closing will be Xander Robin’s Are We Not Cats, which was one of three genre titles to screen as a work-in-progress at the Cannes Marche this year as part of an inaugural partnership between genre market Frontières and the Cannes Film Festival...

Ahead of its official lineup being released last week (and amid rumors of what said lineup will consist of), the Venice Film Festival has announced the filmmakers and actors who will be on jury duty beginning late next month. Laurie Anderson, Gemma Arterton, Giancarlo De Cataldo, Nina Hoss, Chiara Mastroianni, Joshua Oppenheimer, Lorenzo Vigas and Zhao Wei will be heading the Competition jury alongside Sam Mendes, who’s serving as president this year.

Read More: Denis Villeneuve’s ‘Arrival’ and Tom Ford’s ‘Nocturnal Animals’ Are ‘Virtually Assured’ to Premiere at the Venice Film Festival

Heading the Orizzonti section, meanwhile, is French director Robert Guédiguian. He’ll be joined by J. Hoberman, Nelly Karim, Valentina Lodovini, Moon So-ri, José Maria (Chema) Prado and Chaitanya Tamhane. Kim Rossi Stuart is leading the “Luigi De Laurentiis” Venice Award for a Debut Film — Lion of the Future jury with Rosa Bosch, Brady Corbet,...

Exclusive: New film by Amr Salama (Excuse My French) to shoot this spring.

Egyptian indie production powerhouse Film Clinic is gearing up to launch financing on Sheikh Jackson, a bittersweet drama about an Islamic fundamentalist cleric with a secret passion for Michael Jackson music.

Film Clinic chief Mohammed Hefzy said: “The day Michael Jackson dies it changes his life. He hits a wall. Suddenly, he is incapable of performing with his wife, crying or giving the emotional sermons for which he was once renowned.”

Amr Salama - whose credits include the prize-winning AIDS drama Asmaa and coming-of-age comedy Excuse My French, which recently swept the board at Egypt’s equivalent of the Oscars – is set to direct.

As the man undergoes therapy, a series of flashbacks explore his teenage years: from his early love of Jackson’s music to an unrequited love story and family dispute to his life-changing embrace of the ultra-conservative Salafism movement, which frowns...

Here in the United States the phrase “sexual harassment” generally makes one think of the kind of office-set scandals that plaster tabloid pages and are featured in Lifetime movies. However, in the gripping Egyptian drama 678 the phrase takes on a much more encompassing and shocking definition.

Shortly after the resignation of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, the story of reporter Lara Logan’s sexual assault became international news, drawing an eye to a culture of misogyny and abuse that some Egyptian women face every day. Logan, who was covering the political turmoil for CBS, was separated from her crew in the dense crowds and was subsequently beaten and sexually assaulted by a group of rioters. While the attack itself was shocking, the response of some news reporters was still more harrowing. Many outlets mentioned Lara’s attractiveness while reporting on her attack and implied that she somehow had it coming. You...