Red Sea International Film Festival

THE RED SEA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2023  CLOSING NIGHT AND AWARDS

 Festival Celebrates Biggest Edition to Date, Dream Scenario Announced As Final Festival Gala

The Red Sea International Film Festival (Red Sea IFF) marked the closing of its third edition with a screening of Micheal Mann’s Ferrari, a Red Sea International Film Financing project, and revealed the winners of its highly anticipated Yusr Awards. The festival also welcomed Hollywood icon Nicolas Cage, receiving a Red Sea Honouree award, and joining the 2023 Honouree line-up of Diane Kruger, Ranveer Singh, and Abdullah Al-Sadhan. Kristoffer Borgli’s comedy horror Dream Scenario, starring Nicolas Cage, will screen as the Final Festival Gala on Saturday 9^th December.

Two juries deliberated to finally select winners across 14 categories; led by Jury President Baz Luhrmann. Seventeen films in competition, as well as 23 shorts, were in the running for the coveted awards.

The festival this year celebrated its biggest year yet in terms of attendance – welcoming almost 6,000 accredited guests and selling more than 40,000 tickets across all screenings and In Conversations.

The Closing Ceremony was attended by Honouree Nicolas Cage, Jason Statham, Halle Berry, Gwyneth Paltrow, Adrien Brody, Dhafer L’Abidine, Henry Golding, Andrew Garfield, Yousra, Kaouther Ben Hania, Alia Bhatt, Mahira Khan, Saswan Badr, Baloji.

Jomana Al-Rashid, Chairwoman of the Red Sea Film Foundation said: “Over the past 8 days we have welcomed the world to Jeddah and celebrated this vibrant global film community together – with a goal of bridging cultures and creating new ties. We’ve done that with over 125 films from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, Morocco, Rwanda, Armenia,

Malaysia, Pakistan, New Zealand, France, India, Thailand, and many more – as well as an industry programme in the Souk with 348 Project submissions, and 44 Works in progress from more than 26 countries. We are proud to have created a meeting place for ideas, business, and inspiration to carry us into the new year.”

Mohammed Al-Turki, CEO of the Red Sea Film Foundation said: “Closing this edition of the festival with the MENA premiere of Michael Mann’s turbo-charged biopic Ferrari, supported by the Red Sea International Film Fund, and honouring one of Hollywood’s greats – master of his craft, Nicolas Cage – alongside the hugely deserving winners of

our Yusr Awards, means we end this edition on an absolute high.”

The Festival is supported by Principal Sponsors: MBC Group, NEOM, Vox Cinemas, and Strategic Sponsor, Film Al Ula; Official Sponsors: Al Sagheer, Chopard, the Cultural Development Fund, Chery Pro, SRMG; and Support Sponsors Bloomberg Media, Nova, and Telfaz 11.

The Red Sea International Film Festival runs from 30 November – 9 December

Please see below the full list of winners:

Asharq Documentary

Awarded for Best Documentary In Competition – a $10,000 prize

Winner: Kaouther Ben Hania for FOUR DAUGHTERS

Chopard Rising Talent Trophy

Winner: Nour Alkhadra

Film AlUla Audience Award: Saudi Film

With a $50,000 prize

Winner: NORAH / Saudi Arabia – Red Sea: Competition

Film AlUla Audience Award: Non-Saudi Film

With a $50,000 prize

Winner: HOPELESS / South Korea – Festival Favourites

Shorts

SILVER YUSR FOR BEST SHORT FILM

With a $12,500 prize

Winner: SUITCASE – Directed by Saman Hosseinpuor and Ako Zandkarimi

GOLDEN YUSR FOR BEST SHORT FILM

With a $25,000 prize

Winner: SOMEWHERE IN BETWEEN – Directed by Dahlia Nemlich

Features

BEST CINEMATIC CONTRIBUTION

Winner: OMEN / Baloji

BEST ACTOR

Winner: Saleh Bakri / THE TEACHER

BEST ACTRESS

Winner: Mouna Hawa / INSHALLAH A BOY

BEST SCREENPLAY

With a $10,000 prize

Winner: SIX FEET OVER / Karim Bensalah and Jamal Belmahi

BEST DIRECTOR

With a $10,000 prize

Winner: Shokir Kholikov / SUNDAY

JURY PRIZE 

With a $10,000 prize

Winner: Farah Nabulsi / THE TEACHER

SILVER YUSR FOR BEST FEATURE FILM

With a $30,000

Winner: DEAR JASSI / Tarsem Singh

GOLDEN YUSR FOR BEST FEATURE FILM

With a $100,000

Winner: IN FLAMES / Zarrar Kahn