The Red Sea International Film Festival (Red Sea IFF), in partnership with VOX Cinemas and the MBC GROUP, today announced the jury for its Red Sea: Features and the Red Sea: Shorts Competitions for its second edition, which will run from 1-10 December in Jeddah. Nestled on the eastern shore of the Red Sea, the Festival will welcome filmmakers, talent, media, industry professionals, and film fans for a 10-day celebration of global cinema.
Legendary film director, producer, and screenwriter, Oliver Stone will preside over the Festival’s Red Sea: Features Competition Jury. The three-time Academy award winner is behind some of the all-time masterpieces of cinema, including Scarface, The Doors, Wall Street, JFK, Midnight Express, Platoon, Born on the Fourth of July, Nixon and Natural Born Killers.
Legendary film director, producer, and screenwriter, Oliver Stone will preside over the Festival’s Red Sea: Features Competition Jury. A fixture within the industry for half a century, Stone won his first Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for Midnight Express (1978) and won his second and third as Best Director for Platoon (1986) and Born on the Fourth of July (1989) respectively. Other notable projects include Wall Street (1987), JFK (1991), Nixon (1995), W (2008), Savages (2012) and 2016′s Snowden, along with the screenplay for Brian De Palma’s 1983 film Scarface which went on to become one of the most iconic films in history.
Oliver Stone, President of the Red Sea: Features Competition Jury, said: “It is an honor to be asked to preside over the jury for the Red Sea International Film Festival’s second edition and along with my fellow jurors, we are thrilled to be watching a diverse and original selection of films. This is a unique opportunity for us all to recognize and celebrate the best work from filmmakers from the Arab world, Asia and Africa. I’m very much looking forward to this experience.”
Mohammed Al Turki; CEO of the RedSeaIFF added: “We are truly grateful to our three esteemed juries for their valuable time and I look forward to welcoming them all to the Festival. The selection this year is extraordinary and reflects the highest creative achievements from the Arab world, Asia and Africa. I’m confident this will prove to be an exciting and demanding task in selecting winners.”
Jury President, Oliver Stone will be joined by Egyptian star Nelly Karim (The Blue Elephant, Cairo 678 clash), Oscar nominee Kaouther Ben Hania (The Man Who Sold His Skin, Beauty and the Dogs), acclaimed Georgian film director Levan Koguashvili (Blind Dates, Brighton 4th and Gogita’s New Life), internationally admired Palestinian actor Ali Suleiman (Paradise Now, Huda’s Salon, 200 Meters).
The Red Sea: Shorts Competition will be judged by filmmaker Joana Hadjithomas (Memory Box, The Lebanese Rocket Society, A Perfect Day), Saudi writer and director Shahad Ameen (Scales, Lena’s Date, Eye & Mermaid) and Nigerian actor Ozzy Agu (The Lost Okoroshi, Walking with Shadows, Battleground).
The Red Sea: Features and Red Sea: Shorts Competitions will showcase the highest creative achievements from a diverse array of filmmakers from the Arab region, Asia and Africa. The line-up of 15 features and 26 short films will showcase the most compelling, unique, and impressive work from the past year, with winners in each competition selected by highly esteemed juries.
The Red Sea: VR strand which features a selection of the latest leading Virtual Reality (VR) storytelling and art projects in and out of competition from award-winning international artists and directors. The strand will be adjudicated by London-based Egyptian documentary filmmaker May Abdalla, Bangladeshi artist Naima Karim and Tribeca Film Festivals Immersive Curator Ana Brzezińska.
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