Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Festival has added a series of recent additions to the In Conversation series at this year’s event.
Jessica Alba, Ana de Armas, Nina Dobrev, Kirsten Dunst, Dakota Johnson, Queen Latifah and Kriti Sanon (Tere Ishk Mein) will all be heading to the festival to participate in the In-Conversation series.
This year’s Red Sea Film Festival will take place from December 4 to 13. The Rowan Athale biopic Giantstarring Amir El Masry as British-Yemeni boxing champion Prince Naseem ‘Naz’ Hamed, will open the fifth edition of the event.
International titles on the schedule include Alice Winocour’s Parisian drama Sewing, with Angelina Jolie and Olivier Assayas The Kremlin Magician.
Rupert Wyatt’s Desert Warriorwhich was supported and filmed in Saudi Arabia but with an international cast, also plays in the International Spectacular sidebar.
Giant follows Hamed’s rise and relationship with Irish boxing coach Brendan Ingle, tracing his rags-to-riches underdog story from humble beginnings in Sheffield to becoming world champion.
He also explains how he coped with the racism and Islamophobia that swept Britain in the 1980s and 1990s to become a global sporting icon. The film explores the unlikely and tender relationship between Naz and Ingle, and the instrumental role Ingle played in Naz’s path to success.
Juliette Binoche, French-Algerian director Rachid Bouchareb (Glory days), Michael Caine, Hong Kong filmmaker Stanley Tong (A legend), and Sigourney Weaver will receive honorary awards at the festival.
