Red Sea selects five features for Arab Spectacular strand

The Red Sea International Film Festival (RSIFF) has selected five films for its Arab Spectacular strand, which showcases Arab storytelling.

This year’s selection come from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Algeria, and include four world premieres.

They are US-Egypt co-production Abdo & Saneya by Omar Bakry, which sees a couple from rural Egypt emigrate to New York in search of a cure for their infertility.

The three other world premieres are Saudi productions. Ahd Kamel’s My Driver And I is set in 1980s and 1990s Jeddah, where a Saudi girl and her Sudanese driver form a friendship which is tested when she starts to take the wheel.

Hobal by Abdulaziz Alshlahei shows how a Bedouin family faces its fate in isolation in the middle of the desert, while Abdulaziz Almuzaini’s Lail Nahar is a comedy that explores the lives of two contrasting musicians.

Also playing in the Arab Spectacular strand is Algeria-France-US co-production Front Row by Merzak Allouache which tells the story of an eventful day at the beach. Front Row world premiered at Toronto in September.

Antoine Khalife, director of Arab programs and film classics for the RSIFF said: “We know that our stories and the quality of the way we tell them deserve a place alongside other international films, which is why we are working hard to support and nurture our region’s filmmakers, providing them with a prestigious platform to present their work to international audiences, and facilitating networking opportunities with industry leaders.”