The Red Sea IFF 2023 is being held in Jeddah from December 30 to 9. Its theme is "Your story, your festival", also thought that the contribution of memory through flashbacks should be taken into account. Named "Favorites", they are a mixture of "the best films made over the last twelve months", classic cinema, old and new "including two restorations" made with the help of Egyptian Media Production.
This program will thus focus on films noted by critics and having at the same time been commercial successes. Twenty-one are chosen by the team in charge of programming the Festival, who participated in the biggest cinematographic events around the world "in search of inspiring stories" in the genres that are animation, documentary and feature films.
The objective being to present "a wide range of original talents" which will satisfy the expectations of the public, in the words of Kaleem Afta, Director of International Programming. Especially since talented directors, established or new, will participate. "The selection, as a whole, highlights the evolution of the cinematographic landscape of the Arab world, Asia and European countries as well as both North and South America.
Treasures (Trésors) will also present other contemporary titles, in this case seven "must-have" classics which have left their mark on the minds of generations of directors, and which will appear, for the first time, on the big Saudi screens. Thus, the cinema-loving public and actors of the seventh art will rediscover them through restored copies.
All this is possible thanks to the fruitful partnership between the Red Sea IFF and the Egyptian Media Production City which carried out the work of restoring copies of the landmark classics, bringing to the forefront big names from the Arab cultural world who have marked their imprints are music as well as cinema. These are Victory of Youth - انتصار الشباب (with Asmahan and Farid Al Atrash) and My Wife's Goblin (with Shadia and Salah Zulfiqar). "The incredible musical documentary", so named, by Fatih Akin Crossing the bridge : the sound of Istanbul, speaking about the evolution of the music scene in Turkey, will be screened in a new 4K version.
Without forgetting the musical comedy Les demoiselles de Rochefort (The young girls of Rochefort) by Jacques Demy, 1967, with music by Michel Legrand and starring Catherine Deneuve along with her sister Françoise Dorléac. On the bill, three other opuses are City of God (Citade de Deus, 2002), a flagship detective film, Lost in Mancha (2002) and He Dreams of Giants (2019) which are listed on the line-up.
"Once again, we have unearthed very special titles to present that celebrate many cinematic eras and genres," said Mr. Antoine Khalife, Director of Arabic Programs and Cinema Classics.
Last year, WATCH OUT FOR ZOUZOU (Attention à ZouZou - KHALI BALAK MIN ZOUZOU) and Love in Karnac" were screened in this section.
Bassirou NIANG
