Red Sea Film Festival MD Shivani Pandya Talks Challenges Of Third Edition & Growing Footprint As Saudi Film Industry Blooms

Two controversial Hollywood stars were spotted together in first class on a flight from Dubai to Los Angeles!

A popular star of Hindi films for a decade with over 80 million Instagram followers, Alia Bhatt, best known internationally for her 2022 double Gangubai Kathiawadi and RRR, has fast become one of India’s hottest exports. 

There were a bunch of Hollywood A-List stars in Saudi Arabia today for the closing night gala of the 2023 Red Sea International Film Festival!

The third annual Red Sea Film Festival handed out its Yusr Awards on Thursday night, with Zarrar Kahn’s In Flames taking Best Feature and Farah Nabulsi’s The Teacher scoring a pair of wins including Best Actor for Saleh Bakri. See the full list below.

Nick Holdsworth At the closing ceremony of the 3rd edition of the Red Sea Film Festival Thursday, which took place in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in front of an audience that included Hollywood stars Nicolas Cage, Gwyneth Paltrow, Halle Berry, Jason Statham and Adrien Brody, the Golden Yusr for best film and a $100,000 cash prize went to Pakistani-Canadian horror film “In Flames,” directed by Zarrar Kahn. The director said that the indie movie was shot for “just $300,000 — the size of a Red Sea Fund production grant.” He urged “everyone who gets a grant to go make a movie, because this was made for nothing.” The Silver Yusr prize for best feature film went to Tarsem Singh for “Dear Jassi.” The film, an India/Canada/U.S.

Avengers: Endgame, after she stopped watching Marvel movies “at some point”.The actor, who played Pepper Potts in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, explained why she hadn’t seen the 2019 superhero crossover blockbuster during a career retrospective talk at the Red Sea Film Festival in Saudi Arabia.Speaking at the festival on Wednesday (December 6) about Marvel movies (via Deadline), Paltrow said: “To be honest, I stopped watching them at some point. I’ve never seen Endgame. I can’t keep track of who’s what.

Nicolas Cage doesn’t really care if you know he’s related to Francis Ford Coppola. 

John Bleasdale Guest Contributor “A lot of Goop,” one of the attendees remarked on leaving Gwyneth Paltrow’s In Conversation talk taking place at the Red Sea Film Festival. “A bit lopsided,” another agreed. Many of the gathered gripped Marvel posters and wore Marvel T-shirts, but everyone was happy to welcome an actor whose career has spanned films as diverse as “Se7en,” “The Royal Tenenbaums” and “Shakespeare in Love,” and the biggest applause came when she said that this was her first time in Saudi Arabia.

“Entrepreneurship and acting are very similar. Both require the same kind of energy,” Goop CEO and Academy Award-winning actress Gwyneth Paltrow told a crowd during a career retrospective this evening at the Red Sea Film Festival in Saudi Arabia. 

Rafa Sales Ross Guest Contributor Oscar-winning actor Halle Berry had a strike of inspiration on the flight to Saudi Arabia, where she gave a career-spanning conversation at the third edition of the Red Sea Film Festival. The flight, she said, led her to figure out what she wants to direct next: “It’s a love story at its core but it deals with the supernatural, time travel and the future.” This will mark Berry’s sophomore feature after 2020’s MMA drama “Bruised.” When asked about her first directing experience, the actor was frank, labelling the entire process “hell.” “Because I was a woman, and a Black woman, the treatment I received and the things I had to put up with were unconscionable,” she said.

Chris Hemsworth wears a relaxed gray suit while stepping out for the 2023 Red Sea International Film Festival on Monday (December 4) in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

MBC Studios is developing a series adaptation of popular Saudi writer Osamah Almuslim’s best-selling debut horror novel Khawf (Fear).

It’s crazy to think it’s been almost two years since it was first reported that Warner Bros. was working on a sequel to the hit horror film, “I Am Legend.” But over that time, we really haven’t heard much else about the film.

The Aussies took over Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Festival this evening as Elvis filmmaker Baz Luhrmann sat down for a career Q&A with actor Chris Hemsworth. 

John Bleasdale Guest Contributor Some of the most powerful figures in Saudi film gathered at the Ritz Carlton in Jeddah for a cocktail party hosted by Film AlUla and Stampede Ventures in partnership with Variety last night. Figures such as Saudi producer and film industry pioneer Faisal Baltyuor and Egyptian producer Mohamed Hefzy were spotted along with Zeinab Abu Alsamh, general manager of MBC Studios Saudi Arabia. Stampede Ventures head Greg Silverman was celebrating the $350 million three-year deal just signed with Film AlUla, which will bring 10 projects to the region.

Pan Middle East and North African film distributor Front Row Filmed Entertainment has promoted staffers Nicolas Torloting, Carine Chaiban and Elie Touma to partners. 

Will Smith has shared an updated on his highly anticipated I Am Legend sequel – see what he had to say below.Speaking at the Red Sea International Film Festival in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia this past weekend (December 2), Smith spoke briefly about the upcoming zombie film’s sequel, which will also star Creed‘s Michael B. Jordan.For the film, Smith will be reprising his role as Robert Neville. Smith confirmed at the film festival that I Am Legend 2 will retcon the original film’s ending, and will instead follow the alternate ending in the film’s DVD version.“I have a call with Michael B.

The Pentagon has said an American warship and multiple commercial ships have come under attack Sunday in the Red Sea. 

Will Smith opened up while onstage at the 2023 Red Sea International Film Festival, which took place in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Will Smith has revealed that the development of I Am Legend 2 is moving at pace, with both him and Michael B. Jordan on board and a first script delivered.