Egyptian producer Mohamed Hefzy and Algerian director Merzak Allouache will be honored this week by Variety at the Red Sea Film Festival in the port city of Jeddah in Saudi Arabia.
Hefzy will receive the Variety International Vanguard Producer Award, while Allouache is being bestowed with the Variety International Vanguard Director Award. Both honors are given in recognition of their achievements over the course of their careers.
Hefzy will receive his award on stage on Dec. 9 before the Red Sea screening of his film “Abdo & Saneya,” which starts 5 P.M. Allouache will receive his award before the premiere of his film “Front Row” on Dec. 8, starting at 5.15 P.M. Both screenings take place in the auditorium in Culture Square in Jeddah.
Hefzy and his Cairo-based production company Film Clinic have a reputation for promoting emerging Egyptian filmmaking talents such as Abu Bakr Shawky (“Yomeddine”), Omar El Zohairy (“Feathers”) and Mohamed Diab (“Clash”), the latter of whom went on to direct episodes of Marvel’s “Moon Knight” for Disney+. Shawky’s epic “Camel Western” “Hajjan” premiered at Red Sea last year. His Cairo thriller “Flight 404,” starring Mona Zaki, was selected as Egypt’s candidate for the 2025 best international feature Oscar.
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Film Clinic has six films screening at Red Sea this year, including three in the official competition: Khaled Mansour’s “Seeking Haven for Mr. Rambo,” Mahdi Fleifel’s “To a Land Unknown” and Taghreed Abu Al-Hassan’s “Snow White.”
Omar Bakri’s drama “Abdo & Saneya” is shot without dialogue in black and white. It follows Egyptian farmer Abdo and his wife Saniya. They are desperate for a child, which leads them on a daunting journey to New York City for infertility treatment.
Allouach is the cinematic face of Algeria. Over the course of 19 feature films, starting with his acclaimed 1976 feature debut “Omar Gatlato,” the prolific director has always shined a critical light on his country while also revealing the humanity and humor of its people. His vast body of work comprises “The Repentant,” which premiered in Cannes in 2012, and “The Rooftops,” which launched from Venice in 2013, as well as “Madame Courage” (2015) and “Divine Wind” (2018).
Allouach’s latest film, the dramedy “Front Row,” about a feud that breaks out between matriarchs who are vying for the best spot at the beach, encapsulates his unique ability to veer from dark social dramas to blistering comedies, sometimes striking both tones within the same film.