Levan Koguashvili’s “Brighton 4th” has won best film at Saudi Arabia’s inaugural Red Sea Film Festival, while Hamzah K. Jamjoom’s “Rupture” won best Saudi film.
“Brighton 4th” is Georgia’s entry in the Academy Awards’ international feature category.
Haider Rashid won best director for “Europa” and Adam Ali won best actor for his role in the film. Arawinda Kirana won best actress for her performance in Kamila Andini’s “Yuni,” which is Indonesia’s entry in the Oscars’ international category.
This year’s jury included: president of the Red Sea features competition, Academy Award-winning Italian director and writer Giuseppe Tornatore; Tunisian actor Hend Sabry; Palestinian-American director, writer, actor, and producer Cherien Dabis; Mexican festival director and founder of the Morelia International Film Festival Daniela Michel; and Saudi film director Abdulaziz Alshlahei. The Red Sea shorts competition jury was headed by Egyptian director Marwan Hamed and joined by Saudi Arabian actor and director Ahd Kamel and Finnish-Somali director and writer Khadar Ayderus.
The festival also handed out Yusr Awards, which recognize dynamic voices across short, feature and experimental filmmaking.
Tornatore said: “The nominees showcased an incredible range of talent across a diverse and fascinating breadth of themes. This has been an extraordinary experience, we have been moved, provoked and inspired by these films and it has demonstrated the exceptional filmmaking talent and compelling stories from the Arab world, Africa and Asia. The quality of the nominated films made many of our decisions very difficult.”
RED SEA FILM FESTIVAL WINNERS
Best Saudi Film: “Rupture”by Hamzah K. Jamjoom – Saudi Arabia
Audience Award: “You Resemble Me” by Dina Amer – Egypt, France, U.S.
Immersive Silver Yusr: “Samsara” by Hsin-Chien Huang – Taiwan
Immersive Gold Yusr: “End of Night” by David Adler – Denmark, France
Short Competition Golden Yusr: “Tala’Vision” by Murad Abu Eisheh – Jordan, Germany
Special Mention: “Farha” by Darin J. Sallam – Jordan
Best Cinematic Contribution: Amin Jafari for “Hit the Road” – Iran
Best Screenplay: “Neighbours” by Mano Khalil – Syria, Switzerland
Best Actor: Adam Ali for “Europa” – Iraq, Italy, Kuwait
Best Actress: Arawinda Kirana for “Yuni” – Indonesia, Singapore, France, Australia
Best Director: “Europa” by Haider Rashid – Iraq, Italy, Kuwait
Jury Prize: “Hit the Road” by Panah Panahi – Iran
Best Film: “Brighton 4th” by Levan Koguashvili – Georgia, Russia, Bulgaria, USA, Monaco.
The festival is taking place in the UNESCO world heritage site of Jeddah Old Town from Dec. 6-15.