Closing of the Red Sea Film Festival and crowning of the winners of the Al Yusr Awards 2024

2024/12/13 4:02:09 PM

4 minutes read

Closing of the Red Sea Film Festival and crowning of the winners of the Al Yusr Awards 2024

The Red Sea International Film Festival concluded its fourth session with a distinguished closing ceremony, announcing the winners of the Yusr Awards for the fourth session of the festival.
Revealing the honored stars; Among them: international actress Viola Davis and actress and producer Priyanka Chopra Jonas, in recognition of their distinguished artistic careers and exceptional contributions to the film industry.

Honorary award

Saudi writer and director Hanaa Al-Omair presented the honorary award to the creator Viola Davis, while star Sarah Jessica Parker presented the award to Priyanka Chopra Jonas. With this honor, Davis and Chopra join a list of illustrious names honored by the festival in its current session, such as Emily Blunt, Mona Zaki, Vin Diesel, Michael Douglas and Aamir Khan, in celebration of their unique talents and outstanding contributions to cinema.

Closing movie

The film “Moody: Three Days on the Verge of Madness”, by the legendary director and artist, Johnny Depp, was also shown as the closing film of the festival, and is one of the cinematic projects supported by the Red Sea Program to finance international productions.
The film tells a story that takes place over 72 hours filled with exciting events in the streets of Paris during World War I, where the bohemian Italian artist Amedeo Modigliani tries to overcome the war, the police, his friends, and critics, in a desperate quest to find a place to display his art.

The ceremony was attended by an elite group of film makers and important figures, including Sarah Jessica Parker, John Boyega, Dev Patel, Abdullah Al-Sadhan, Nick Jonas, Vereen, Becky, Bright, Meshal Al-Jasser, Faisal Al-Dokhi, Muhammad Sami, Alaa Faden, Amir Karara, and Mai. age.
“Better Man,” a biography of international singer Robbie Williams, directed, written and produced by Michael Gracey, was also announced as the closing film for the final night of the festival, December 14.

Determine the winning feature films

The feature film jury, consisting of Tuba Buyukustun, Minnie Driver, Daniel Dae Kim, and Abu Bakr Shawqi, headed by Spike Lee, determined the winners from among the 16 feature films participating in the official competition. While the Short Film Jury, consisting of Hamza Jamjoom, Ramata Tulay Sy, and Ki-Shi Wu, evaluated the short films screened at the Red Sea International Film Festival 2024.

Closing activities of the Red Sea Film Festival - today

The film “The Red Throne”, directed by Lotfi Ashour, won two awards, including the Golden Yusr Award for Best Narrative Film.
The film tells the story of a poignant journey into the psychology of a child suffering in a war zone. It is the third feature film by director Lotfi Ashour, and it was shown for the first time at the Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland.

Distinctive events in Jeddah Al-Balad

On this occasion, Jumana Al-Rashed, President of the Red Sea Film Foundation, said: “This year, we were honored to welcome the world to the new home of cinema, from the site of our new festival, in the historic city of Jeddah.”
She continued: “Over the past few days, we welcomed our guests from all over the world to Jeddah, and together we celebrated the power of cinema, providing a platform full of diverse narratives from all over the world.”

She added: “We succeeded in this session with a bid of 122 films from 85 countries, and we hosted a wide range of fruitful meetings, strategic agreements, promising partnerships, and inspiring innovations within the activities of the Red Sea Market; We are committed to promoting a bright future for the film industry in the region, and opening new horizons for creativity and cinematic excellence.”

An exceptional session with attendance and partnerships

For his part, the acting CEO of the Red Sea Film Foundation, Mohammed bin Ayed Asiri, said: “During the fourth round of the Red Sea International Film Festival, we held many partnerships and initiatives aimed at elevating cinematic voices at the local and regional levels, and we are all confident that these efforts will bear fruit in… Next sessions of the festival.

Shivani Pandya Malhotra, Managing Director of the Red Sea Film Foundation, commented: “I am pleased to see films from the Red Sea Labs and Red Sea Fund programs winning awards tonight.”
She added: “We are proud that the fourth session of the festival witnessed an exceptional attendance of cinematic works that were shown for the first time globally and internationally, as the list of premieres included 46 global screenings, 15 international screenings, and 53 regional premieres in the Middle East and North Africa region.” She continued: “The fact that filmmakers have chosen our festival to display their works for the first time truly confirms that cinema has a new home and a new destination for celebrating cinematic creativity.”

She concluded: “This rich diversity of films reflects the festival’s rapid growth, as the number of participating countries has risen to 85 countries. We look forward to increasing this number in the 2025 edition, to consolidate the festival’s position as a global platform that highlights multiple types of cinematic narratives and stories.”