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THE fourth edition of the Red Sea International Film Festival (RSIFF) kicked off in Al-Balad district of Jeddah on Thursday night. The film festival—one of the projects slated to change the image of Saudi Arabia— would continue until Dec 14. During the nine-day event, 130 movies from 81 countries across the world would be screened for the Saudi audiences.
One of the highlights of the opening was the address of American film director and producer Spike Lee.
“This is my third time in Saudi Arabia. First time was Malcolm X when the high Islamic court gave permission to shoot in Makkah during Haj. They had never done that before. Never. Because of the respect for the late great, Malcolm X, they allowed us to shoot there. That was one of the highlights of my life. I was not allowed to go into Makkah. I am a non-Muslim. But we got what we needed,” said Lee.
With Denzel Washington in the lead, Lee’s 1992 biopic of Malcolm X, the revolutionary civil rights activist in the US who had converted to Islam and was assassinated after his split with the Nation of Islam in 1965. The initial script was written by James Baldwin.
Fourth instalment of Red Sea Film Festival kicks off
Lee’ statement also hinted at the vision of Saudi Arabia regarding the cinema and movies. The country lifted the 35 year long ban on cinemas and movies in the country in 2018 with the opening of the first cinema in Riyadh. Just three years later, it opened one of the biggest and ambitious film festivals in the region.
“We live in this world and a whole lot of stuff is happening outside Hollywood and this is where we are going to see the future of the cinema, right here in this festival,” said Lee in the opening ceremony.
Spike Lee is the president of the jury that would select the winner from among the 16 films from MENA region, Asia and Africa that are a part of the competition in the Red Sea Film Festival that would be selected through audience vote too. Last year, the Pakistani-Canadian film In Flames, had won the first award.
The theme of this year’s festival is ‘The New Home of Film,’ that symoblises the objective of the organisers.
In the opening ceremony, Aamir Khan was given an honorary award for his contribution to cinema. Vin Diesel and British actress Emily Blunt, the star of the Devil Wears Prada and Oppenheimer, also got honorary awards.
Catherine Zeta-Jones, Michael Douglas, Farhan Akhtar, Emily Blunt, Aamir Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Will Smith and Vin Diesel were among the celebrities who graced the red carpet on the opening night.
Aamir Khan
Aamir Khan during a conversation spoke about how he started producing films after his illustrious career as an actor in Indian cinema (the old school from the industry hates to call it Bollywood). He said he was intimated by the big names among the producers and directors in the history of Indian movies. However, the ice broke with Lagaan that put Aamir in the new role of being a producer.
However, “Mr Perfectionist” was committed to do it in his own way. “I said to myself ‘If you want to do great work, you have to take risks like the people you look up to’,” he said about his philosophy of cinema.
Khan credited chance and accidents for his success in the films that he made instead of confidence and surety of character.
He said he would still get nervous with each new film, not being sure it would work or not but the same nervousness brought the element of excitement in his work.
He acknowledged the fact that he was privileged to select the movies for acting or production of his choice that others might not have but he also had this realization that a slightest mistake could bring the whole project down.
Published in Dawn, December 7th, 2024
