JEDDAH: Hollywood royalty descended on Saudi Arabia as the fifth edition of the Red Sea International Film Festival (RSIFF) kicked off in Jeddah on Thursday.

Amid the glitz and glamour was the promise of transforming the country’s nascent cinematic landscape, as well as its image, with organisers trying to frame Jeddah as the ‘new home of cinema’.

During the opening ceremony, Fast and Furious star Vin Diesel endorsed this idea by saying that “you see more Hollywood here than you see at the Oscars”.

The festival will screen 111 films from over 70 countries during its eight-day run. A total of 38 women filmmakers will screen their films at this year’s festival, highlighting festival chair Jomana Al Rashid’s new vision for the event.

The honorary Red Sea awards were given to Bri­tish actor Michael Caine, French actor Juliette Binoche, French film director Rachid Bouchareb, American actor Sigourney Weaver and Stanley Tong, the force behind many of Jackie Chan’s films.

Binoche was presented the award by Indian superstar Aishwarya Rai Bachchan.

Ninety-two-year-old Caine appeared on stage in a wheelchair pushed by his three grandchildren while his two daughters watched on in the audience.

Actors Dakota Johnson, Uma Thurman, Adrien Bro­dy, Ana de Armas, Sean Baker, Queen Latifah and Nina Dobrev were among the superstars in the audience.

Baker heads this year’s Yusr Award jury, which will present the award to an emerging talent celebrating boldness and innovation in film. Other members of the jury are Riz Ahmed, Naomie Harris, Nadine Labaki and Olga Kurylenko.

Speaking about the festival and spotlighting its achievements, Al Rashid said: “Over the past five years, the Red Sea Fou­nd­ation has quietly but surely built what many once thought was impossible.”

She highlighted the Red Sea Fund that has provided funding for 330 films, the Red Sea Lab that supported 81 films and 23 series, and Souk that supported 128 projects.

She also spoke of seven films supported by the Red Sea Foundation that ended up being chosen by their home countries as official nominations for the Oscars.

“The cinema world is evolving rapidly with streaming altering audience habits and technology advancing quickly,” Al Rashid noted. “This creates uncertainty and shifts in traditional storytelling.” She urged: “Take this chance to shift perspectives. As new models emerge, they open up new dimensions of human experiences, offering creators new opportunities.”

Al Rashid said stories could now reach audiences who were once inaccessible, calling it the most precious gift.

The festival opened with the screening of Giant, a co-production by the UK and Yemen with Sylvester Stallone as its executive producer.

The film is a biopic and sports drama based on the rise of British boxer Naseem Hamed aka Prince Hamed, who was the world featherweight world champion from Sheffield, England.

Though British-Egyp­tian actor Amir El-Masry played the lead role of Hamed, veteran Pierce Brosnan stole the show with his passionate acting.

His role was based on Brendon Ingle, a boxing trainer who trained Hamed from childhood.

Though the film appears to be just a biopic, the real drama is the tussle between the trainer and the trainee, influenced by the forces around them, which takes the central stage and keeps the audience hooked until the end. Brosnan, forever known to all as James Bond, proved to be the real giant when it came to acting skills in the film.

The festival will continue until December 13.

Published in Dawn, December 6th, 2025