Kaleem Aftab, Head of International Programming at Red Sea Film Festival, on Selection: ‘Saudi Audiences Have Different Tastes Than British Ones’
variety.comNick Vivarelli International Correspondent Though the Red Sea Film Festival will feature a slew of films from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region – including 11 feature films from Saudi Arabia – there is a rich roster of international fare set to launch locally from Jeddah.
Kaleem Aftab, the festival’s director of international programming, says they received lots more submissions for this year’s third edition.
He is particularly proud of the presence in competition of Indian-born auteur Tarsem Singh’s romancer “Dear Jassi,” the first film set in India by the flamboyant director of “The Cell,” and of Japanese master Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Venice prizewinner “Evil Does Not Exist.” Peppered through various Red Sea sections are the MENA region premieres of other high-profile titles such as Sofia Coppola’s “Priscilla”; Belgian-based Moroccan duo Adil El Arbi & Bilall Fallah flashy third feature “Gangsta”; British director James Marsh’s biographical film about Irish playwright Samuel Beckett “Dance First”; Argentinian director Rodrigo Moreno’s existential heist movie “The Delinquents”; and the international outing of actor-turned director Jennifer Esposito’s drama “Fresh Kills,” about the women behind New York City mobsters in which she co-stars with Annabella Sciorra, among many other entries.
Aftab spoke to Variety ahead of the fest about what he looks for in selecting movies for Saudi audiences. Are you happy with your “catch” of titles at Red Sea? What we certainly found this year is we had a far higher number of films submitted and a higher caliber of directors that approached us wanting to be in competition.
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