Red Sea Film Festival Winners: ‘Hanging Gardens’ By Ahmed Yassin Al Daradji Takes Best Film Award
deadline.comIraqi filmmaker Ahmed Yassin Al Daradji picked up the Golden Yusr for Best Feature Film at the Red Sea Film Festival with his debut feature Hanging Gardens.
Co-written by Daradji with Margaret Glover, the film follows As’ad, a 12-year-old rubbish picker, who adopts an American sex doll from the Baghdad dumps, and crosses into a perilous red zone, finding himself caught in the crossfire.
The film won Venice’s 2021 edition of Final Cut for the best film in post-production. The award was handed out at a ceremony on Thursday evening by Red Sea Festival Execs Mohammed Al Turki, Jomana Al-Rashid, and Egyptian actress Yousra.
This year’s competition jury was headed by director Oliver Stone. He was joined by Egyptian star Nelly Karim, best known internationally for her performance in The Blue Elephant and Clash, Tunisian Oscar-nominated The Man Who Sold His Skin director Kaouther Ben Hania, Georgian film director Levan Koguashvili (Brighton 4th) and Palestinian actor Ali Suleiman (Huda’s Salon, 200 Meters).
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