‘Snow White,’ ‘Aicha,’ ‘Abdo and Saneya’ Among Bold Films From Arab World at Red Sea Film Festival

variety.com:

Martin Dale Contributor Arab independent films are enjoying a resurgence in terms of festival and commercial success affirms Antoine Khalife, the Red Sea Film Festival’s director of Arab programs and film classics, citing the example of Egyptian thriller “Flight 404,” which has grossed over $4 million in Saudi Arabia this year.

Khalife praises the modern spirit of recent Egyptian independent cinema and has chosen two titles for this year’s official selection – “Seeking Haven for Mr Rambo,” about an evicted man who seeks a new home for himself and his loyal dog, and “Snow White,” about a woman with dwarfism who develops a relationship with a man over the internet. “They’re both very modern and highly unusual films, which don’t just try to convey a message,” explains Khalife.

Red Sea’s opening film is a Saudi-Egyptian coproduction, “The Tale Of Daye’s Family,” about an 11-year-old Nubian albino boy who travels to Cairo to participate in an Egyptian version of “The Voice.” The lead actress Aseel Omran is a major influencer in Saudi Arabia, with 7 million followers.

For Red Sea’s Arab Spectacular section, Khalife has selected the Egyptian film “Abdo and Saneya,” a black and white silent film about an Egyptian peasant couple who travel to New York. “The selection committee wanted to choose something creative,” explains Khalife. “We didn’t just want a straightforward commercial film.” Independent films from North Africa are also a key focus of this year’s edition. “We were impressed by the films submitted from Tunisia, including ‘Agora’ and ‘Red Path’ that both screened in Locarno,” says Khalife.