Red Sea Souk, Largest Film Market in Arab World, Expands Into Asia, Lines Up Andrew Garfield Talk and Sees Returning Talent Cement Legacy
In just four years, the Red Sea Souk has become the largest film market in the Arab world. Nested within the dates of the Red Sea Film Festival and under the banner of the Red Sea Film Foundation, this year’s industry program at the Souk has been expanded to five days and will run from Dec. 7-11 at the festival’s new home in Jeddah’s old town of Al Balad.
Speaking with Variety ahead of the festival, new Souk director Holly Daniel says the team wanted to “present a more holistic offering across our different sections” this year. This meant creating clearer pathways for attendees to navigate the Souk’s many activities, including the work conducted by the Red Sea Labs, Souk Talks, Souk Talents and new ventures such as the Inspire! Labs, which will offer events that empower filmmakers with unique perspectives in film, episodic storytelling, animation and gaming.
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On top of the industry activities, the Souk features a sprawling marketplace featuring 142 exhibitors from 32 countries this year. Another key change in 2024 was the opening of the submission calls to Asia for the first time, with a whopping 28% of total submissions coming from the country in this inaugural year. Previously, submissions were opened exclusively to projects from Africa and the Arab world.
“We wanted to show that, geographically, we are a great melting pot for all this talent, projects, ideas and connections that come across these continents,” says Daniel of opening up to Asia. She goes on to highlight how impressive the number of submissions was this year, considering that the festival only began outreach in the region very recently. “It is an amazing number. We did a relatively soft launch of it this year so we’ve been really pleased with the pick-up. We’ve got some great projects in the selection.”
Daniel adds that her team is already looking into how to engage the “wider industry across Asia,” especially as the Red Sea Fund prepares to expand their remit into the continent next year. “The whole foundation will offer a joint approach to opportunities available to Asia.”
Another feat of this year’s Souk is the number of filmmakers returning to Red Sea after either having their films shown at the festival or other projects supported by the fund and the industry programs. Amongst them are Asmae Al Moudir, whose Red Sea Fund-backed “The Mother of All Lies” won her the best director prize at last year’s Un Certain Regard and now returns to the Souk with “Holy Cow” and Sundance-winning director of “Animalia” Sofia Alaoui, in Jeddah with her new project “Tarfaya.”
Elsewhere in the Souk’s selection are projects by filmmakers like Cj ‘Fiery’ Obasi, whose “Mami Wata” made waves in Sundance last year; “Tahmina,” from “Kabul, City in the Wind” director Aboozar Amini; and “Farouk,” the latest from Kurdish director Halkawt Mustafa, whose doc “Hiding Saddam Hussein” played Red Sea last year.
Regional and international players will also come together at the Souk Talks, the panel sessions at the market. Speakers include industry heads such as Film Nation’s Glen Basner, Fremantle’s Seb Shorr, Goodfellas’ Vincent Maraval and Kinetic’s Diana Williams. Panel themes will range from the evolution of AI to more country-focused discussions around territories like France and Korea.
“For the talks, we worked in collaboration with CAA but the curation came from our end,” says Daniel. “We wanted to be able to offer something for the wide variety of attendees we have at the Souk but also wanted to offer a healthy mixture of regional and international voices on our panels. We felt that the most interesting angle for these conversations was to talk about how the industry works for producers in different territories, so we have country-focused sessions, but we also have panels about the opportunities available in the region and a focus on establishing co-productions.”
This year’s Souk is expanding its local reach by solidifying collaborations with universities and focusing on the new generation of regional talents not only in filmmaking but adjacent fields such as film criticism. This year, the Souk will offer a Young Critics initiative for the first time, as well as have leading figures in the industry such as Andrew Garfield come to Jeddah to speak to budding filmmakers and cinephiles.
Asked what a successful first edition as Souk director would look like, Daniel is quick to say that she would “love to see some deals being done.” “We’d love to see some of our screenings finding the connections they are looking for and, obviously, we want the projects in the market to identify new partners and meet whatever needs they need meeting. I think we’ve got a great selection and we are already looking at how we can build on it next year.”
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