A new vision and a distinguished program for the Red Sea Festival in its second session

A different and distinctive programme, announced by the Red Sea International Film Festival, which bears the slogan "The Red Sea: A New Vision"; The program was designed to be a platform for presenting projects that present a new cinematic vision. The festival also unveiled the selected films, which will be shown within the framework of this program during the second session of the festival.

The new program celebrates films that deal with distinct topics that combine daring, fun and excitement. Eight films from multiple regions have been selected for display within the New Vision programme. The selected films unite a common basic idea, which is to present bold and sensitive topics and approach them from a new and exciting perspective.

On the occasion of announcing the new program, Clem Aftab, Director of the International Program of the Red Sea International Film Festival, stated, “At the Red Sea International Film Festival, we aim to inspire the new generation of filmmakers by highlighting a variety of films that will change our vision of the concept of cinema. Adding this new type of program to the second edition of the festival would open the way for new voices and opinions and support modern visions about filmmaking, and thus push us to see cinema differently.”

For his part, Antoine Khalifeh, Director of the Arab Program and Classics at the Red Sea International Film Festival, added, “We had a lot of fun choosing these films, which reflect wonderful examples of craftsmanship, and offer a different cinematic language that deals with exciting topics that will have a great impact on the hearts of our audiences.” , such as the Beirut port explosion, the change of the urban landscape, and the impact of meteors and meteorites in Morocco, to entering the world of magic and imagination.

The list includes “Beyond the End”, the latest documentary by Lebanese director Nadim Mishlawi. The film sheds light on the city of Beirut, with its bleak past, uncertain future, and pessimistic present. The film uses the director's memoirs after his father's death, and his experiences in Beirut, a city inhabited by fear of loss and deprivation. The film transcends the dimensions of the political scene in Beirut to glorify the city's history, culture and architecture. By presenting the contradictory mixture of the repercussions of the recent past and the waves of modernity.

BAFTA-winning film, Stone Island, by Mark Jenkin, is set on an uninhabited island in 1973; Where the experience of a volunteer interested in studying wildlife turns from observing a flower growing among the rocks to a journey beyond nature that pushes her and the viewer to question the difference between truth and terrifying fiction.

Fragments of the Sky, the second documentary film by Moroccan director Adnan Baraka, which took several years to make, tells the story of two men who roam the Moroccan desert in search of the fallen fragments of the sky that the Moroccan desert is famous for. Despite their different goals, Muhammad, the traveler and collector of sunken meteorites, wanders in the Western Desert, in search of a better life for himself and his family, and Abd al-Rahman, a distinguished researcher and scientist, who uses meteorites to understand the roots of life and its transformations on planet Earth, in the infinite desert. Neither of them imagines that the search will not be limited to collecting rocks, as this barren land has a special power capable of changing reality.

The program will also witness the Middle East and North Africa premiere of "Geographies of Solitude" by award-winning Canadian filmmaker Jacqueline Mills. As naturalist Zoe Lucas immerses herself in photographing life on the Canadian island of Sable in the Atlantic Ocean, her lens captures the beauty and magic of sounds, sand views, animals, nature, and environmental details around her, with the help of an archive documenting more than 40 years of her activity photographing the island. The documentary film reviews the picturesque nature and life in this place in a charming poetic atmosphere.

A Humanitarian Attitude, written, produced and directed by Anders Emblem. The film takes place in the Norwegian city of Ålesund and tells the story of two girls, Liv and Asta. Asta is trying to find meaning in life in this sleepy seaside town in western Norway, where she works as a newspaper reporter. As she tries to uncover the truth behind the disappearance of an asylum seeker, her life and her vision of the concept of justice change.

The festival will present the latest project of the director of the famous animated film Venom "Khamsa - The Well of Oblivion". The film tells the story of a boy, Addy, who wakes up and finds himself at the bottom of a dark well, with no memory of anything. But he finds a huge underground temple guarded by Tyder. Addy becomes certain that he has lost his memory when he fails to answer Tider's questions, which tell him that his memories are locked behind the door of oblivion. Addy is forced to cross the door of oblivion to regain his memories before it is too late.

The program is witnessing the world premiere of the movie "The Lost Treasures of the Arabs: The Ancient City of Dadan". The documentary film deals with the ancient city of Dadan, which is located in Al-Ula Governorate, northwest of the Arabian Peninsula, on the incense road mentioned in the three Gospels, although little is known about this region. The film revolves around a team of international archaeologists who are trying to decipher this region and unravel its mystery.

The second feature film by Lebanese director Karim Kassem, “Akhtaboot,” depicts the aftermath of the catastrophic explosion at the port of Beirut. He tries to reveal the details of this catastrophe and raises existential questions imposed by the enormity of the event. Where these questions deal with what global visions are about the concept of suffering, the meaning of life, common goals, and other ideas scattered under the rubble.