Nicolas Cage, Gwyneth Paltrow and Andrew Garfield feature at ‘empowering’ Red Sea Film Festival

Star-studded event was held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Nicolas Cage onstage at the Red Sea Film Festival (Getty Images for The Red Sea Int)

A host of Hollywood A-listers, including Nicolas Cage, Gwyneth Paltrow and Andrew Garfield, were among the stars attending the third Red Sea Film Festival this week.

Held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, the 10-day event ran from 30 November to 9 December, and showcased an array of films, from big-name auteur projects to international indies.

Elvis director Baz Luhrmann headed the juries for this year’s event, with Joel Kinnaman, Freida Pinto, Amina Khalil and Paz Vega serving on the Features panel. The main competition strand featured 17 films from across Asia, Africa, and the Arab world.

Taking home the top trophy at the festival – and the prize of $100,000 (£79,700) – was Pakistani-Canadian horror film In Flames, directed by Zarrar Kahn. The film was produced on a budget of just $300,000.

The director said that the indie movie was shot for “just $300,000 — the size of a Red Sea Fund production grant.”

Also in contention for the award were Saudia Arabian drama Norah, the first production shot entirely in the country’s AlUla region, dance drama Backstage, Imogen Poots-starring West Bank production The Teacher,and Amjad Al Rasheed’s Cannes Critics’ Week film Inshallah A Boy.

Nicolas Cage and Andrew Garfield at the closing ceremony of RSFF (Red Sea Film Festival/AFP via Getty)

Cage received an honourary prize for his contributions to cinema. Accepting the honour, he said: “Thank you to the Red Sea International Film Festival for this thoughtful recognition. We are here to celebrate film as we should because no other artform can reach so many people around the world. Cinema is a mirror that reflects all of our stories, reminding us of how human we all are.

“I remember I was in San Francisco and Jean Luc Godard was giving a seminar, and he told me that movies are like a medicine. That made me think about all of the characters I identified with in movies, and how they made me feel less lonely and gave me strength and guidance.”

Mohammed Al Turki, Nicolas Cage and jury member Joel Kinnaman pose with the Honourary Award (Getty Images for The Red Sea Int)

Cage went on to say that he was “blessed” to be attending the festival, adding: “Inshallah, I shall be with you again.”

Also present at the festival’s glitzy opening and closing events were Catherine Deneuve, Sharon Stone, Michelle Williams, Zoe Saldana, Diane Kruger, Michelle Rodriguez, Naomi Campbell, and Catherine Martin.

Gwyneth Paltrow at the RSFF closing ceremony (Red Sea Film Festival/AFP via Getty)

Jeanne du Barry, the historical romance that opened the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year – and which has attracted no small amount of controversy due to its casting of Johnny Depp – was given a special screening at the festival.

Other films were also shown outside of competition, including The Boy and the Heron, the acclaimed new film from animation legend Hayao Miyazaki, and Ferrari, Michael Mann’s new motorsport biopic starring Adam Driver.

Palestinian film director Farah Nabulsi poses with 'Best Actor' award on behalf of actor Saleh Bakri for his role in her film 'The Teacher' (Red Sea Film Festival/AFP via Getty)

The Jury Award was issued to British-Palestinian director and human rights activist Farah Nabulsi, for The Teacher, which was shot a few years ago in Palestine. In her acceptance speech, she addressed the ongoing Israel-Gaza conflict, prompting cheers from the audience.

“To not address the current devastation [in Gaza] would be no less than shameful for me,” she told the crowd. “The words that come to mind — from the late, long deceased British philosopher, Bertrand Russell — who said this in the 1970s, and he was referring to Palestine, are ‘how much longer is the world going to endure this spectacle of wanton cruelty?’”

Sharon Stone at the 2023 Red Sea Film Festival (Getty Images for The Red Sea Int)

The Shorts competition, judged by Hana Alomair, Assaad Bouab and Fatih Akin, awarded the top prize to Suitcase by Saman Hosseinpuor and Ako Zanhkarim.

Other winners at the end of the festival included director Shokir Kholikov for Sunday, Mouna Hawa, who took home the best actor trophy for Inshallah a Boy, and Kim Chang-Hoon for Hopeless in the best international film category.

Adrien Brody was also among the attendees (Getty Images for The Red Sea Int)

Multi-disciplinary artis Baloji won the prize for best cinematic contribution, for Omen, whileKarim Bensalah and Jamal Belmahi won best screenplay for Six Feet Over.

In the documentary field, Kauother Ben Hania’s Four Daughters was awarded the top honours. The film follows two professional actors who step in after the two daughters of a Tunisian mother disappear.

A Women In Cinema Dinner event was also held during the festival, to celebrate women’s voices in film. Oscar-winningstar Halle Berry delivered a masterclass at the festival, discussing her own experiences and career.

Halle Berry at the Red Sea Film Festival (Red Sea Film Festival/AFP via Ge)

“I’ll say this honestly, that because I was a Black woman, the treatment that I suffered [on that film], the things I had to go through, were unconscionable,” Berry told audiences, while speaking about her 2021 directorial debut Brusied. “And I truly believe that if I had been a white man, or even a Black man, the experience would have been much easier.”

Jomana-Al Rashid, the chair of the Red Sea Film Foundation, noted that the Red Sea Film Festival had platformed “126 films from 77 countries in over 47 languages from talented directors, actors, producers, and filmmakers from every corner of the globe”.

“At the Red Sea Film Foundation, we believe film is a transformative force and we’re committed to empowering filmmakers. Our Festival exists to provide a platform for stories that can change the world,” she added.