The Red Sea International Film Festival unveils 2025 films in competition

16 projects from the Arab World, Asia and Africa were selected for Feature Competition, including "Hijra", directed by Shahad Ameen; and "A Sad and Beautiful World", a powerful drama by Cyril Aris. The Red Sea International Film Festival (Red Sea IFF) has revealed the 16 films competing in its Red Sea: Competition strand for its fifth edition. The selected projects will screen at the Festival running from 4-13 December 2025, and will be in contention for the prestigious Yusr Awards presented at the Festival’s awards ceremony. This year’s selection includes seven films supported by the Red Sea Film Foundation’s ecosystem, including Saudi Arabia’s 2025 Academy Award submission "Hijra", directed by Shahad Ameen;" A Sad and Beautiful World", a powerful drama by Cyril Aris tracing the everlasting bond of love between childhood sweethearts; Zain Duraie’s "Sink", a debut feature that follows a mother struggling with her son’s unravelling mental state; and supernatural "Roqia" by Yanis Koussim, set in Algeria’s Black Decade. Also supported by the Red Sea Film Foundation are the adult animation about an African child soldier "Allah Is Not Obliged", which premiered in Annecy, and the Kenyan documentary "Truck Mama." Additional highlights include the world premiere of "Barni", Mohammed Sheikh’s debut drama set in Somalia about a missing child; the MENA premieres of "Two Seasons, Two Strangers", the Locarno Golden Leopard-winning Japanese drama from Sho Miyake; and "Lost Land", the first-ever Rohingya-language drama from Akio Fujimoto. Cherien Dabis’ "All That’s Left of You" tells the tale of a Palestinian teenager swept up into a West Bank protest from the perspective of his mother, while "Stories" is the highly anticipated new film of Abu Bakr Shawky and the Iraqi drama "Irkalla Gligamesh’s Dream" is directed by Mohamed Al-Daradji. Antoine Khalife, Director of Arab Programmes and Film Classics, said: “We are expanding the perception of what Arab cinema can be with our 2025 Competition programme– selecting titles that are deeply rooted in their regions yet universal in feeling. We're thrilled to be bringing the very best of filmmaking from the region, including the Saudi film Hijra, as part of a lineup that is reshaping our collective narrative by vital telling stories of resilience, migration, identity, and transformation with urgency and clarity. The filmmakers draw on their personal history and the history of their parents to tell us stories that span several years, stories about struggles, love of the land, love of music, their aspirations and those of their parents, and we are thus immersed in the history of the Arab world with all the transformations that have occurred over several decades.” Fionnuala Halligan, Director of International Programs, added: "Focused as we are on films from Asia and Africa for our Competition selection, we see this year a theme of being lost and found – evidently in films like 'barni', from Somalia, which focuses on a missing girl, to the plight of the Rohingya in 'Lost Land'. We are delighted to welcome our first ever Korean film in Competition, 'The World of Love', alongside titles from China, Tajikistan and Kenya, complementing our wider programme of films from across the globe and continuing our commitment to creating cultural exchange through the medium of film. Our selection celebrates filmmakers who push the boundaries and expand the language of cinema – showing how creativity thrives when cultures meet.”