The Red Sea International Film Festival has unveiled the bulk of the line-up for its fourth edition, which will showcase 120 films from 81 territories from December 5 to 14 in the port city of Jeddah. The festival will open with Egyptian director Karim Shenawi’s The Tale Of Daye’s Family (aka Light ) about an 11-year-old Nubian albino boy with a beautiful voice, who faces adversity due to his unique appearance. Abandoned by his father and bullied by his peers, he dreams of following in the footsteps of his idol, singer and actor Mohamed Mounir.
When he gets a chance to audition for The Voice , Daye and his family embark on a perilous 1,000-mile journey from Southern Egypt to Cairo. Michael Gracey’s semi-biographical feature Better Man , inspired by Robbie Williams and portraying the pop icon as chimpanzee, will close the festival. Johnny Depp’s Modi, Three Days on the Wing of Madness – which was supported by the festival’s parernt body the Red Sea Film Foundation – and employed participants of its apprenticeship program as crew, will also screen in a special awards night gala.
Star power will also be assured on the red carpet through this year’s Red Sea honorees: Academy Award winning actress and producer Viola Davis ( The Woman King, Fences) and Egyptian superstar Mona Zaki, whose recent credits include Flight 404 , which is Egypt’s Oscar entry this year. Aside from being honored, Davis will also be at the festival as the co-founder of JVL Media, the full-s.
