Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Fest Cancels Women In Cinema Venice Event; Cites Solidarity With Actors’ Strike

Melanie Goodfellow
·2 min read
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Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea International Film Festival has cancelled its swanky Women in Cinema gala event at the upcoming Venice Film Festival in response to the ongoing actors’ strike.

Red Sea CEO Mohammed Al Turki announced the move on his Instagram account on Monday.

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“Due to the actors’ strike and in solidarity with the actors. We are unable to proceed with the Women in Cinema event,” he wrote.

Venice, running from August 30 to September 9, is one of the first big film events to feel the heat of the actors’ strike, with original opening film Challengers pulled after its announcement due to the fact its key cast, topped by Zendaya, would be unlikely to attend.

Festival head Alberto Barbera has pulled together an impressive line-up nonetheless but it remains to be seen how much talent will be swilling around the Lido with little end in sight for the actors’ strike which began mid-July.

There was a ray of light last week after Luc Besson’s DogMan secured a SAG-AFTRA interim agreement which could result in the cast led by Caleb Landry Jones attending, but there has been no confirmation of red carpet plans as yet.

The Red Sea’s star-studded gala event was due to have taken place on September 1.

Launched by the Saudi Arabian film festival in 2021 to celebrate women in film, the event had contributed to Venice’s star quota over its first two editions.

The 2022 edition at the Palazzo Rocca Contarini Corfù on Venice’s Grand Canal paid tribute to six Arab filmmakers including Haifaa al-Mansour, Hend Sabry and Kaouther Ben Hania and also featured Isabelle Huppert, Carla Bruni, Nadine Labaki, Sabrina Carpenter and Sarah Gadon on the guest list. The 2021 edition welcomed  Kate Hudson and Demi Moore.

The Red Sea has also hosted a similar event at Hotel du Cap Eden Roc during the Cannes Film Festival since 2021 with guests this year including Catherine Deneuve, Katie Holmes, Ed Westwick, Naomie Harris, Rossy de Palma and Fan Bingbing.

Al Turki said the Red Sed Film Festival remained “committed to empowering female talents in front of and behind the camera” as part of its mission to support the Saudi Arabian and wider Middle East film industry.

“As we work towards future events, we genuinely hope to have the opportunity to welcome guests and celebrate Women Stories in the near future under better circumstances,” he wrote.

The Women in Cinema gala events are among a raft of initiatives created by the fledgeling Red Sea Film Festival since the announcement of its launch in 2019.

The festival’s third edition is scheduled to run from November 30 to December 9 in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah.

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