Spike Lee Named Jury President of Red Sea Film Festival in Saudi Arabia

Spike Lee will serve as the president of the main competition jury at the fourth edition of the Red Sea International Film Festival (RSIFF) in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

The fest recently unveiled the 15 movies in the competition lineup for its latest edition running Dec. 5-14. The titles include Reema Kagti’s Superboys of Malegaon, which had its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival, and Kurdwin Ayub’s Moon, which debuted at the Locarno Film Festival where it won the special jury prize.

Honors for and onstage appearances by Viola Davis and Egyptian star Mona Zaki (Perfect Strangers, Flight 404, Aserb: The Squadron, The Spider) have also previously been set for RSIFF 2024. It will open with Karim Shenawi’s The Tale of Daye’s Family and close with Better Man, Michael Gracey’s biopic of Robbie Williams.

Last year, writer, director and producer Baz Luhrmann (Elvis, Moulin Rouge) presided over the Jeddah festival’s features competition jury. Zarrar Khan’s In Flames picked up the Yusr Award for best competition film back then. The Pakistani-Canadian horror movie portrays a mother and daughter having to navigate loss, oppression, and vulnerability after the death of the family patriarch.