The 12-title lineup features Academy Award contenders, action powerhouses and iconic women — from Shu Qi to Charli XCX.
The Red Sea International Film Festival (Red Sea IFF) has unveiled its 2025 Festival Favourites strand, bringing together the standout titles from this year’s global festival circuit. The carefully curated selection marks the MENA premieres of nine acclaimed international films and the Saudi premieres of two celebrated Egyptian titles, reflecting the festival’s commitment to showcasing exceptional cinema from around the world. The films have been selected from festivals including Angoulême, Berlin, Busan, Cannes, Toronto and Venice.
Among the international highlights is Kokuho, the Japanese box office phenomenon directed by Lee Sang-il, which has become Japan’s highest-grossing live-action release. Also featured is Girl, the directorial debut of Asian screen icon Shu Qi, which earned her the Best Director award at the Busan International Film Festival for her deeply personal coming-of-age drama. The lineup also includes Kwibuka, Remember, starring French-Rwandan actor Sonia Rolland in a moving return to Rwanda’s killing fields, and Erupcja, an observational drama from Pete Ohs starring global pop star Charli XCX.
Action cinema fans can look forward to The Furious, a high-octane martial arts thriller produced by Hong Kong legend Bill Kong, while Normal sees filmmaker Ben Wheatley and actor Bob Odenkirk team up for a darkly comic night of chaos and violence in small-town America. Switzerland’s Oscar submission Late Shift, directed by Petra Volpe, delivers a powerful portrait of a hospital worker’s relentless day, while Ireland’s Saipan, by Lisa Barros D’Sa and Glenn Leyburn, revisits the tension-filled 2002 World Cup campaign through the lens of sports and national pride. Meanwhile, Primavera by Damien Michieletto transports audiences to 18th-century Venice for a richly detailed drama centered around Antonio Vivaldi and a gifted orphan violinist.
Kleber Mendonça Filho’s The Secret Agent, which won Best Director and Best Actor at Cannes, brings political tension and suspense to the lineup. Set in Brazil under military dictatorship, the film follows a fugitive academic navigating danger and deceit, and serves as Brazil’s official submission for the Academy Awards.
Representing the Arab world, two Egyptian films make their Saudi premieres in this year’s program. Mohamed Rashad’s The Settlement explores corruption and moral struggle through the story of a young man forced into a factory job after his father’s death, while Mohamed Siam’s My Father’s Scent is an intense, emotional chamber piece about a father and son confronting their shared past over one harrowing night. Both films explore themes of family, loss, and redemption, marking a new wave of powerful Egyptian storytelling.
Faisal Baltyuor, CEO of the Red Sea Film Foundation, commented: “The ‘Festival Favourites’ programme represents the culmination of an exceptional cinematic year, bringing together twelve films that have shone at major international festivals. Each title has been carefully curated by our team to offer audiences in the heart of historic Jeddah a remarkable window into world cinema — reaffirming our belief in the Festival’s role as a bridge between East and West, and in presenting cinematic experiences that enrich the cultural landscape and strengthen Saudi Arabia’s position as a leading destination for film.”
