Shivani Pandya Malhotra, Managing Director of the Red Sea International Film Festival, stepped into Deadline’s Red Sea Studio this week to reflect on the festival’s fourth edition, which this year was relocated to Jeddah’s Al-Balad district, and revealed why the festival amped up its star power this year.
“It’s important to inspire a new generation in Saudi,” said Pandya Malhotra. “Also, we want to create opportunities, and I think when people come in, they see it because a lot of people have different ideas and misconceptions. I think when you’re bringing in talent – and we’ve got directors from Africa, Asia, the Arab world as well as international – it’s a meeting point.”
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This year’s festival indeed seemed to have more star power than ever with a host of Hollywood and Bollywood talent such as Emily Blunt, Olivia Wilde, Andrew Garfield, Cynthia Erivo, Michelle Yeoh, Aamir Khan, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Benedict Cumberbatch, Spike Lee, Jeremy Renner, Minnie Driver, Brendan Fraser and Ranbir Kapoor all touching down in Jeddah this year.
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Many of these attendees participated in In Conversation sessions, which Pandya Malhotra says were pivotal in “inspiring” local and international delegates. She noted that a lot of the talent “want to give and do things with filmmakers from other parts of the world and that’s what we are seeing come out of this and I’m hoping that in a couple of years, we’ll really see collaborations also take place.”
She continued: “Star power is always important because it lays an emphasis…people are always following where talent goes and what’s happening and I think that gives us visibility, but at the same time, it’s important for us that the talent are speaking and interacting.”
She pointed to Garfield’s attendance, noting that the Spider-Man actor had hosted a “closed doors” In Conversation session “just for souk talent” and said that Driver is in town to “mentor some women filmmakers.”
“There’s a lot happening,” said Pandya Malhotra. “I think we’re just creating opportunities and we’re creating very strong connections.”
This year saw the festival headquarters move from The Ritz back to the historic Al-Balad district, where it hosted its first ever edition.
“We’ve got this beautiful building that we’ve built, which has got five cinemas and has the biggest theatre in Saudi at the moment and the biggest screen, so we’re really excited to be showcasing films there,” said Pandya Malhotra. “What we’re really happy about is that we have been able to put all the industry elements and our screenings all in close proximity. That was always the vision to try and make sure that everybody can go from their meetings at the market at the Red Sea souk, go across to screenings, watch conversations and then connect with people that have come from all over the world to the people from the region.”
Check out the full interview above.