Red Sea International Film Festival has unveiled the programming team for its upcoming fifth edition, which will mark the first under director of international programs Fionnuala Halligan.
The new additions include Toronto film curator Giovanna Fulvi; former MAMI Mumbai Film Festival artistic director Deepti D’Cunha; producer and Good Chaos CEO Mike Goodridge; Ahmed Al-Ayyad, editor-in-chief of Arabic media news site Fasllah.com; and African cinema expert Alex Moussa Sawadogo.
It marks the first major appointments since Halligan took on the leading role at RSIFF last month, stepping down as Screen International executive editor, reviews and new talent and replacing Kaleem Aftab.
Goodridge, whose film Orphan, directed by Lazlo Nemes, is playing in Competition at Venice, joins as international program advisor. The producer was previously festival director at Macao Film Festival from 2017-2020 and programmer for Sarajevo from 2012-2017. He is also a former CEO of Protagonist Pictures and editor of Screen International.
Fulvi has come on board as international programming consultant. She is a film curator at Toronto International Film Festival with a particular focus on the cinema of mainland China, Hong Kong, Japan, and South Korea. Fulvi also previously held festival roles at Rotterdam, Rome and Torino. International Film Festival Rotterdam and the Rome and Torino Film Festivals.
Joining as international programming consultant for South Asia is Deepti D’Cunha, a Mumbai-based programmer and former artistic director of the MAMI Mumbai Film Festival. With over 15 years’ experience and roles at NFDC Film Bazaar and festivals including Venice, Locarno, and Cannes Directors’ Fortnight, she is known for championing emerging South Asian talent.
Alex Moussa Sawadogo takes up the post of international programming consultant for Africa. He is managing director of the Agence Burkinabè de la Cinématographie et de L’Audiovisuel, founder of Ouaga Film Lab, a film development and co-production laboratory in Burkina Faso, and has held roles as artistic director of FESPACO and the Lausanne African Film Festivals.
Under the leadership of Antoine Khalife, director of Arab programs and film classics, the Arab programming team now includes Saudi journalist and critic Ahmed Al-Ayyad, who joins as a senior programmer. Ahmed also leads the arts section at prominent Saudi publication Elaph.
Lebanese journalist, critic and screenwriter Josephine Habchi will also serve as senior programmer under Khalife while Mariam Abdalla has been appointed as both a programmer for the team, and Red Sea’s Egypt correspondent.
Badih Massaad joins as short films programme manager within the Arab programming team. A director, lecturer at Lebanese Academy of Fine Arts, Massaad has held roles at MC Distribution and Beirut’s Metropolis Cinema. He will serve alongside returning RSIFF Arab programmes team member Mohyee Qari, RSIFF’s Saudi program manager.
The appointments have been unveiled on the eve of the Venice Film Festival, where five project supported by the Red Sea Film Foundation will premiere: Hijra, Roqia, Cotton Queen, A Sad And Beautiful World, and Memory Of Princess Mumbai. The Foundation will also once again partner with Venice’s Final Cut programme.
The fifth RSIFF will take place in Al Balad, Jeddah from December 4-13.
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