The Red Sea Souk has scaled up for its fifth edition, which kicks off in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia today (December 6).
Pitching itself as the premier film market for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), organisers said the Souk will feature 90 stands, a 20% increase from the previous edition, including 166 exhibitors from more than 45 countries to. Among them are 13 country pavilions.
They are also expecting attendee numbers to exceed the 6,000 industry executives who were accredited last year.
Both the market’s venue and programme are bigger than 2024’s edition, according to Red Sea Souk director Holly Daniel, who explained that a key focus this year has been creating a functional, purpose-built space for attendees to meet and network. The garden area in the middle of the Souk is envisaged as a place for “daily networking events and social hours to bring everybody together”.
Highlights include the Souk Talks programme which is being curated by Screen contributing editor Wendy Mitchell. Among the speakers are representatives from global streamers such as Tamim Fares, director of Disney+ MENA, and Imane Mezher Gibran, Netflix non-fiction commissioner for the Middle East and Africa.
Meanwhile, the Souk Project Market will present 40 feature and TV projects in development, production and post-production from Africa, Asia and the MENA region. Recent films to pass through the Souk Project Market include Morad Mostafa’s Aisha Can’t Fly Away, which premiered in Un Certain Regard at this year’s Cannes, and Dandelion’s Odyssey from Japan’s Momoko Seto’s, which played in Cannes’ Directors Fortnight.
Elsewhere, the Souk Talents strand will host a programme of workshops, mentorship and interactive talks for film professionals from Saudi Arabia and the Arab region who are early in their careers.
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