Spike Lee Named President Of Red Sea International Film Festival Jury

Spike Lee will head up the jury for the upcoming Red Sea International Film Festival.

The decorated Malcolm X filmmaker will preside over the features competition jury, which last year saw Zarrar Kahn’s In Flames taking Best Feature and Farah Nabulsi’s The Teacher scoring a pair of wins including Best Actor for Saleh Bakri. Lee will also participate in the Festival’s In Conversation strand, sharing insights.

For this year’s edition, the fourth, 16 features have been selected from the past year, with the winners being selected by Lee and the Jury to receive the Yusr Awards.

Lee is a cinema icon who won an Oscar for 2019’s BlacKkKlansman and has several more nominations. His past movies include Malcolm X, Da 5 Bloods and Do The Right Thing. He most recently received the National Medal of Arts and Humanities from Joe Biden.

Lee said: “Having been lucky enough to experience first-hand the incredible filmmaking, atmosphere and creativity at the Red Sea International Film Festival in 2022, it’s a privilege to be returning this year as President of the Jury. Alongside creating a melting pot for cultures to come together in celebration of our important art-form, it’s vital to continue to platform young and emerging filmmakers who are finding their voice in the industry.”

Jomana Al Rashid, Chairwoman of the Red Sea Film Foundation, added: “Looking towards our fourth edition, we’re honoured to welcome the legendary Spike Lee as our President of Jury for the festival this year. Spike is a pioneering director whose iconic work has made a lasting impact on both film as a medium and culture at large. His energy, incisiveness and genuine championing of creativity and new voices makes him an ideal fit to lead our jury for this year – we look forward to him engaging with the burgeoning talent in our competition line up.” 

This year’s fest has been gathering pace and yesterday it was revealed that Thierry Frémaux’s Lumière: Le Cinema will comprise part of the lineup, featuring projects including Pablo Larraín’s Maria and J.C. Chandor’s Kraven the Hunter.

The fest takes place in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, from December 5 to 14.