THE RED SEA FILM FOUNDATION UNVEILS PROGRAMMERS FOR FESTIVAL’S 2025 EDITION – Firstpost

The Red Sea Film Foundation (Red Sea FF) has unveiled the programming team for the fifth edition of the Red Sea International Film Festival, which takes place from 4–13 December 2025 in the historic district of Al Balad, Jeddah. The announcement comes on the eve of the Venice Film Festival, where the Red Sea Film Foundation is celebrating the premieres of five of the projects it has supported – Hijra (Venice Spotlight), Roqia (International Critics’ Week), Cotton Queen (International Critics’ Week), A Sad and Beautiful World (Giornate degli Autori), and Memory of Princess Mumbai (Giornate degli Autori). The Foundation will also once again partner with Venice’s Final Cut programme.

Following her recent appointment as Director of International Programs, Fionnuala Halligan has assembled a new programming team which includes producer and Founder of Good Chaos Mike Goodridge (Ballad Of A Small Player, Left-Handed Girl, Santosh), whose film Orphan, directed by Lazlo Nemes, is playing in Competition at Venice. He joins the team as International Program Advisor. Mike was Festival Director at the Macao Film Festival (2017-2020) and programmer for Sarajevo (2012-2017), and has also held tenure as CEO of Protagonist Pictures, and Editor of Screen International.

Also joining the team as International Programming Consultant, Asia is Giovanna Fulvi. Giovanni 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. Her previous festival work also includes the International Film Festival Rotterdam and the Rome and Torino Film Festivals.

Joining as International Programming Consultant, South Asia is Deepti D’Cunha, a Mumbai-based programmer and former Artistic Director of the MAMI Mumbai Film Festival. With over fifteen 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, Africa. Alex is currently 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, the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Fasllah.com and a member of FIPRESCI, who joins as a Senior Programmer. Ahmed also currently leads the arts section at the prominent Saudi publication Elaph.

Lebanese journalist, critic and screenwriter Josephine Habchi will also serve as Senior Programmer under Antoine. Josephine has worked across both television and communications, in addition to her work at Lebanese newspaper An-Nahar.

Mariam Abdalla has been appointed as both a programmer for the team, and Red Sea’s Egypt correspondent. She has previously held roles at Samusocial International Egypt, Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia, and White Horse Studios.

Badih Massaad joins as Short Films Programme Manager within the Arab programming team. A director, lecturer at Lebanese Academy of Fine Arts, Badih has held roles at MC Distribution and Beirut’s Metropolis Cinema before joining RSIFF. He will serve alongside returning RSIFF Arab Programmes team member Mohyee Qari, the Saudi Program Manager who has built the festival’s local offering into a celebration of Saudi cinema, creativity and evolving cultural identity.

Shivani Pandya-Malhotra, Managing Director of the Red Sea Film Foundation, said: “Our programming teams are the backbone of our festival – tirelessly weaving together the works we screen and shaping the artistic direction of each edition. It is invigorating to be creating our fifth RSIFF in collaboration with a host of talented, deeply connected and curatorially driven programmers – and we look forward to sharing the fruits of their work with our local and international audiences this December.”