Red Sea International Film Festival to honour filmmaker Guy Ritchie

The Red Sea International Film Festival (RedSeaIFF) on Friday announced that acclaimed British director Guy Ritchie will receive an honorary award for his contribution to the film industry at the opening ceremony of the movie gala.

The second edition of the festival is scheduled to be held in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah, from December 1 to 10.

Ritchie, best known for films such as “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels”, “Snatch”, “RocknRolla”, “Sherlock Holmes”, “The Man From U.N.C.L.E.” and “The Gentlemen”, will also take part in an ‘In Conversation’ event where he will discuss his cinematic career and achievements.   “Guy Ritchie, is a pioneering director and unique storyteller. Over the last 20 years, he has created a huge variety of unforgettable characters featuring original and intricate plots on the big screen. We are delighted to honour his extraordinary talents at the festival and look forward to welcoming him to Jeddah this December,” Mohammed Al Turki, CEO of the RedSeaIFF, said in a statement.

The festival will present 131 feature films and shorts from 61 countries in 41 languages from both established and emerging talent.

Indian filmmaker Shekhar Kapur’s cross-cultural romantic comedy “What’s Love Got To Do with It?” will open the festival with a red carpet gala. The film, featuring Lily James as a London filmmaker who heads to Lahore with her best friend (Shazad Latif) to document his journey to an arranged marriage, originally premiered at Toronto.

Saudi writer and director Khaled Fahd’s drama Valley Road has been announced as the closing film.

The main competition focuses on works by Arab, African and Asian directors and will showcase 15 films. Acadmey Award winner director-writer Oliver Stone is heading the competition jury.