Overview
- The festival opened Dec. 4 in Jeddah’s Al-Balad with the Middle East premiere of Giant, Rowan Athale’s biopic of Prince Naseem Hamed starring Amir El‑Masry and Pierce Brosnan.
- Michael Caine received an honoree award presented on stage by Vin Diesel, as stars including Ana de Armas, Jessica Alba, Adrien Brody and Dakota Johnson walked the red carpet.
- Jury president Sean Baker praised the kingdom’s fast-growing cinema ecosystem as the event screens more than 100 films and stages a 16-title main competition spanning Asia, Africa and the Arab world.
- The Red Sea Souk industry market is hosting more than 160 companies, with senior executives from Netflix and Disney+ among the attending buyers and distributors.
- El‑Masry said he dislocated a finger during fight training for Giant, director Athale said Sylvester Stallone is credited as an executive producer, and he added that Hamed has seen the film with discussions over his formal blessing ongoing.