Red Sea Film Festival Puts Spotlight on Jeddah Old Town Al-Balad

The historic Old Town in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia is called Al-Balad, which literally translates as “The Town.” This historic center of the country’s second-largest city is not only the home to traditional houses with traditional wooden windows and balconies but also to the new headquarters of the Red Sea International Film Festival (RSIFF) in its Culture Square.

The location is designed to become a key hub for people going to screenings during the fourth edition of the RSIFF, and attendees of its Souk, or market, marking a return to Al-Balad where the first edition of RSIFF had also taken place.

“For the fourth edition of the RSIFF, the Red Sea International Film Festival returns to its permanent home in the iconic Al-Balad district in Jeddah,” the fest says on its website. “This year’s theme, ‘The New Home of Film,’ celebrates this historic venue, welcoming filmmakers, industry professionals, and cinema enthusiasts from around the world to honor the transformative power of storytelling.”

Al-Balad served as the location for the first edition of the RSIFF but the past two years saw the event moved to a different part of the city.

“We’re really excited about having our permanent headquarters in Old Town Al-Balad ready for the fourth edition,” Shivani Pandya Malhotra, managing director of the fest, tells THR. “It’s a beautiful space. The square has four cinemas and a theater auditorium with 800 seats. We’ll be able to host all our different workshops, panels and other programs during the festival and across the year there. With the festival being our flagship, we are launching the space with it.”

The location and its traditional role reflect the fest’s and Red Sea Foundation’s mission as a meeting place for people from different parts of the world. “The new headquarters really reflects what Jeddah and Saudi Arabia have been,” explains Malhotra. “It’s a confluence of different cultures that come together. It also reflects everything that we’re doing since we not only have the festival but four pillars of the Foundation, including the market and fund. We are a platform for Asia, Africa, and the Arab world, while continuing to be a very international festival. That’s the cinema we want to champion.”

Al-Balad also has a long history of serving as a place where “a lot of trade was done between different people from different parts of the world,” relecting this mission, she emphasizes. “And if you just go back into history, there are lots of stories in every corner. It’s a place where cultures meet, so it’s really reflecting the essence of what we are about and what the Foundation and festival are about.”

Kaleem Aftab, the RSIFF’s director of international programming, emphasizes the importance of creating a meeting place for festival attendees. “In all my experience of traveling to film festivals, I’ve always loved the film festivals where you feel that there’s a heartbeat, there’s a center, there’s something that is not just pulling you in, but also pushing out the stories,” he tells THR. “Finding something that feels like a center, something that feels like everybody has an opportunity to mix is important because I think one of the most important things about film festivals is that they can be very democratic. They can be the opportunity for the person who has never made a film and watched 10 films hear from the most experienced filmmaker, costume designer or actor and have that access.”

Given that the Saudi film industry is looking to develop and nurture more creators, crafts people and film fans, such a central spot is seen as particularly key to Jeddah.

Importantly, the Culture Square and the RSIFF headquarters brings together a traditional look with cutting-edge facilities. “It is modern in the sense that technically, screenings will have very high quality. However, the architecture also respects the neighborhood from the architecture,” Antoine Khalife, the RSIFF’s director of Arab Programs & Film Classics, explains to THR. “So, the building respects the neighborhood and tradition and at the same time have modern technology.”

The Red Sea Souk, or market, will also be part of the new cultural hub in Old Town Jeddah. “We’re going to have our bespoke industry venue in the old town, which is beautiful,” Red Sea Souk director Holly Daniel tells THR. “Overall, we’re going to have a really strong footprint in the old town in Jeddah” across festival, market, and beyond.

Organizers also see the hub as a chance to promote the art and magic of movies in the city more effectively. Says Daniel: “We’re now sitting in the heart of Jeddah, and we’re bringing film to the city and allowing the festival to become a bigger part of the city.”