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.
Following her recent appointment as director of international programmes, Fionnuala Halligan has assembled a new programming team that will aim to bring the best of world cinema to Saudi Arabia.
Shivani Pandya-Malhotra, managing director, 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.”
You can find information on the full programming team below:
- Mike Goodridge (Ballad of a Small Player, Left-Handed Girl, Santosh), producer and founder of Good Chaos, joins as international programme advisor
- Giovanna Fulvi, a film curator at Toronto International Film Festival with a particular focus on the cinema of mainland China, Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea, is international programming consultant, Asia
- Deepti D’Cunha will take on the role of international programming consultant, South Asia–a Mumbai-based programmer and former artistic director of the MAMI Mumbai Film Festival, D’Cunha boasts over 15 years’ festival experience and is known for championing emerging South Asian talent
- Alex Moussa Sawadogo, currently managing director of the Agence Burkinabè de la Cinématographie et de L’Audiovisuel, takes up the post of international programming consultant, Africa
- Under the leadership of Antoine Khalife, director of Arab programmes 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
- Lebanese journalist, critic and screenwriter Josephine Habchi will serve as senior programmer under Khalife–Habchi 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 and lecturer at Lebanese Academy of Fine Arts, Badih has held roles at MC Distribution and Beirut’s Metropolis Cinema before joining RSIFF
- Alice Kharoubi has been part of the Red Sea International Film Festival’s programming team since its creation, and now also leads its Souk Talents and Souk Connections initiatives–she has been a key member of the Festival de Cannes team for many years, where she currently serves on the Short Film Competition Committee and as director of cinema programming at the Marché du Film
