Arab female directors drive change at the Red Sea Film Festival in Jeddah

Arab female directors are reshaping the landscape of Arab cinema at the Red Sea Film Festival in Jeddah, where four influential filmmakers took part as part of a broader push to grow the region's film industry. The festival this year brought together 38 directors and underscored Saudi Arabia’s heavy investment in film, gaming and sports as part of its broader transformation. Rights groups have criticized aspects of the push, saying it risks drawing attention away from the kingdom’s human rights record, including its high rate of executions and restrictions on free expression.

Palestinian American filmmaker Cherien Dabis premiered All That’s Left of You, a multigenerational drama tracing a family’s experience from the 1948 Nakba to 2022. The film follows three generations as they cope with displacement and loss. “It tells the story of one family over three generations and how they survive the Nakba in 1948 and the ongoing occupation,” Dabis said. “It gives people context for how we got to where we are today and shows how much Palestinians have had to endure throughout the decades.” She added that her passion for storytelling grew from growing up in the diaspora: “My experience in the diaspora is really what compelled me to become a storyteller.” Dabis also acknowledged the hurdles she faced as a woman in the industry, noting, “There is this image of women filmmakers as overly emotional or unable to command a set. A lot of us felt we had to overcome these unfair ideas.” Her film won the Silver Yusr Feature Film award, which comes with a $30,000 prize.

Saudi filmmaker Shahad Ameen emerged as one of the standout voices at this year’s festival. Her latest film, Hijra, won the Yusr Jury Prize, marking another milestone in her career. Hijra follows three women — a grandmother and her two granddaughters — on a journey from Taif to Mecca to perform Hajj. When one granddaughter disappears in the desert, the film tracks a search across southern Saudi Arabia. Ameen has described her motivation as a push for Arab voices to be heard by Arabs themselves: “Ten years ago, we couldn’t have dreamed of this,” she said, calling the festival a turning point for cinema in the kingdom. “As Arabs, we need to make our voices heard by ourselves, not have someone else speak on our behalf.”

Amira Diab’s path into filmmaking was unconventional. A former financial investment professional based in Manhattan, she found her calling after watching Omar, the Oscar-nominated film by Palestinian director Hany Abu-Assad, who would later become her husband. Diab studied film production in Los Angeles and worked with Abu-Assad as a producer, directing two short films and collaborating on a series with her husband. One breakthrough came with the Netflix anthology short As a Husband, which resonated with audiences for capturing the emotional duality of life in the Palestinian territories. Diab’s feature Wedding Rehearsal began as a story rooted in the Palestinian territories but evolved to take place in Egypt, a change she felt expanded the story’s cultural reach. “Egypt has such a rich, diverse social fabric,” she said. “And I worked with amazing people like Nelly Karim and Sherif Salama. Egypt really embraced me.” She remains committed to telling Arab stories centered on women’s voices: “Of course women see the world differently. That’s why our voices matter,” she explained. “But it doesn’t mean men can’t write about women — it just means that certain emotional details only women can fully bring to the screen.”

Zain Duraie said her love with filmmaking began as a 10-year-old watching Titanic with her father in Amman, Jordan. She refined her craft at the Toronto Film School and started her career in a wide range of crew roles, from production assistant to director, carrying heavy equipment up mountains along the way. “People told me, ‘This isn’t a woman’s job,’” she recalled, but she pressed on. Duraie is known for tackling deeply personal and social issues, especially around mental health and the female experience. “I love to work in the psychology of drama, and I want to tell stories about women — but break stereotypes too,” she said. She argued that Arab cinema still has work to do on gender inclusion. Duraie premiered her first feature, Sink, at the Red Sea International Film Festival, a film that centers on a mother’s struggle with her son’s mental illness and signals a broader shift toward stories about women and domestic life in the region. “Every film is a new beginning,” she said, underscoring the ongoing challenge of convincing investors, festivals and audiences to embrace bold, women-led narratives.

The festival’s growth reflects a broader push by Saudi Arabia to position itself as a regional hub for cinema, gaming and culture. Yet the presence of high-profile reforms and big-ticket investments is viewed by some rights groups as a double-edged sword, drawing attention to the country’s reform efforts while continuing to scrutinize its limits on free expression. For the four filmmakers at Red Sea, the moment represents both a personal breakthrough and a potential turning point for Arab women behind the camera, whose stories have long waited for a more prominent stage.