Middle East & North Africa

Korea & Japan

‘Lost Land’ Wins Best Film At Red Sea International Film Festival

The Silver Yusr was awarded to 'All That’s Left Of You' from Cherien Dabis, while the Jury Prize went to 'Hijra' from Saudi filmmaker Shahad Ameen.

Middle East & North Africa

Saudi & Egypt Emerge As Box Office Bright Spots In MENA Region

Box office growth in two MENA markets dominated discussions during the Souk Talks at this year’s Red Sea International Film Festival. Saudi’s box office picked up this year, after a slump in 2024, due to a diverse range of local and international titles. Meanwhile, the Egyptian market is

Africa

‘Playhouse’, ‘Fiction’ & ‘Dhel’ Among Winning Projects At Red Sea Souk

'About Love & September Laws' from Sudan's Mohamed Kordofani was also among the most awarded projects.

Middle East & North Africa

Netflix-WB Deal Threatens Cinemas But May Help Indie Filmmakers, Say Red Sea Souk Speakers

Netflix’s planned acquisition of Warner Bros poses a huge potential threat to global theatrical infrastructure, but on the other hand may provide opportunities for independent filmmakers, said speakers on a Red Sea Souk panel entitled 'Futureproofing Our Industry'.   Gaetan Bruel, president of French film agency CNC, made

Middle East & North Africa

Cherien Dabis Talks Palestinian Drama ‘All That’s Left Of You’: “Maybe We Have A Responsibility To Heal Our Trauma”

Palestinian-American filmmaker Cherien Dabis shared her filmmaking journey and the logistics behind making her latest film, multi-generational family drama All That’s Left Of You, in the Souk Talks at Red Sea International Film Festival.   Set in the West Bank, the film follows a Palestinian family across three

Southeast Asia

Autumn Markets Part Three: Philippines Updates & Doha Film Ambitions

There’s been a flood of news out of the second half of the autumn festival circuit from events including the Philippines’ QCinema, India’s Film Bazaar, Indonesia’s JAFF Market, Cairo Film Connection and the first Doha Film Festival.   Among these, I only attended QCinema and JAFF Market, but

News

‘Sleepless City’, ‘My Father And Qaddafi’ Take Top Awards At First Doha Film Festival

Guillermo Galoe’s Sleepless City was awarded best narrative film at the first Doha Film Festival (November 20-28), while Jihan’s My Father And Qaddafi was awarded best documentary. In total, the festival handed out prizes totalling more than $300,000 across its four competition sections. Sleepless City, a

Africa

Red Sea Film Fest Unveils Competition Line-up; Sets ‘Giant’ As Opening Film

Red Sea International Film Festival (December 4-13) has announced the 16 titles in its competition section, as well as its opening film and other major sections.

News

Marrakech Atlas Workshops 2025: Full Line-Up

Atlas Workshops, the projects market section of Marrakech International Film Festival, has selected 28 projects for its eighth edition.

Middle East & North Africa

Red Sea Souk 2025: Full Line-Up

Red Sea International Film Festival has selected 40 feature film and series projects for this year’s Red Sea Souk Project Market.

Festivals

Annemarie Jacir’s ‘Palestine 36’ Wins Best Film At Tokyo Fest

Cambodian filmmaker Rithy Panh’s documentary 'We Are The Fruits Of The Forest' was awarded the Special Jury Prize.

Middle East & North Africa

Cairo Film Connection 2025: Full Line-Up

Cairo International Film Festival has selected 15 projects from 10 countries for this year's Cairo Film Connection.

Middle East & North Africa

El Gouna Golden Stars Awarded To 'A Poet', 'Always' & 'Agapito'

Audience awards went to Sepideh Farsi’s documentary 'Put Your Soul On Your Hand And Walk' and Egyptian filmmaker Sarah Goher’s 'Happy Birthday'.

Middle East & North Africa

CineGouna Funding 2025: Full Line-Up

Egypt’s El Gouna Film Festival has selected 19 projects for the 2025 edition of CineGouna Funding.

Festivals

‘Father Mother Sister Brother’, ‘Voice Of Hind Rajab’ Take Top Prizes In Venice

In a controversial set of awards, major winners also included The Smashing Machine, which took the Silver Lion for best director.

Middle East & North Africa

Autumn Fest Politics & Press Coverage; Visions Sud Est & Singapore’s The Projector

Before we dig into this week’s stories, just a quick note to say that Streamlined’s upgrade is now complete. I’ve moved off Substack and both the newsletters and the website that was previously known as Streamlined Global (with an archive of ten years of industry news) are

Festivals

Palestinian Drama ‘All That’s Left Of You’ Awarded Best Film At MIFFEST

The film, which follows a Palestinian family through three generations, also won best screenplay at Malaysia International Film Festival.

Middle East & North Africa

Tunisia’s ‘Red Path’ Wins Black Iris At Amman Film Festival

To A Land Unknown, from Danish-Palestinian filmmaker Mahdi Fleifel, scooped both the Jury Award and the Audience Award.