Red Sea Film Festival begins on a note of glamour

Over the years that I have been covering movie festivals across the globe, I have begun to realise that for an event of this kind to make a mark in the media and among the guests it must have a healthy cocktail of glamour and content.

- GAUTAMAN BHASKARAN

The Venice Film Festival understood this years after it thought it must compete with Cannes – which went big time with allure. And obviously film companies made a beeline for the Festival on the romantic Riviera that saw many hearts unite and break. Grace Kelly was one who found her love there with the Prince of Monaco. There was also scandal as there was unforgettable cinema and parties.

In the last few years, Venice, which unfolds on the picturesque island of Lido, has been learning this.

In the Middle East, despite Cairo, which has been around for ages, the festival at Dubai sparkled with its glamour and decent cinema. Abu Dhabi tried but fell a trifle short. Now with both these festivals having closed down, the Red Sea International Film Festival (RSIFF) has picked up this trick, and its fourth edition, which is now on at the Saudi city of Jeddah, surprised me by inviting many actors and actresses. Quite a few from Hollywood and Bollywood (Farhan Akhtar and Aamir Khan to name two).