Spike Lee named President of Red Sea International Film Festival Jury

Spike Lee has been named as president of the jury for the upcoming Red Sea International Film Festival.

As the president, the award-winning filmmaker will preside over the features competition jury. He will also take part in the Festival’s In Conversation strand.

This is the fourth edition of the Red Sea International Film Festival. For this year, 16 features have been selected from the past year with the winners being selected by Spike Lee and the Jury to receive the Yusr Awards.

Spike Lee is an award-winning filmmaker

Lee isan award-winning filmmaker, who has won an Oscar for the 2019starrer BlacKkKlansman. His past movies include Malcolm X, Da 5 Bloods and Do The Right Thing. He most recently received the National Medal of Arts and Humanities from the United States PresidentJoe Biden.

Receiving the awards, Spike Lee said, “Having been lucky enough to experience first-hand the incredible filmmaking, atmosphere and creativity at the Red Sea International Film Festival in 2022, it’s a privilege to be returning this year as President of the Jury. Alongside creating a melting pot for cultures to come together in celebration of our important art-form, it’s vital to continue to platform young and emerging filmmakers who are finding their voice in the industry.”

Jomana Al Rashid, chairwoman of the Red Sea Film Foundation, added: “Looking towards our fourth edition, we’re honoured to welcome the legendary Spike Lee as our President of Jury for the festival this year. Spike is a pioneering director whose iconic work has made a lasting impact on both film as a medium and culture at large. His energy, incisiveness and genuine championing of creativity and new voices makes him an ideal fit to lead our jury for this year – we look forward to him engaging with the burgeoning talent in our competition line up.”

The Red Sea Festival will take place in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia from December 5 to 14.