Red Sea Film Festival Awards: ‘In Flames’ Best Feature & Two Wins For ‘The Teacher’ – Full List

The third annual Red Sea Film Festival handed out its Yusr Awards on Thursday night, with Zarrar Kahn’s In Flames taking Best Feature and Farah Nabulsi’s The Teacher scoring a pair of wins including Best Actor for Saleh Bakri. See the full list below.

Elvis director and two-time Oscar nominee Baz Luhrmann headed the Rea Sea jury, which handed out awards in 17 categories.

The Saudi Arabian fest also gave a Red Sea Honorary Award to Nicolas Cage. The Oscar winner, whose Dream Scenario will close the festival on December 9, joined fellow 2023 honorees Diane Kruger, Ranveer Singh and Abdullah Al-Sadhan.

“Over the past eight days, we have welcomed the world to Jeddah and celebrated this vibrant global film community together – with a goal of bridging cultures and creating new ties,” said Jomana Al-Rashid, Chairwoman of the Red Sea Film Foundation. “We’ve done that with over 125 films from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, Morocco, Rwanda, Armenia, Malaysia, Pakistan, New Zealand, France, India, Thailand and many more – as well as an industry program in the Souk with 348 project submissions and 44 works in progress from more than 26 countries. We are proud to have created a meeting place for ideas, business, and inspiration to carry us into the new year.”

Here are the winners at the 2023 Red Sea International Film Festival:

Golden Yusr for Best Feature Film
In Flames, Zarrar Kahn

Silver Yusr for Best Feature Film
Dear Jassi / Tarsem Singh

Jury Prize 
Farah Nabulsi, The Teacher

Best Director
Shokir Kholikov, Sunday

Best Actor
Saleh Bakri, The Teacher

Best Actress
Mouna Hawa, Inshallah A Boy

Best Screenplay
Six Feet Over, Karim Bensalah and Jamal Belmahi

Asharq Documentary (Best Documentary In Competition)
Kaouther Ben Hania, Four Daughters

Chopard Rising Talent Trophy
Nour Alkhadra

Film AlUla Audience Award: Saudi Film
Norah, Saudi Arabia (Competition)

Film AlUla Audience Award: Non-Saudi Film
Hopeless, South Korea (Festival Favourites)

Best Cinematic Contribution
Omen, Baloji

Silver Yusr for Best Short Film
Suitcase, directed by Saman Hosseinpuor and Ako Zandkarimi

Golden Yusr for Best Short Film
Somewhere in Between, directed by Dahlia Nemlich