THIS year’s Red Sea Film Festival, with the theme “Your Festival, Your Story,” awarded top prize to Pakistani Zarrar Kahn’s In Flames, in which a mother and daughter must withstand malevolent forces after losing the family patriarch. It’s a ghost story which uses horror to make a point about oppressive social structure and gender hegemony. A poignant tale revealing female empowerment and a striking bond between mother and daughter. 

The Jury Prize went to Farah Nabulsi’s The Teacher. The based-on-true-events story takes place within the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, where a schoolteacher, Basem, devastated by the death of his son, grapples with his dangerous involvement in the resistance movement. This movie builds powerful emotional scenes, capturing the story’s undeniably melodramatic tensions, as well as the clear-cut gravity of ordinary people’s lives.  

One of the most interesting movies, Norah, won the Audience Award. Set in 1996, a cinematic tale of extreme beauty and poetry, Norah is a splendid debut by Saudi filmmaker Tawfik Alzaidi. A story of rebellion and coming-of-age as a young woman in a remote village sees her life change with the arrival of a new teacher. This is not a love story. There is an innocence and clarity at its heart and love for art alone brings our two protagonists together.