Join us at Hayy Cinema this month as we celebrate documentary films as part of the second edition of Red Sea Documentary Days; a collaboration between Art Jameel and Red Sea International Film Festival.
With a wide selection of international and local documentary films, discussions and workshops, it promises to be an insightful and exciting experience for all filmmaking enthusiasts. Mark your calendars not to miss this exploration of wonderful narratives!
Opening weekend programme
Hiding Saddam Hussein + Q&A with director Halkawt Mustafa
Date: Thursday, June 6th – 7 pm
Venue: Cinema 1
Title: Hiding Saddam Hussein
Running time: 1h32m
Director: Halkawt Mustafa
Country: Iraq Year: 2023
Language: Arabic Subtitles: English / Arabic tbc
Synopsis: Eighteen years ago, the invading US forces were searching Iraq for its deposed president, Saddam Hussein, who had seemingly disappeared into thin air. He was finally discovered in the town of Al-Dawr, living in a bunker his chauffeur and bodyguard dug between the date trees in his orchard. Alaa Namiq, now 50, hid Saddam for a staggering 235 days before the Americans tracked him down in 2003, executing him three years later. Halkawt Mustafa persuaded Namiq to tell his story for the first time in this startling documentary, which took 10 years to make and was necessarily shrouded in so much secrecy that even the crew did not know the real subject of the film they were making.
Additional screenings on 12 & 21 June 2024.
FRIDAY, JUNE 7 • DAY 2
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 MAFLAM: An Introduction to Documentary Filmmaking & its Genres
Date: Friday, June 7th – 5:00 – 6:30 pm
Venue: Cinema 2
Running time: 1 hour
Free – Registration Link: https://applytoday.typeform.com/to/zDV5b6JF
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 In-Conversation with Kaouther Ben Hania – Moderated by Antoine Khalife
Date: Friday, June 7th – 6:30-7:00 pm
Venue: Cinema 1
Language: Arabic
Brief: From its presentation in the official competition at the Cannes Film Festival to its nomination for the Oscars, the film “Four Daughters” has had an exceptional journey.Its director Kaouther Ben Hania will discuss during an In- conversation how a docu-fiction can attract the general public today, what are the elements that make a film watchable, whether it is fiction or documentary.
Free – registration Link: https://applytoday.typeform.com/to/YpgTQDYq
 Screening of The Gullspång Miracle
Date: Friday, June 7th – 7 pm
Venue: Cinema 1
Title: The Gullspång Miracle Director: Maria Fredriksson
Running time: 1h48m
Country: Sweden Year: 2023
Language: Swedish Subtitles: English / Arabic tbc
Synopsis: A divine premonition leads two sisters to buy an apartment in the small Swedish town of Gullspång. To their surprise, the seller looks identical to their older sister who died by suicide 30 years earlier. What begins as an eerie story of family reunification soon becomes a Pandora’s Box as all three women’s lives spiral out of control.
Additional screenings on 13 & 22 June 2024.
 Screening of Underground + Q&A with director Abdulrahman Sandokji – Preceded by Kef Hayyak short documentary winning films
Date: Friday, June 7th – 9:00 pm
Venue: Cinema 1
Title: Underground
Running time: 1.5 hours
Director: Abdulrahman Sandokji
Country: Saudi Arabia Year: 2024
Language: Arabic Subtitles: English / Arabic tbc
Synopsis: The documentary presents real-life stories about Saudi music talents, their journey and the main challenges they are facing in the industry. The film discusses the reality of the Saudi music industry and its future vision amidst the cultural transformations in the Kingdom. Sandokji is known for his passion for investigative documentary filmmaking that presents real-life stories.
Additional screenings on 13 & 29 June 2024.
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SATURDAY, JUNE 8 • DAY 3
  Screening of Iraq’s Invisible Beauty + Q&A with director Jurgen Buets
Date: Saturday, June 8th – 7 pm
Venue: Cinema 1
Title: Iraq’s Invisible Beauty Director: Sahim Omar Kalifa & Jurgen Buedts
Running time: 1h27
Country: Iraq Year: 2023
Language: Arabic Subtitles: English
Synopsis: Latif al Ani, born in Baghdad in 1932 is known as the ‘father of Iraqi photography’. His work forms a unique visual archive of Iraq during its heydays from the 1950s to 1970s and is a profound insight into the country, mostly unknown to Westerners and even Iraqi people themselves. When Saddam took power, Al Ani stopped photographing. Now, many years after the last invasion, he is traveling with his photographs, telling stories and showing the unknown Iraq of those days. |
SUNDAY, JUNE 9 • DAY 4
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 Screening of Mother of All Lies
Date: Sunday, 9th June – 7 pm
Venue: Cinema 1
Title: The Mother of All Lies Director: Asmae El Moudir
Running time: 1h37m
Country: Morocco Year: 2023
Language: Arabic Subtitles: English
Synopsis: Family secrets and national shame blend and reflect each other in this inventive, involving documentary. Frustrated and mystified that there are no photographs of her as a child, the director sets about building an intricate model of the house and neighborhood where she grew up in Casablanca. It is a project that soon involves friends and family – including El Moudi’s terrifying grandmother, a late-blooming star – who start to recall fragments of a wider forgotten history: the Casablanca bread riots of 1981 in which an estimated 600 people died. Traumatic events that have long been shrouded in silence are brought to light, often with laughter: the truth is painful, but also healing.
Additional screenings on 20 & 28 June 2024.
 Screening of Songs of the Sufi + Q&A with director Shahrukh Waheed and producer
Date: Sunday, 9th June – 9 pm
Venue: Cinema 1
Title: Songs of the Sufi Director: Shahrukh Waheed
Running time:53m
Country: Pakistan Year: 2023
Language: Subtitles: English / Arabic tbc
Synopsis: In an unbroken chain spanning 800 years, a form of music has inspired, entranced and enlightened people. Songs of the Sufi takes you on a musical and artistic journey cataloguing “Qawwali”, the mystical music tradition of the Subcontinent
Additional screenings on 14 & 26 June 2024.
CLOSING WEEKEND
 MAFLAM: Experiencing Documentary Cinematography
Date: Thursday, June 29th – 6:30 – 7:30 pm
Venue: Cinema 2
Running time: 1 hour
Free – Registration Link: https://applytoday.typeform.com/to/zDV5b6JF
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