Red Sea: Documentary Film Days

Join us at Hayy Cinema this month as we celebrate documentary films as part of the fourth edition of Red Sea Documentary Days — a collaboration between Art Jameel and the Red Sea International Film Festival.

With a wide selection of international and local documentary films, along with discussions and workshops, it promises to be an insightful and exciting experience for all filmmaking enthusiasts.

Mark your calendars and don’t miss this inspiring exploration of powerful narratives!

Monthly Programme

DAY 1: 3 MAY 2025 – 6:45PM

4 Little Girls: A documentary of the notorious racial terrorist 1963 bombing by the Ku Klux Klan of the African American 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham during the Civil Rights Movement, which killed four young girls.

Genre: Documentary  Director: Spike Lee 

Country: United States  Year: 1997

Language: English  Subtitles: Arabic

Yalla Parkour: One of Zuaiter’s strongest memories of her mother is her radiant smile as a young woman on the beach in Gaza on one of the family’s regular holidays to Palestine. Her cousins would mock Areeb’s “outsider” accent, but according to her mother, this was where she belonged. 

Genre: Documentary  Director: Areeb Zuaiter 

Country: Sweden, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Palestine  Year: 2024

Language: Arabic, Swedish  Subtitles: English, Arabic

DAY 2: 4 MAY 2025 – 6:30PM

Saudi Cinema on Arts

Kef Hayyak Winners 

“Kef Hayyak?” – a unique documentary filmmaking challenge, asking aspiring filmmakers to capture the essence of their neighborhoods in Jeddah through their own unique lens using their phones.

When The Light Shines: Thirty years ago, H.H. Prince Faisal bin Abdullah sought out Saudi Arabia’s creative minds to showcase the nation’s heritage through art. His efforts led to the founding of the Layan Cultural Foundation, which now preserves this legacy for future generations in Saudi Arabia

Genre: Documentary Director: Ryan Al Bishri

Country: Saudi Arabia Year: 2024

Language: Arabic, English Subtitles: English, Arabic

Othman in the Vatican: Othman Al-Khozaim, born in Al-Kharj, loved painting and drawing from his early childhood, a passion he was able to funnel into studying design. It was when he was awarded a scholarship to study in Rome, however, that his talent was able to flourish as he found ways to absorb the wealth of Western art history around him into his own heritage of Islamic art, particularly calligraphy.

Genre: Documentary Director: Yasir Bin Ghanem

Country: Saudi Arabia Year: 2024

Language: Arabic, Italian Subtitles: English, Arabic

Alroshan: . In this concise yet focused film, architectural expert Ahmed Sami Angawi depicts how the roshan regulates light and air, essentially functioning as a form of low-energy air conditioning, while also providing a means for discreet conversations with passersbys through its meticulously carved wooden latticework. 

Genre: Documentary Director: Mohammed Ous

Country: Saudi Arabia Year: 2024

Language: Arabic Subtitles: English

Kemokazi: Kemo was born into a family of artists and photographers in Jeddah, but he feels torn between art forms and between the artist’s life and the kind of conventional life where he would just do a job

Genre: Documentary Director: Abdulrahman Batawie

Country: Saudi Arabia Year: 2024

Language: Arabic Subtitles: English

Aseer Memory: Born into a family of scholars, Mohammed Al-Matali has devoted his life to furthering his father’s library of precious old books and original documents that are often the only local sources of information about the area where he grew up, Aseer. Along with his collections, he has photographed and made videos of the prehistoric petroglyphs and ancient forts that stand witness to a rich history only now being researched and recorded. 

Genre: Documentary Director: Saad Tahaitah

Country: Saudi Arabia Year: 2024

Language: Arabic Subtitles: English

DAY 2: 4 MAY 2025 – 9:00PM

Dahomey: The journey of 26 plundered royal treasures from the Kingdom of Dahomey exhibited in Paris, now being returned to Benin. Diop artistically voices a new generation’s demands.

Genre: Documentary Director: Mati Diop

Country: France, Senegal  Year: 2024

Language: English , French Subtitles: English, Arabic

DAY 3: 5 MAY 2025 – 7:00PM

Tell them about us: A group of delightful teenage girls who have all fled to Germany find their own creative ways to overcome hidden discrimination in a film about friendship, sisterhood and living your dreams.

Genre: Documentary Director: Rand Beiruty

Country: Jordan Year: 2024

Language: English , Arabic Subtitles: English, Arabic

DAY 3: 5 MAY 2025 – 9:00 

My Way: A compelling voyage to the heart of an iconic song that explores the timeless classic’s universal appeal and long-lasting legacy.

Genre: Documentary Director: Thierry Teston, Lisa Azuelos

Country: France, United States Year: 2024

Language: English , French Subtitles: English, Arabic

DAY 4: 7 MAY 2025 – 9:00 

The Brink of Dreams:  This documentary chronicles the lives of a group of young Egyptian girls from a very conservative small village in Upper Egypt who formed an all-female acting troupe despite family rejection.

Genre: Documentary Director: Nada Riyadh & Ayman El Amir

Country: Egypt Year: 2024

Language: English , French Subtitles: English, Arabic

MAFLAM, the Saudi filmmaking learning platform will intervene the following weekend for a special ‘In Conversation’ event focusing on the pivotal role of women in documentary filmmaking.