Sean Baker to Head Jury at Red Sea International Film Festival

Oscar-winning filmmaker Sean Baker will head the features competition jury at the 5th Red Sea International Film Festival.

Baker, the indie auteur behind the critically acclaimed films Tangerine, The Florida Project and Red Rocket, and who won Academy Awards for best picture, best director, best original screenplay and best editing for Anora, follows Spike Lee as Red Sea’s jury president. Oliver Stone and Baz Luhrmann have also acted as jury presidents for previous editions of the festival.

The festival’s features competition includes all types of films, including narrative, animation and documentary, and considers work from Asia and Africa, including the Arab world. The competition will feature 16 films competing for the Yusr Awards. Lotfi Achour’s Red Path won the Golden Yusr best film award in 2024.

“It’s an honor to serve as jury president for the Red Sea International Film Festival this year, taking the baton from Spike Lee,” Baker said in a statement. “I’ve long admired how the festival champions bold, diverse voices from across the globe, and this year’s Feature Competition showcases some of the most daring and exciting new voices from the Arab world, Africa and Asia. Festivals like Red Sea IFF give independent films a vital platform and connect them with a global audience, I’m thrilled to be part of that celebration of cinema and look forward to engaging with the incredible titles in the competition lineup.”

“Sean Baker is a trailblazing director whose dedication to championing authentic and meaningful storytelling through film is truly inspiring,” Faisal Baltyuor, CEO of the Red Sea Film Foundation, said in a statement. “He has continually pushed the boundaries of cinema with authentic storytelling and an unmistakable artistic vision, and we deeply admire his commitment to independent filmmaking. We are very proud to be bringing him on board to lead our features jury this year, fresh off his record-breaking success at the 2025 Academy Awards for our very special 5th edition.”

Taking place in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia‘s second city, Red Sea touts itself as the largest event celebrating cinema in the Middel East and North Africa region. This year’s event will open with Rowan Athale’s Prince Naseem Hamed boxing biopic Giant.

Red Sea International Film Festival runs Dec. 4 to 13.