The Red Sea International Film Festival has announced the canceling of its first edition due to the COVID 19 pandemic, revealing plans for a 2021 'second edition'. "We are declaring the inaugural Red Sea Film Festival as a 'Label Edition'," stated the Red Sea Film Festival Foundation on Friday, thanking filmmakers and jury members for their efforts. The foundation confirmed it will continue supporting select films and projects as part of its various grant programmes. The first edition of the Saudi festival was supposed to take place this year, but the organisers initially postponed it due to the pandemic following the precautionary measures taken by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Egypt was supposed to have a high level of participation in the festival's activities. In December 2019, the organisers revealed that the festival will honour Egyptian filmmaker Khairy Beshara, some of whose films have been re-mastered by the festival. Among the foundation's aims is to shed light on Saudi cinema, promote international cinema to local audiences, and support Saudi and international filmmakers while nurturing the cultural scene. Saudi Arabia reported almost 250,000 coronavirus cases and around 2,500 deaths so for. More information about the festival in this link For more arts and culture news and updates, follow Ahram Online Arts and Culture on Twitter at @AhramOnlineArts and on Facebook at Ahram Online: Arts & Culture
