The Red Sea Film Foundation has announced it is cancelling this year's edition of the Red Sea International Film Festival, which had been scheduled to run from December 3 to 12 in Jeddah, and will instead return in the closing months of 2027, with exact dates to be confirmed later.
The foundation attributed the decision to "a review of the timing of the festival, including the logistical requirements involved in staging an international event of its scale." It did not explicitly link the cancellation to regional tensions, though the announcement came amid escalating US-Iran tensions and Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia.
The cancellation comes after film submissions and accreditation for this year's edition had already closed, leaving many filmmakers who had planned regional premieres without a platform. The Red Sea Souk, the festival's industry market, has also been cancelled, affecting professionals who intended to pitch projects there.
The foundation said its year-round cultural programming will continue as planned, with activities resuming from November at Culture Square in Historic Jeddah, meaning the organisation's broader activities are not being halted.
Launched in 2019, the Red Sea International Film Festival grew into one of the region's most prominent cinema events following Saudi Arabia's 2017 decision to lift its decades-long ban on commercial cinemas. Its 2025 edition drew international stars including Dakota Johnson, Uma Thurman and Ana de Armas, alongside executives from Netflix, Amazon and Disney.