The Red Sea International Film Festival 2025: Dakota Johnson, Jessica Alba, Uma Thurman and more

New York Post

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00:00Hi, Jessica. Hi. How are you? Yeah, this way.

00:04Straight ahead, Jessica. Hi.

00:07Jessica, this way.

00:08Jessica, look at me, please. And big smile.

00:14Jessica, big smile.

00:17Jessica, one more time, please, for me.

00:19Dakota, straight ahead.

00:22Okay, Dakota, this way. Okay.

00:25Dakota, this way.

00:26And this way.

00:27Dakota, look at me, please.

00:29Your eyes for me, Dakota.

00:31This way.

00:33Miss Johnson, this way.

00:38And this way, this way.

00:41Here, this way.

00:43Michael, straight ahead.

00:46Bean, please.

00:48Hello.

00:54Thank you, everybody. Thank you.

00:58All right.

01:02One, one, one, one picture.

01:03Sorry.

01:09Ladies and gentlemen.

01:10Here's your welcome.

01:11You're welcome.

01:12You're welcome.

01:13Here's your welcome.

01:14Here's your welcome.

01:15Here's your welcome.

01:16Natasha.

01:17We are, we are, we are, we are.

01:18Natasha.

01:19Okay, thank you very much.

01:20You're excited to be at Red Sea and support it.

01:24Well, Red Sea's been on my radar for a while.

01:27I'm happy the schedules have finally aligned.

01:29I'm grateful to be able to come here and support film, especially international movies.

01:33And yeah, I think it's just been a great time for me to come.

01:37And performing, I think, are you going to be performing as well?

01:40Yes, I'll be performing tomorrow at the Women in Hollywood, I think, dinner.

01:46But actually I've never performed here, so I'm very excited.

01:49I bet you are really curious just to discover, you know, is there anything you're particularly

01:53curious about discovering in your time here?

01:55I spent time in the Old Town today.

01:57I just want, I love to just be a tourist if I'm in places I've never been.

02:02And so I spent the morning just doing that, seeing the beach and it's beautiful.

02:06Lovely to welcome you here.

02:09It's my first time here and so beautiful, driving up and seeing the mosque reflected in

02:15the water and a full moon.

02:17Stunning tonight.

02:18It's a great city.

02:19And I know, of course, at Cannes you were part of the Women in Cinema events.

02:23And so were you just curious to come and discover the Red Sea?

02:27I know that this is the most significant film festival in the region.

02:31And I'm a really passionate lover of film festivals.

02:34I've sat on juries many times before.

02:37It's a real privilege.

02:39You get a crash course in storytelling from all over the world.

02:42Yes.

02:43And you just love hearing about those diverse voices, you know, at a place like this as well,

02:47right?

02:48And yeah.

02:49And are you curious to discover, you know, the people here and to meet people?

02:53I'm very excited to meet people.

02:56This is, you're the first person I've spoken to.

02:59I've just arrived and it's a pleasure.

03:02Is there anything that you might be particularly looking at a film that would make you think,

03:07yeah, I've really connected with this film?

03:08Yeah, I'm excited to see the voice of Hindra Jab and also Palestine 36.

03:13These are two films that I think are just so urgent.

03:16I think they're really meeting the moment.

03:18You know, I think they're really meeting people where they're at in terms of how they're feeling

03:22and telling stories that feel necessary and telling them in an innovative, cool, ambitious way

03:28with filmmakers that are just genuinely cool.

03:32You know, they can be making films about anything that they wanted to, but they choose to tell stories

03:37that are really meeting our moment.

03:39And that to me is the highest calling of art.

03:41So I'm excited for those films in particular.

03:43Do you enjoy the conversation and where it's an exciting meeting your fans?

03:47It's always, it's always important when you can get in front of the audience,

03:50get in front of the people who support you and who you inspire and be re-inspired by them,

03:56which is what always happens whenever I'm in conversation in front of my fans.

04:00So it was, it was a wonderful thing to do.

04:03I'm really excited.

04:04It's my first time in Jeddah.

04:06I'm really excited to be here at the festival and just to celebrate film and filmmaking and cinema.

04:12And that's the theme of the festival this year is for the love of cinema.

04:16So that's what the world is all about.

04:19Receiving, giving, and just love.

04:22That's all we want.

04:24Well, welcome firstly, please let me welcome you.

04:27And why was it important to you to discover the Red Sea Film Festival?

04:31I mean, so many reasons.

04:33It feels like a wild time and a history and I guess I was very curious to be here

04:42and I've met some extraordinary filmmakers and it's pretty incredible.

04:47Absolutely.

04:48I'm sure you're going to tell me you've just arrived, but are you curious to discover people?

04:52Is there anything you're particularly looking forward to about your time here?

04:55Yeah, I guess I'm mostly looking forward to supporting women filmmakers.

05:03That's wonderful.

05:04Can I ask why?

05:05I guess it's always important and it's always a meaningful act.

05:12It's what I know and what I do, so why not?

05:17As someone who, with The Brutalist, you made a work of cinematic art.

05:21How excited are you about people opening up to the possibility of cinema in this part of the world?

05:27Well, they have a strong history of filmmaking.

05:31And even, you know, Egyptian film were wonderful, big, spectacular movies.

05:38And, you know, I think we're living in a time where we all need to find ways to share what we share.

05:54And emotions are universal.

05:56We all have families and needs and heartbreak and love and curiosity.

06:03And that can all be expressed through art and through film and through narrative storytelling.

06:09And I feel like now more than ever, we need to share those voices and listen and see how much more we have in common than our differences.

06:24Absolutely.

06:25So you're curious about discovering the films and the people?

06:28Yes.

06:29And the people are wonderful.

06:30I mean, I've been coming here for years and I've supported the festival in the past.

06:34And I think they do a wonderful job and they bring so many interesting people here to celebrate this work with.

06:42So it's actually a pleasure to be here.

06:44Has it been exciting meeting your fans in Saudi Arabia and having this experience?

06:49Yes, very much so.

06:50Because, like, I just saw people, you know, the side there taking a picture.

06:53It's so wild, you know, to have affected people all over the world is something that's really unique and I do not take for granted.

07:00Like, it's really a beautiful thing that these movies bring us together and mean a lot to people's childhood.

07:06Yeah.

07:07Yeah.

07:08What sparked your curiosity in terms of coming to the Red Sea?

07:11I've never been to the Middle East, so that was the main thing.

07:16But also to support a festival that's new, I think it's important.

07:20But really just coming to the Red Sea, why did it spark your curiosity and want to be part of the festival?

07:25You know, I'm really interested to see the films coming out of these countries.

07:31And I'm inspired by a lot of them.

07:33And there's a lot of female filmmakers from Saudi and from the surrounding countries that I'm just so curious about.

07:40I want to meet them, I want to work with them.

07:42I think there's such incredible talent here.

07:44And, you know, bringing art together globally is so important.

07:47And to be here and meet everyone and be a part of this festival is an honour.

07:53And thinking about the fact that you are a filmmaker, you're a producer as well, you know,

07:57is there anything that you're particularly excited about discovering, you know, about Jeddah and the festival?

08:03Yeah, I think it's, you know, discovering these voices and, you know, different cultures

08:08and figuring out how we can tell stories in a way that reach the masses in a global sense.

08:13And I'm just excited to meet other artists from this part of the world.

08:19It's wonderful to welcome you here.

08:22And, you know, why were you curious to discover the Red Sea Festival?

08:24Oh, my God, I've heard about the festival since it started like five years ago.

08:29And I, you know, every time you have the opportunity to support film and art in general,

08:34like you, you want to be there, you want to be a part of it.

08:37And I think what the festival is doing is really wonderful.

08:40And it's very interesting, all the initiatives and all the programs.

08:43Yeah, it's beautiful here.

08:46And are you excited to meet some of your fans as well?

08:49And just to meet, you know, the Saudi fans?

08:52Are you excited?

08:53One hundred percent.

08:54I was actually, I spent all day yesterday walking around the city and eating amazing food and, like,

09:02going to, like, some artists' galleries and workshops and all that.

09:07And it's, yeah, saying hi to everyone on the street.

09:10It was really, it was really nice.

09:12That's lovely.

09:13Have you got a vibe of the festival at all?

09:17Well, I literally just arrived.

09:19You're my first person, say, you know, talking to, but I, yeah, it's, it's great.

09:25I'm very excited, very much looking forward to tonight and the rest of the festival.

09:31Thank you so much for something.

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