Red Sea Film Festival postpones 2026 edition to late 2027
The Red Sea International Film Festival has postponed its sixth edition and will not take place this December in Jeddah, as reported by The Hollywood Reporter on 21 September 2026.
The 2026 edition had been scheduled for 3 to 12 December in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Organisers have now pushed the next edition back to the fourth quarter of 2027. That is a gap of almost two years between festivals.
In the meantime, the Red Sea Film Festival Foundation will start year-round programming at Culture Square in Historic Jeddah in November 2026, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Culture Square is a new arts district in the old city. The plan keeps a public presence in Jeddah while the main December event pauses.
Organisers said the festival will return in 2027 with a renewed vision, according to The Hollywood Reporter. They promised a programme celebrating cinema and film-makers from Saudi Arabia, the region and around the world. No dates or titles for 2027 have been announced.
The wider work of the Foundation will continue. That includes the Red Sea Fund, which provides money to help films get made, and Red Sea Labs, which develop new writers, directors and producers through training. Both will keep operating inside the Foundation's year-round system, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The postponement follows the fifth edition, which was held from 4 to 13 December 2025, according to the festival site. The main festival website at redseafilmfest.com is currently showing a maintenance notice. It states the site is undergoing maintenance.
Other activity is still listed for September 2026. The 48Hr Film Challenge Professional Days are scheduled for 16 to 17 September 2026, with screenings and an award ceremony on 17 September, according to the festival site. The challenge asks teams to write, shoot and edit a short film in two days.
For audiences, this means no red carpet in Jeddah in December. The focus shifts to smaller events, funding and training until the festival returns in late 2027.
