Giuseppe Tornatore, Marwan Hamed to Head Red Sea Film Festival Juries – Global Bulletin

JURY

Italy’s Giuseppe Tornatore, director of the Oscar, BAFTA and Cannes winning film “Cinema Paradiso,” will preside over the features competition jury at Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Festival (Dec. 6-15). Tornatore’s latest documentary, “Ennio,” about revered composer Ennio Morricone, which bowed at Venice, will have its Arab premiere at the festival out-of-competition in the International Spectacular strand.

Joining Tornatore on the jury are Tunisian actor Hend Sabry (“The Blue Elephant 2”) Palestinian-American director, writer, actor and producer Cherien Dabis (“Amreeka”), Morelia International Film Festival director Daniela Michel and Saudi filmmaker Abdulaziz Alshlahei (“Zero Distance”).

More from Variety

• Sylvester Stallone's Paintings Are Getting a Retrospective in Germany - Global Bulletin

• Malaysia Bans Chinese war movie 'The Battle at Lake Changjin' - Global Bulletin

• European Film Awards to Take Place as Distanced Live Event as COVID-19 Cases Mount - Global Bulletin

The Red Sea shorts competition jury will be led by Egypt’s Marwan Hamed, director of Tribeca winner “The Yacoubian Building”) who will be joined by Saudi Arabian actor and director Ahd Kamel (“Wadjda”) and Finnish-Somali director and writer Khadar Ayderus (“The Gravedigger’s Wife”).

Hackman Capital Partners

STUDIO

Hackman Capital Partners and partner Square Mile Capital Management have added to their extensive studios portfolio by purchasing Wardpark Film and Television Studios, located in Cumbernauld, Scotland.

The Wardpark staff will remain unchanged.

The largest full-service studio in Scotland, Wardpark is approximately 20 minutes by car to either Glasgow or Edinburgh. The 14-acre campus offers some 200,000 square feet of studio space, including five sound stages, production offices, workshops, an external green screen area and parking. The studio is currently home to the sixth season of the hit TV series “Outlander,” produced by Sony Pictures Television and Left Bank Pictures for Starz.

Hackman Capital Partners’ studio assets, through affiliated entities, include The Culver Studios, Television City Studios, MBS Media Campus, Silvercup Studios, Kaufman Astoria Studios, Second Line Stages, Raleigh Studios, Sony Pictures Animation Studios, Ardmore Studios, Troy Studios, Eastbrook Studios London and The Wharf London.

TRAILER

Universal Pictures has released a trailer for “Redeeming Love,” scheduled to release in U.S. and Canadian theaters Jan. 21, 2022. Directed by D.J. Caruso (“xXx: Return of Xander Cage”), the film is an adaptation of Francine Rivers’ bestselling novel.

The film stars Abigail Cowen (“Fate: The Winx Saga”), Tom Lewis (“Gentleman Jack”), Logan Marshall Green (“Upgrade”), Famke Janssen (“X-Men: Days of Future Past”), Nina Dobrev (“Vampire Diaries”) and Eric Dane (“Grey’s Anatomy”). The film is slated for release in early 2022 under the Universal Pictures banner.

A love story that takes place against the backdrop of the California Gold Rush of 1850, the film follows Angel (Cowen), who was sold into prostitution as a child, who has survived through hatred and self-loathing, until she meets Michael Hosea (Lewis) and discovers there is no brokenness that love can’t heal.

FORMAT

Red Arrow Studios International has acquired of new reality series format “My New Mystery Job,” in which participants looking for a life change, sign up for a brand new job without knowing what it is.

Created by Stepping Stone Productions and currently in pre-production, the series has been commissioned by NPO3 in The Netherlands, with the local title “Blind Getekend,’ where it will air in the second half of 2022. Red Arrow Studios International is distributing the format internationally.

“My New Mystery Job” follows bored or burnt-out workers who sign up for a career change and after six months have to decide if they will stay in their new roles, or try to return to their old professions.

AWARD

Jasmina Cibic has won the 2021 Film London Jarman Award for artist-filmmakers, which carries a prize of £10,000 ($13,400). Cibic was chosen from a shortlist of artists including Adham Faramawy, Georgina Starr, Guy Oliver, Larry Achiampong and Sophia Al-Maria. The award was presented by artist and filmmaker John Akomfrah.

Cibic works across moving image, sculpture, immersive installation and performance. In her 2019 – 2021 work, “The Gift,” Cibic presents an allegorical tale, a competition between an artist, a diplomat and an engineer to determine which of the arts would be the most likely to heal a divided society.

The Jarman Award, established in 2008, is set up to celebrate the diversity and creativity of artists working in film today, and is run in partnership with the Whitechapel Gallery, with support from Genesis Cinema.

Film London

Best of Variety

• The Fresh Prince Has a Memoir (And It's an Instant Best-Seller)

• What's Coming to Disney Plus in November 2021

• Everything Coming to Netflix in November 2021

Sign up for Variety’s Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.