It’s a year of change in the programming of the Red Sea Film Festival . Its fifth edition, taking place between Dec. 4-13, marks the first for Fionnuala Halligan as director of international programs. The seasoned journalist and curator arrives at a time of expansion at the Saudi festival, which has settled into its new home of Jeddah’s Culture Square as it solidifies a desire to deliver film programming year-round.

Speaking with Variety ahead of the festival’s kick off , Halligan says her first few months in the job have been “pretty fast and furious.” “There was not much time to sit still. I had to get a team together and figure out what we could do with the existing structure. By the time I came on board, it was just about trying to bring new ideas and see what we could work wi

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