Firas Khoury's ALAM receives much praise at Red Sea International Film Festival

release date December 13 2022

Firas Khoury's feature film ALAM was featured in the second Red Sea International Film Festival’s Festival Favorites Section on Monday, December 5th in the presence of producer Marie-Pierre and co-producers Richard Djoudi, Melik Kochbati, and Oussama Bawardi.

The film was met with great applause and positive reviews after the first screening from critics, media figures, and A-list celebrities alike.

The festival – which is running from December 1st to the 10th in Saudi Arabia – will have two more screenings for ALAM:

Tuesday, December 6th from 9:45 pm to 11:34 pm at VOX Cinema 3 - Red Sea Mall

Saturday, December 10th from 6:45 pm to 8:29 pm at VOX Cinema 5 - Red Sea Mall

Previously, ALAM held its Arab world premiere at the 44th edition of the Cairo International Film Festival’s International Competition, where it garnered three awards – The Youssef Cherif Rizkallah's Audience Award, Golden Pyramid Award, and Best Actor Award for its leading actor Mahmood Bakri.

Also, it world premiered at the 47th edition of the Toronto International Film Festival’s Contemporary World Cinema category. It was then featured at the Rome Film Festival.

ALAM follows Tamer and his friends, who lead typical teenage lives, until one day, he is swept off his feet by the arrival of the beautiful Maysaa. As he grows closer to her, Tamer agrees to take part in a mysterious and life-changing operation dubbed ‘Alam.’

The film was critically acclaimed, with Alissa Simon from Variety saying that “Khoury’s convincing and engaging screenplay perfectly captures teenage fearlessness and bravado along with a certain cluelessness about how the real world works.”

Moreover, Jay Weissberg from The Verdict said that “there’s a bright, brash new voice in Palestinian cinema and his name is Firas Khoury. With a terrific ear for teenage street talk and a clever way of giving character and politics equal weight without feeling forced, Khoury brings a breath of freshness sure to have an impact on the region’s cinema landscape.”

Written and directed by Firas Khoury, ALAM stars Mahmood Bakri, Sereen Khass, Saleh Bakri, Mohammad Karaki, Ahmad Zaghmouri, and Muhammad Abed Elrahman.

The film is co-production by Lacydon Bay Productions, Metafora Production, and Red Sea Film Festival Foundation and co-distributed by MAD Solutions and Lagoonie Film Production across the Arab world.

Previously, Firas Khoury's ALAM received a grant from the Doha Film Institute and a $20,000 script development grant from the Abu Dhabi Film Festival's SANAD Fund.

ALAM was also chosen to participate in the Cinéfondation Workshop at Cannes 2017. Moreover, it was featured at the 2019 Venice Gap-Financing Market, received a $10,000 grant from Cairo Film Connection – the CIFF's co-production market – and featured at the Atlas Workshops of the Marrakech International Film Festival.