‘Huda's Salon,’ directed by Hany Abu-Assad, will have its Arab premiere at the inaugural edition of the Red Sea International Film Festival, where it will compete in the festival’s official competition, which is scheduled to take place from December 6 to December 15, 2021, with the attendance of the crew including, the renowned director Hany Abu-Assad, the producer Amira Diab, and the stars Ali Suliman, Manal Awad, and Maisa Abd Elhadi.
 
The film shall be screened at Fox Cinema's Al-Gala Theater on Tuesday, December 7 at 6:30 p.m. (GMT +3), and at Fox Cinema's Al-Balad Theater 3 on Sunday, December 12 at 2 p.m. It’s worth noting that the official teaser poster for the movie was released recently.
 
The Red Sea International Film Festival is a film event that is held in celebration of modern and classic cinema to learn from the masters and get inspired by the best. The festival highlights the blockbusters of the future before they hit the big screen, re-discovers old favorites in retrospect, and delves into deep audio-visual worlds with experimental and short film strands.
 
‘Huda's Salon,’ had its world premiere during the opening of the Toronto International Film Festival and gained widespread positive critical praise from several film critics following its screening. The well-known website The Film Stage praised the film as “reviving Hollywood's spooky thrillers of the 1940s, it reminds us of Hitchcock films with its fast pace and basic aesthetic.” Moreover, Alisha Mughal described the film in Exclaim! as, “an emotional rollercoaster, in the best way imaginable… This film is a masterpiece — you can't miss it,” while Wendy Ide wrote via Screen Daily that, “This is a return to form and to more familiar territory for Abu-Assad” and “Huda’s Salon” doesn’t waste a second… zooming from easy chatter to absolutely horrifying drama.”
 
Based on real events, ‘Huda’s Salon,’ is a heart-racing, entertaining feminist thriller, where two women fight for their freedom. Reem, a young mother who is married to a jealous man, goes to Huda's salon in Bethlehem for a haircut and an attentive ear. However, this ordinary visit turns sour after Huda puts Reem in a shameful situation, blackmailing her to work for the secret service of the occupiers, hence betraying her people.
 
Starring are Ali Suliman, Maisa Abd Elhadi, and Manal Awad, ‘Huda’s Salon,’ is produced by H&A Production (Hany Abu-Assad and Amira Diab) alongside Film Clinic (Mohamed Hefzy) and co-produced by MAD Solutions (Maher Diab and Alaa Karkouti), and Lagoonie Film Production (Shahinaz El Akkad),
 
Palestinian screenwriter and director Hany Abu-Assad is one of the most eminent Arab directors. His filmography includes several exceptional Arab films that gained international recognition, such as Paradise Now (2005), which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and won a Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film, and the film Omar (2013) that also received a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.  In 2017, Abu-Assad directed The Mountain Between Us, starring Kate Winslet and Idris Elba, which opened the 39th edition of Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF). Huda’s Salon is his latest feature film.