Faris Alrjoob’s German-Jordanian short THE RED SEA MAKES ME WANNA CRY is set to have its Arab world premiere at the Gouna Film Festival’s Short Film Competition in December, alongside other screenings throughout the festival, which will run from December 14th to the 21st.
 
The short film will be holding two screenings as part of GFF’s Short Film Competition within Short Film Package 3, with the first screening taking place on Tuesday, December 19th at 7 pm, and the second screening taking place on Wednesday, December 20th at 8:30 pm. Both screenings will take place at Sea Cinema 1.
 
The romantic thriller — which is one of the two first-ever Jordanian films to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, in the Quinzaine des Cinéastes Section — follows a haunted Ida, who travels to the liminal site of her partner’s disappearance in an attempt to feel his presence one last time and to say goodbye.
 
Starring burgeoning young Jordanian actor Mohamed Nizar, German actress Clara Schwinning, and Emmy-nominated American-Palestinian-Kuwaiti journalist-actor Ahmed Shihab Eldin, as well as veteran actor Anwar Khalil, the short film was produced at the renowned Academy of Media Arts in Cologne, with support by Film-und Medienstiftung NRW.
 
THE RED SEA MAKES ME WANNA CRY is directed, co-written, and co-produced by Faris Alrjoob, Matthew LaPaglia shares the writing credit, and Luisa Stricker and Luma Al Hamarneh co-produced it. Benedikt Strick edited the short film, which Mahmoud Belakhel shot, and MAD Solutions handled global sales and distribution.
 
Based in Berlin, Faris Alrjoob is an interdisciplinary artist working within the fields of film, video art, and performance. He is a graduate of the Academy of Media Arts in Cologne and previously at Emerson College in Boston.
 
In 2020, he directed his short film THE GHOSTS WE LEFT AT HOME, which world premiered at the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen in Germany and screened at prestigious festivals like the Malmö Arab Film Festival, the Red Sea International Film Festival, and the Internationales Frauenfilmfestival.