 "The Red Sea International Film Festival (Red Sea IFF) reveals international shorts for 2025")
Narrowing down a record number of submissions this year, the Red Sea International Film Festival (Red Sea IFF) has selected 11 international short films for its Red Sea Shorts Competition strand. With six female directors - another benchmark for this strand - and five world premieres, the films hail from across the qualifying territories of Asia and Africa and countries including South Africa, Malaysia, China, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kyrgyzstan, Chad, India, Georgia, Kenya and, for the first time, Myanmar.
The shorts will be screened at the fifth edition of the Red Sea International Film Festival, which will run from 4–13 December 2025 in the historic district of Al Balad, Jeddah.
The 11 selected projects tackle a wide range of themes in the short film format, including emigration, mental illness, alienation, and a historical reckoning; spanning scripted, documentary and hybrid storytelling. The selected projects will be judged as part of the Yusr Awards, with the winners presented at the Festival’s awards ceremony.
Red Sea IFF received a record overall number of submissions for 2025 across all categories, including over 840 international short films submitted from Asia and Africa – with a particular increase from East and South-East Asia following 2024’s opening of submissions from that region.
Red Sea: Shorts Competition – International Selection:
COLD CALLING
Country: Myanmar
Yuzana Win
In this claustrophobic exploration of life under political unrest, a life insurance salesgirl spends a seemingly ordinary work-from-home afternoon, cold-calling potential clients. But as scripted pitches derail into raw confessions of survival, she’s forced to confront the brutal intersection of capitalism and chaos – where no policy can truly offer protection, only false promises.
DROPLESS
Country: India
Anamika Pal
Preeti, a middle-class daughter-in-law, faces a desperate crisis during a family funeral as her lactation dwindles, leaving her four-month-old child hungry. She secretly sips milk meant for the men, but is discovered by the other women relatives, who cast her out of the kitchen.
FOUR WISE MONKEYS
Country: France, China
Xin Wang
A nearsighted neighbour, silent policemen, a wary Chinese family… A drama inspired by a true story, where a series of events leads to a man’s death and breaks the silence of a community.
GUARDIAN OF THE WELL
Country: Chad
Bentley Brown, Tahir Mahamat Zene
In Chad’s central Batha region, where the desert’s edge meets fragile habitation, nomadic and settled residents gather at a lone well. A catastrophic drought has devastated the land, wiping out most livestock and forcing desperate measures: even the nearest village’s grass huts have been dismantled to feed the remaining animals. Once a symbol of stability, the settlement now mirrors the harshness of the surrounding terrain. At the center of it all is Youssif, our narrator, quietly weighing the cost of tradition against the need for survival - and considering what it might mean to start over.
IN THE VALLEY
Country: Malaysia
Han Loong Lim
This coming-of-age tale is set in Ipoh, a mountain town in northwest Malaysia, where 11-year-old Lei is resentful of her mother’s decision to move to Kuala Lumpur for a better future. Escaping for one night with her best friend Ze, Lei retreats to their secret valley hideout, where they are surrounded by lush nature and hollow uninhibited caves of dead limestones. Lei hears whispers through the wind, and the wall texture of caves come alive in the blink of an eye. Confronted with timeless elements, Lei’s fear of being forgotten and uncertainty about the future are temporarily compensated.
NSALA
Country: Democratic Republic of the Congo
Mickael-Sltan Mbanza
Blending Belgian colonial archives with footage shot today, Nsala reveals the human side of a dehumanising economic machine. Through past and present imagery, the film questions the legacy of exploitation and the silent trauma that persists in bodies and landscapes marked by history
OUR BROTHER
Country: Kenya
Shandra Apondi
Oowadwa (Our Brother) depicts a family poised between celebration and crisis. John helps his autistic brother, Mark Jr, prepare for their sister Mary’s wedding. As family tensions rise, a sudden and unexpected incident exposes long-buried struggles and sacrifices. When Mark disappears just as the groom’s family arrives, John must find him, leading to a confrontation that leaves the family shaken and vulnerable.
THE MEN’S LAND
Country: Georgia
Mariam Khatchvani
In Georgia’s remote Ushguli mountains, tradition dictates that in the absence of a son, land must be handed down to the next male relative who will perpetuate the family name. The Men’s Land follows a young aspiring singer who defies these rules, fighting for her inheritance and dignity. Her voice — both literal and symbolic — rises as a defiant act, turning her song into a shield against humiliation.
THE SEVENTH MONTH
Country: Kyrgyzstan
Aizada Bekbalaeva
In a society where motherhood is still seen as a woman’s ultimate purpose, Mira hides the truth about a life-saving operation that left her unable to conceive. Wearing a fake belly while a surrogate carries her unborn child, she struggles to shield her family from judgment. As the ‘birth’ nears, the facade cracks. Courageous and delicately crafted, The Seventh Month explores love, survival and the clash between tradition and today’s realities with striking restraint.
VULTURES
Country: France, South Africa
Dian Weys
In the volatile moments after a car crash, yet before the authorities arrive, a hot-headed yet desperate tow truck driver fiercely protects his tow. But the situation quickly spirals out of his control.
WHAT REMAINS
Country: China
Xiao Yan
In the vertical-screen era, a couple of self-media influencers are filming a short video in a fast-food restaurant During the shoot, an argument ensues, and they forget to turn off the camera. The lens continues to record, quietly capturing an unnoticed slice of everyday life. Beyond their intended goals and meanings, an overlooked reality unfolds.
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