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Varieties

Timeless Arabic Movies Reserve Place at ‘Red Sea: Treasures’

Saudi producer Mohammed Al-Turki and Hollywood actor Michelle Rodriguez pose in front of an advert for the Red Sea Film Festival at Cannes in May 2022 (AFP/Patricia De Melo Moreira)
Saudi producer Mohammed Al-Turki and Hollywood actor Michelle Rodriguez pose in front of an advert for the Red Sea Film Festival at Cannes in May 2022 (AFP/Patricia De Melo Moreira)
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Timeless Arabic Movies Reserve Place at ‘Red Sea: Treasures’

Saudi producer Mohammed Al-Turki and Hollywood actor Michelle Rodriguez pose in front of an advert for the Red Sea Film Festival at Cannes in May 2022 (AFP/Patricia De Melo Moreira)
Saudi producer Mohammed Al-Turki and Hollywood actor Michelle Rodriguez pose in front of an advert for the Red Sea Film Festival at Cannes in May 2022 (AFP/Patricia De Melo Moreira)

The 2nd edition of the Red Sea International Film Festival, scheduled between December 1 and 10, has unveiled seven movies that will be part of this year’s “Red Sea: Treasures” category.

Antoine Khalifeh, Director of Arab Programs & Film Classics of the RedSeaIFF said: “Red Sea: Treasures is a celebration of some of the most iconic and widely acclaimed cinematic storytelling ever to grace the screen. As part of this program committed to preserving timeless films from the history of international cinema, and through the Red Sea Film Festival Foundation, we have been able to restore two Egyptian classics for a new generation of audiences. This comes from our belief in the importance of cinema heritage in inspiring promising filmmakers, and entertaining cinema aficionados.”

Kaleem Aftab, director of the international programming for the Red SeaIFF, said that the Red Sea: Treasures category is “designed to unlock film heritage and reintroduce a diverse selection of masterpieces that have made an important contribution to cinema history, and left a deep effect throughout generations.”

The lineup includes the soccer film “Bend it Like Beckham” (2002), seen as a cultural phenomenon at the time, and one of the most successful football-themed movies ever. Directed by Gurinder Chadha, and starred by Parminder Nagra and Keira Knightley, the film revolves around Jess Bhamr (Parminder Nagra), an Indian girl who adores football and dreams of becoming a professional, international player like her role model David Beckham. While her Punjab parents have other plans for her future, Jess meets her new friend Jules (Keira Knightley), member of the women soccer team, who invites her to join the team.

“La Grande Illusion” (The Big Illusion - 1937), an 80-year-old masterpiece directed by Jean Renoir. The film’s story takes place during World War I, one of the fiercest, most bloody conflicts in history, where a group of French soldiers are captivated by German commander Yohan von Rauffenstein. The group includes the working-class Lieutenant Maréchal (Jean Gabin), aristocratic Captain de Boëldieu (Pierre Fresnay), and Rosenthal (Marcel Dalio). After the captives’ plan to dig a tunnel to escape the first camp fails, they are transferred to the Wintersborn fortress to face the German commander again.

“Sambizanga” (1972), is about the anti-colonial struggle in 1970s Africa. Directed by Sarah Maldoror, the film is based on the novella of Angolan writer José Luandino Vieira, which was banned from publishing by the Angolan government until its independence from Portugal, in 1975. The film revolves around Maria, who’s looking for her husband, a political prisoner. The drama describes the cruelty of the Portuguese government and the heroism of the Angolan people fighting colonialism.

Jim Jarmusch’s debut film “Stranger than Paradise” (1984): The film’s story takes place in a conventional US city, where there are no jobs or opportunities. Hungarian-born Willie (John Lurie) moves with his friend Eddie (Richard Edson) and their 16-year-old cousin Eva (Eszter Balint) from New York’s eastern part to Lake Erie and Florida beaches, without a clear goal in mind.

“Stranger Than Rotterdam” (2021), a short documentary that will be screened with Jarmusch’s film, unveils the behind-the-scenes struggle of director and producer Sara Driver to fund “Stranger than Paradise”.

The historical war features “Lion of the Desert” (1980), a masterpiece by late director Moustapha Akkad. The popular film tells the story of Libyan leader Omar Mukhtar (Anthony Quinn), and his heroic role in leading the national resistance against Fascist, Italian colonialism in 1929. The film will be displayed in high resolution for the first time after its restoration using high-end techniques.

The Egyptian classic “Khali Balak Min Zouzou” (1972) directed by Hassan Imam. This film has a great audience in all the Egyptian and Arabic generations; it tells the story of a young girl that mentally struggles between what she loves and what her conservative society imposes. She’s the daughter of dancer Noma, who lives in the Mohammed Ali street, and she can’t express her love for singing and dancing because they’re described as inappropriate in her community. Then, her fate leads her to meet and fall in love with a wealthy man. The film highlights the social shifts that Egypt witnessed in the 1970s, and combines drama, comedy, and musical performance. Starred by Soad Hosny and Hussein Fahmi, “Khali Balak Min Zouzou” hit a record in the history of Arabic cinema when released in 1972.

“Gharam Fil Karnak” (1967) directed by Ali Reda. It tells the story of a group of young dancers who struggle to succeed with low financial resources. The situation becomes more complicated when Amina, the group’s main dancer, and Salah, the director, fall in love and live a relationship full of misunderstandings. The film has great significance in the history of Arabic cinema, and its restoration and display aim at inspiring the coming generation of filmmakers.

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Varieties

India Vows Action after 1st Cheetah Shot Dead

A cheetah cub stands at the Lunaret Zoo in Montpellier, southern France, on October 22, 2026. (Photo by Sylvain THOMAS / AFP)
A cheetah cub stands at the Lunaret Zoo in Montpellier, southern France, on October 22, 2026. (Photo by Sylvain THOMAS / AFP)
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India Vows Action after 1st Cheetah Shot Dead

A cheetah cub stands at the Lunaret Zoo in Montpellier, southern France, on October 22, 2026. (Photo by Sylvain THOMAS / AFP)
A cheetah cub stands at the Lunaret Zoo in Montpellier, southern France, on October 22, 2026. (Photo by Sylvain THOMAS / AFP)

India has vowed "swift action" after a cheetah was shot dead, the first such killing since the country began reintroducing the animals in 2022, the government said Wednesday.

The environment ministry said it had ordered a "high-level team for an on-ground investigation" into the shooting of the 19-month-old male, treating the incident with "utmost gravity”

The India-born cheetah -- whose mother was among those introduced to India from Botswana, Namibia and South Africa as part of efforts to restore the planet's fastest land animal -- was shot as it prowled in forests outside a protected national park.

Asiatic cheetahs were declared extinct in India in 1952. The critically endangered subspecies, once found across the Middle East, Central Asia and India, now survives in very small numbers in Iran.

Their African cousins were first reintroduced in September 2022 to India, to the Kuno National Park, 300 kilometers south of New Delhi.

The wounded cheetah was picked up on Sunday in forests in Madhya Pradesh state, outside Kuno's boundaries, and taken for veterinary care.

"During the surgery, five firearm pellets were recovered from its body," the environment ministry said.

Despite efforts, the cheetah died on Tuesday, AFP reported.

"Medical examinations corroborated multiple internal injuries associated with the recovered firearm pellets," it added.

The high-profile project, championed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has been dogged by criticism over the deaths of several of the cats.

But experts in animal reintroductions say they often result in more than 50 percent mortality, especially in the initial phases.

The National Tiger Conservation Authority, which oversees the cheetah project, said that survival rates and hunting successes are "comparable to other international cheetah reintroduction efforts, with recorded wild prey kills confirming successful adaptation to the Indian landscape.”

The total cheetah population in the wild in India is around 60, including some 40 Indian-born cheetahs.

Varieties

Philippine Island Fights Rising Seas with Nature, Not Concrete

Workers lay coconut-fibre bags next to oyster shells on a breakwater at Pamarawan Island in Malolos City, in the Philippines Bulacan province. Ted ALJIBE / AFP
Workers lay coconut-fibre bags next to oyster shells on a breakwater at Pamarawan Island in Malolos City, in the Philippines Bulacan province. Ted ALJIBE / AFP
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Philippine Island Fights Rising Seas with Nature, Not Concrete

Workers lay coconut-fibre bags next to oyster shells on a breakwater at Pamarawan Island in Malolos City, in the Philippines Bulacan province. Ted ALJIBE / AFP
Workers lay coconut-fibre bags next to oyster shells on a breakwater at Pamarawan Island in Malolos City, in the Philippines Bulacan province. Ted ALJIBE / AFP

For years, residents of a flood-prone Philippine island north of Manila have elevated their homes atop layer upon layer of concrete, only to see floodwaters threaten them again.

Burdened by strong storm surges, land subsidence and rising seas exacerbated by climate change, the 3,000 residents of tiny Pamarawan Island have turned to bamboo poles and discarded oyster shells to build a barrier aimed at weakening waves and managing floods.

The unusual approach offers a nature-based alternative for a country still grappling with a multibillion-dollar scandal that drove public fury over substandard -- and at times non-existent -- concrete flood-control projects.

"We were terrified whenever there were typhoons. We couldn't sleep at night," fisherman Edgar Javier told AFP on a recent visit, recalling how strong waves once brought down one of his home's concrete walls.

"Whenever the waves hit, the wall shakes."

The project began when the city government of Malolos, home to the island, launched a study with a Dutch engineering consultancy.

"(Concrete infrastructure) projects won't suffice," Mayor Christian Natividad told AFP.

While the project, the first of its kind in the country, initially faced resistance from officials and residents working without a blueprint, Natividad said they had "nothing to lose".

"It's like you accept daily flooding or you do something else with risk," he said.

"I chose risk."

- Slowing the waves -

By May last year, workers, many of them residents, had begun installing bamboo poles packed with brushwood along the coast. They are designed to slow water flow and trap sediment, with the goal of gradually raising the seabed and supporting mangrove growth.

When AFP journalists visited the site, workers were building an oyster-shell breakwater about 100 meters (330 feet) offshore.

Under the searing heat, men in caps pounded wooden stakes used to secure coconut-fiber bags filled with shells on an artificial shore first created with sea sand.

"This breakwater's main purpose is to lessen the impact of the wave before it can reach the community," project manager Lyana Galang told AFP, adding that the oyster-shell barriers work in concert with bamboo sediment traps.

Filipino scientist Antonio Contreras said the Philippines had long relied heavily on concrete dykes and seawalls, many undertaken without adequate study.

"We have altered the environment so much that we tend to work against nature when in fact we should work with it," Contreras told AFP, noting that some design flaws linked to corruption had cost lives.

But nature-based solutions were not a universal answer, he warned, particularly during catastrophic floods, and should complement conventional infrastructure.

Contreras said the approach in Pamarawan could be replicated elsewhere, provided local environmental conditions were carefully taken into account.

Bamboo and oyster shells also need to be sourced sustainably, he warned, as bamboo deteriorates over time and releases carbon as it decomposes.

The nature-based installations, which cover about 14 hectares along Manila Bay, cost 70 million pesos ($1.1 million), including maintenance, compared with around 90 million pesos for a concrete seawall, Mayor Natividad said.

He estimated bamboo will need to be replaced once every five years.

- 'Our feet are dry' -

With its first phase completed in late 2025, the installation has already brought some comfort to residents.

Fisherman Edgar Javier said the breakwaters had softened waves and helped keep floodwaters at bay during typhoons and monsoon rains this year.

"This has made a huge difference for us. We can still feel the waves, but they have significantly weakened. (They're) almost nothing now," he said.

Arsenia Cabigao, 58, said flooding had previously disrupted her livelihood by submerging areas where she dried fish.

"Our feet are dry at last. They weren't before," she told AFP as she sliced small fish in a narrow Pamarawan alley.

The project's long-term effectiveness remains uncertain, with a scientific assessment due next year to determine if mangrove planting can begin, Natividad said.

Its success, he added, would become more tangible over the next decade as accumulated sediment stabilized the seabed and allowed for the growth of mangroves, which would provide another natural barrier.

Vince Dizon, head of the public works department before a recent reassignment, said he hoped the Pamarawan project could be replicated in other flood-prone areas.

"We need to study this, and learn from those who know and have already done this correctly, so we won't waste public funds again," Dizon told reporters on a visit to the island.

For residents who fear being driven from their longtime home, the ultimate test will be whether their houses remain upright when typhoons and monsoon rains strike.

"It's hard to fight water. Now we're trying to live with water," Natividad told AFP.

"We're building with nature."

Varieties

Child Attacked by Wolf in German Wildlife Park

A woman cycles through the Tiergarten park in Berlin as trees sport their autumn foliage, on October 27, 2026. (Photo by John MACDOUGALL / AFP)
A woman cycles through the Tiergarten park in Berlin as trees sport their autumn foliage, on October 27, 2026. (Photo by John MACDOUGALL / AFP)
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Child Attacked by Wolf in German Wildlife Park

A woman cycles through the Tiergarten park in Berlin as trees sport their autumn foliage, on October 27, 2026. (Photo by John MACDOUGALL / AFP)
A woman cycles through the Tiergarten park in Berlin as trees sport their autumn foliage, on October 27, 2026. (Photo by John MACDOUGALL / AFP)

A young girl was attacked by a wolf and badly injured in a German wildlife park Wednesday, police said, adding that the eight-year-old was taken to hospital by rescue helicopter.

"The girl was attacked and seriously injured by at least one wolf within an animal enclosure while she was there with two other children and a staff member," AFP quoted police said.

They added in a statement that "the precise circumstances of the incident are the subject of an ongoing police investigation.”

The attack took place in the town of Baruth/Mark south of the capital Berlin, police said, adding that the staff member and other children were not injured.

The park keeps brown bears, lynx and grey and arctic wolves, according to its website, which said that the facility was temporarily closed without providing further details.