Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Friday, Aug 22, 2025

Jordanian film has Arab premiere at RSIFF

Jordanian film has Arab premiere at RSIFF

As Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea International Film Festival approaches the halfway point, junkets featuring artists from across the Arab world provide a closer insight into their films. Arab News sat down with the cast of “The Alleys” to know more.
The Jordanian feature film, one of the 16 Arabic and international films in the Red Sea Competition category, tells the story of an alley in East Amman representing a toxic brew of gossip and violence. Just one thing is sure: the shadowy corners of the alleyway are crawling with secrets.

Directed by Bassel Ghandour, who produced and co-wrote the Bafta winner film “Theeb” by Naji Abu Nawar, the film tells the story of Ali, a hustler who passes himself off as a regular businessman trying to scam enough money to legitimize his relationship with Lana, his secret lover. Meanwhile, Lana’s mother is being blackmailed by someone claiming to have filmed Lana and Ali together; Ali knows a man who can fix the situation, but that kind of fix will only lead to another crisis of deception and revelation.

“The Alleys” is Ghandour’s first feature as a director. It had its world premiere at the Locarno Film Festival and its Arab premiere at the Red Sea Film Festival.

The Alleys received support from the Jordan Film Fund of the Royal Film Commission of Jordan, the Doha Film Institute in Qatar and the Red Sea Film Festival for Film Development in Saudi Arabia.

The film won the jury prize for the Eastern Promises Filmmaking Program at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in the Czech Republic 2021.

It also received two awards at the Cairo International Film Festival for feature films in the post-production stage.

The cast includes the Jordanian actor Mondher Rayahne, who played Abaas in the film and is most famous for his roles as a knight or prince in Bedouin and historical series.

He said that Jordanians live in a multicultural society, “We presented a work that touches on a global humanitarian issue. It sheds light not only on a Jordanian issue, but on a universal one.”

“Our film represents a Jordanian neighborhood with its very simple identity, but we aspire to represent it in an artistic form,” he said.

“The stories never end, there are many alleys and there are many beautiful stories waiting for us to present them.”

Rayahne expressed his fascination with the festival and the level of Saudi films shown. “My relationship with Saudi society is very close and it has a good long history. We showed the film in Jeddah, a very dear city to my heart personally, and I am very happy with the reaction of the audience and their feedback about our film,” he said. “Saudi Arabia is full of theatrical and cinematic intellectual talents and I am happy with the greatness they have reached so far.”

Mohammed Geezawi, who played Bahaa in the film, said this genre is very controversial as it raises many important issues, such as bullying, extortion and fraud: “‘The Alleys’ tells a lot about the Jordanian street.”

Imad Azmy, who played Ali, said that his presence at the inaugural festival is a very important step in his artistic career.

“The festival will put the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on the map of international film festivals, and this is an achievement that we are all proud of as Arabs, he said. “The film was shown to our Arabic audience for the first time in Saudi Arabia, and its place at this great event is a big thing for all of us. I was very interested in watching the audience’s reactions to the film, and I must say, I was very happy.”

Jordanian actress Baraka Al-Rahmani, who played Lana, said she would like to see many movies similar to ‘The Alleys’ because, she said, Jordan is a country with rich societal stories hidden in its alleys.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Cristiano Ronaldo Makes Surprise Stop at New Hong Kong Museum
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
High-Stakes Trump-Putin Summit on Ukraine Underway in Alaska
Iranian Protection Offers Chinese Vehicle Shipments a Cost Advantage over Japanese and Korean Makers
Saudi Arabia accelerates renewables to curb domestic oil use
Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez announce engagement
Asia-Pacific dominates world’s busiest flight routes, with South Korea’s Jeju–Seoul corridor leading global rankings
Private Welsh island with 19th-century fort listed for sale at over £3 million
Sam Altman challenges Elon Musk with plans for Neuralink rival
Australia to Recognize the State of Palestine at UN Assembly
The Collapse of the Programmer Dream: AI Experts Now the Real High-Earners
Armenia and Azerbaijan to Sign US-Brokered Framework Agreement for Nakhchivan Corridor
British Labour Government Utilizes Counter-Terrorism Tools for Social Media Monitoring Against Legitimate Critics
WhatsApp Deletes 6.8 Million Scam Accounts Amid Rising Global Fraud
Nine people have been hospitalized and dozens of salmonella cases have been reported after an outbreak of infections linked to certain brands of pistachios and pistachio-containing products, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada
Texas Residents Face Water Restrictions While AI Data Centers Consume Millions of Gallons
Tariffs, AI, and the Shifting U.S. Macro Landscape: Navigating a New Economic Regime
India Rejects U.S. Tariff Threat, Defends Russian Oil Purchases
United States Establishes Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and Digital Asset Stockpile
Thousands of Private ChatGPT Conversations Accidentally Indexed by Google
China Tightens Mineral Controls, Curtailing Critical Inputs for Western Defence Contractors
OpenAI’s Bold Bet: Teaching AI to Think, Not Just Chat
BP’s Largest Oil and Gas Find in 25 Years Uncovered Offshore Brazil
JPMorgan and Coinbase Unveil Partnership to Let Chase Cardholders Buy Crypto Directly
British Tourist Dies Following Hair Transplant in Turkey, Police Investigate
WhatsApp Users Targeted in New Scam Involving Account Takeovers
Trump Deploys Nuclear Submarines After Threats from Former Russian President Medvedev
Germany’s Economic Breakdown and the Return of Militarization: From Industrial Collapse to a New Offensive Strategy
IMF Upgrades Global Growth Forecast as Weaker Dollar Supports Outlook
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
President Trump Diagnosed with Chronic Venous Insufficiency After Leg Swelling
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
Iranian President Reportedly Injured During Israeli Strike on Secret Facility
Kurdistan Workers Party Takes Symbolic Step Towards Peace in Northern Iraq
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
AI Raises Alarms Over Long-Term Job Security
Saudi Arabia Maintains Ties with Iran Despite Israel Conflict
Russia Formally Recognizes Taliban Government in Afghanistan
×