"My Driver and I" was supposed to be made in 2016, but was scuttled amid Saudi Arabia's decades-long cinema ban.

The biggest award, the $75,000 Red Sea Souk Production Award, went to Katia Jarjoura’s Lebanon-France co-production Robbing Beirut. Produced by Michel Zana for Blue Train Films, the film follows a young woman who becomes a bank robber in order to pay for her sister’s leukaemia treatment.

The Women In Cinema Gala embodies the Red Sea Film Foundation’s dedication to championing female voices in film