How Aishwarya Rai, Ana de Armas, Dakota Johnson, Kriti Sanon are taking charge at Red Sea Film Festival 2025

Jeddah, Saudi Arabia: Day three of the Red Sea International Film Festival 2025 made it clear: the women weren’t just showing up — they were shaping the festival.

Gulf News' Manjusha Radhakrishnan is on the grounds in Jeddah and she swears that there's been a seismic shift in how women are shaping conversations around films and idenintity this year!

So forget the red carpets and stage-managed smiles. This year, women were running panels, leading masterclasses, and steering conversations that defined the event.

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan opened the day with poise and precision. Greeting fans, she smiled, waved, and said, “All you beautiful people, Salam Alaikum, Namaste.” Behind the glammed-up exterior, she shared candid reflections on her career — balancing motherhood and professional ambition, navigating public perception, and carrying the weight of representation. On insecurities, she was blunt: “Insecurities have never been a driving force.” On her Miss World days, she noted, “I looked upon it as an opportunity to represent Indian women internationally… Some questions still seem so archaic… I wanted to give a voice.” Social media, she admitted, was never her validation tool. Authenticity mattered more.

Ana de Armas brought a different kind of energy to the festival. She wasn’t here for optics. In a masterclass with a room of film-loving students and emerging creatives, she spoke candidly about her journey — from Havana to Madrid to Los Angeles — and the practical realities of building a career in film. Her humor was dry, her observations precise. She shared the early setbacks, the language barriers, and the moments when she had to start from scratch in a city where no one knew her.

“Saudi reminded me of Cuba,” she said even before the master-class took off. “The energy here… it’s familiar and I feel it's home!”

For the audience, the impact wasn’t in her celebrity but in her craft: how she approached a scene, how she prepared, how she observed and experimented. Watching her, students and cinephiles weren’t seeing an international star — they were seeing someone who had earned her space, someone whose success came from discipline, curiosity, and persistence rather than optics.

Queen Latifah added another layer of perspective, emphasizing representation, advocacy, and the importance of female-led projects. She discussed mentorship and how to lift other voices in the industry, underscoring a theme that resonated throughout the festival: women supporting women.

Dakota Johnson brought a grounded, pragmatic energy to the conversation. In panels and casual discussions, she was refreshingly candid about the often-unseen challenges of producing.

“Acting is one bubble,” she said, “producing lets you see behind the curtain… and it’s brutal.

Realising financiers are sometimes shady is heartbreaking, but it’s also essential work if you want to tell the stories you care about.” She spoke about juggling acting, producing, and building her own projects — the balancing act between creative control and the realities of the industry. Her presence made it clear that influence isn’t just about being on screen; it’s about taking risks, claiming power behind the camera, and helping shape the stories women tell.

Across panels, masterclasses, and hallway conversations, the pattern was unmistakable: these women weren’t just attending the festival — they were moving it. Aishwarya’s reflections on Cannes and motherhood, Ana’s practical lessons on craft, Latifah’s advocacy, and Dakota’s behind-the-scenes candor all converged into one point: Red Sea 2025 was a space actively shaped by women’s influence, intelligence, and vision.

Ana’s presence, in particular, highlighted how the festival serves not just as a platform for premieres, but as a laboratory for talent, mentorship, and dialogue. She laughed with colleagues and answered questions with measured candor. Dakota’s commentary complemented that, reminding the audience that leadership and creative agency often happen behind the camera — in producing, decision-making, and navigating the industry’s less glamorous realities.

Polished as the festival may appear, the real energy came from women doing the heavy lifting — shaping panels, leading discussions, advocating for representation, and turning behind-the-scenes insight into learning opportunities.

Across the festival, the message was clear: influence doesn’t come from appearances. It comes from presence, preparation, and the willingness to claim space in rooms that historically excluded women.

By the end of the day, the takeaway was unmistakable.

Red Sea 2025 isn’t just another international festival. It’s a festival in which women aren’t merely walking the red carpet — they are steering the conversation, shaping the culture, and redefining what it means to be a woman in cinema today.