JEDDAH: The winner of the Un Certain Regard prize at the Cannes Film Festival in May, Chinese drama “Black Dog” travelled to the Red Sea International Film Festival in Jeddah and screened as part of the Festival Favorites program. Stark and suitably set in the barren landscape of the Chinese desert, the movie explores loneliness and exudes a sense of desperation. Director Guan Hu (known for “Mr Six,” “Run for Love,” “Cow”) follows a murder convict who leaves prison and lands a job as a dog catcher in a work that strongly reminded me of the celebrated Japanese auteur Takeshi Kitano.

Lang (essayed by a grim Eddie Peng) is hired to trap strays in the Gobi Desert. But a man with a heart that melts, he watches in anguish as the canines are mistreated and decides to adopt one. Once a celebrity — a stunt motorcyclist, a great guitarist and the son of a bigwig — Lang’s incarceration sees him transformed into a completely different person that is wonderfully encapsulated by Peng.

Strictly for art house fans, “Black Dog” can be a hard watch for others and the starkness of a part of the country with its decay and hostile desert sands is far from the allure that we often associate with cinema. Hu does not seem to care as he tells us with brutal frankness how dozens of dogs (some suffering from fatal rabies) are hunted down with a huge net by catchers — the scenes can be revolting to some.

“Black Dog” relies on one too many contrived incidents that impede the narrative flow, but if you’re a fan of moody, almost allegorical films, this one is for you.

JEDDAH: Academy Award-winning US actress Marisa Tomei turned heads at the Red Sea International Film Festival red carpet on Tuesday night, following a talk she gave at the Red Sea Souk earlier in the day.

“It’s been fantastic,” Tomei said of her time so far in Jeddah in an interview with Arab News. “I’m looking forward to going into the Jeddah Old Town. I’m looking forward to being at the gala. I’m very curious about this film about this opera singer. It’s a comedy,” she said, referring to Saudi filmmaker Abdulaziz Almuzaini’s latest film “Lail Nahar,” which premiered at the festival.

She went on about being in Saudi Arabia: “It’s just beautiful. It’s just a dream. It is one of the best parts of this career and being part of this business — to be able to travel, meet new people, see totally interesting, different approaches to life.”

Tomei also took a beat to praise the Kingdom’s efforts to support the growing film industry.

“And what’s going on here in terms of the labs that they’re doing and growing these film studios, and what they’re doing for women in film is really, really, really exciting and paying dividends back. And I mean, only in four years … It’s really, really impressive and exciting, and I’m excited to see what comes, just what continues to come out of here, and it’s just being done in such an elegant, thoughtful way. I’m blown away by that,” she said.

Tomei, who was last prominently seen in the “Spider-Man” trilogy as Aunt May to Tom Holland’s titular character, said she loved working with director Jon Watts on the popular Marvel project.

“I loved being with Jon Watts. I think he’s a great director. He always was saying to us, ‘Let’s do this like an independent film.’ So even though it was this giant film, he kept it really intimate, and he was always open to ideas,” she said.

“Jon always felt, or we felt together, that (Aunt May) really raised Peter Parker and so that her influence would have really been the most massive in his life, and I think that’s also why she gave the classic Uncle Ben line in that pivotal moment. Jon just really had his hands around that. And it was really fun. And it was also fun to do some of the little bit of action scenes that I got to do. And, you know, have my hair really long,” she added.