Sovereign is proud to announce the release of Lofti Achour’s stunning coming of age drama RED PATH in select UK cinemas on 20th June 2025.

Based on actual, tragic events, RED PATH stars Ali Helali as a teenage boy who witnesses a brutal, senseless crime during an ill-fated trip into the mountains in Tunisia, and must deal with the fraught, heartbreaking aftermath. Helali, in his debut role, carries the drama seemingly without effort - his innocence shattered in an instant, horror turns to bewilderment and then fortitude.

Following its world premiere at last year’s Locarno International Film Festival, RED PATH has garnered critical acclaim and a host of festival awards, including the Audience Award at the Vancouver International Film Festival, Best Director and Best Film at the Red Sea International Film Festival, and the Special Jury Prize at the Cinemamed Festival.

The directing debut of prolific playwright Lofti Achour, who based Red Path on the killing of a teenager in Tunisia in 2015, the film “paints a vivid picture of a community where, in any event, childhood is short… an environment in which the threat of violence is constant while the promise of hope is scarce”, (Screen Daily). Drawing naturalistic and deeply affecting performances from his young cast - newcomers Wided Dabebi and Yassine Samouni - the film, beautifully shot by Wojciech Staron (who won the award for Best Cinematography at the Namur International Festival) is evocative, stark and sometimes dreamlike, with an opening section as nerve-wracking as any revenge thriller.

Recalling classic films as disparate and unlikely as Kes, Bring Me The Head of Alfredo Garcia and Dead Man’s Shoes, Red Path strikes a resounding, poignant chord and lingers in the memory long after viewing.

SYNOPSIS: Mghila Mountain, Tunisia, November 2015. When a jihadist group attacks two very young shepherds, 14-year-old Achraf is forced to take a macabre message back to his family. Traumatized and trying not to lose his mind, Achraf finds himself confronted with the powerlessness of his elders, and abandoned by the authorities. Inspired by true events, Red Path is a dreamlike plunge into the wounded psyche of a child and his incredible ability to overcome trauma.

Red Path will have two special previews screenings + Q&As with director Lofti Achour, in conjunction with the SAFAR Film Festival - on 12th June at London’s Cine Lumiere, and 13th June at MAC Birmingham

RED PATH WILL BE RELEASED IN SELECTED UK CINEMAS ON
20TH JUNE 2025

RED PATH: FESTIVAL SCREENINGS

Red Path has been shown at the Camerimage Film Festival where it was nominated for the Golden Frog; the Golden Rooster Awards where it was nominated for Best Film; the Locarno Film Festival where it was nominated for Best Film; the Namur International Festival where it won Best Film and Best Cinematography; the San Francisco International Film Festival where it was nominated for Best New Director; the Thessaloniki Film Festival where it was nominated in the Meet The Neighbours competition; the Vancouver International Film Festival where it won the Vanguard and Audience Award; the Warsaw International Film Festival where it was nominated for the Crème de la Crème Award; the Carthage Film Festival where it won Best Film and Best Narrative Feature; the International Film Festival of India where it was nominated for Best Film; the Hague Movies That Matter Festival where it was nominated for the Grand Jury Fiction Award; the Malmö Arab Film Festival where it won Best Film and Best Director; the Festival International de Film Sain-Jean-de-Luz where it won the Audience Award and the Best Director prize; and the Red Sea International Festival where it won Best Movie and Best Director

ABOUT SOVEREIGN

Sovereign releases auteur-driven feature films in the UK, from emerging and established international talent. Our carefully curated titles have played to strong critical and audience acclaim, often premiering at renowned international film festivals, including Cannes, Berlinale, Toronto, Venice and many more.

Previously acquired titles include Peru’s entry into the Oscars Song Without A Name, which screened in the Directors’ Fortnight section at the 72nd Cannes Film Festival; Philippine crime drama Verdict, which received the Special Orizzonti Jury Prize at the 76th Venice Film Festival; historical drama Malmkrog, which won Best Director in the Encounter section and opened the 70th Berlin Film Festival; Argentinian psychological thriller A Common Crime, which received its world premiere at the 70th Berlin Film Festival; Bad Luck Banging Or Loony Porn, which won the Golden Bear at the 2021 Berlin International Film Festival; and Kirill Serebrennikov’s Petrov’s Flu, winner of the prestigious CTS Artist award at last year’s Cannes Film festival, and also nominated for the Palme d’Or; Memoria, from Palme d’Or winner Apichatpong Weerasethakul, starring Tilda Swinton, which won the Cannes Jury Prize in 2021; Bolivian director Kiro Russo’s The Great Movement, winner of the Special Jury Prize in the Horizons strand at the 2021 Venice Film Festival; Ruben Östlund’s Triangle of Sadness, starring Woody Harrelson, which won the Palme d’Or at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival; Bent Hamer’s award-winning The Middle Man starring Pål Sverre Hagen and Paul Gross; Francisca Alegría’s The Cow Who Sang a Song Into the Future, which was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival; the thriller Inside, from writer/director Vasilis Katsoupis and starring Willem Dafoe; Laurent Nègre’s World War two drama A Forgotten Man, starring Michael Neueschwander as a Swiss diplomat; Kirill Serebrennikov’s astonishing biopic Tchaikovsky’s Wife; Sonia Kronlund’s conman documentary The Man With A Thousand Faces; Radu Jude’s satire Do Not Expect Too Much From The End Of The World; and Christopher Murray’s mystical drama Sorcery; Viggo Mortensen western Eureka; and extraordinary documentary A Wolfpack Named Ernesto

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