This modern, black-and-white silent film, Abdo and Saneya, will have its world premiere at the Red Sea International Film Festival.

Combining old-style filmmaking with modern-day gritty cinema, the film tells the story of an immigrant Egyptian peasant couple who arrive in New York hoping to find a cure for their infertility.

They are left to survive in the USA without language or any notion of modern American life.

The film, co-produced between Egypt and the USA, was written and directed by Omar Bakry, who also stars as the protagonist Abdo.

Bakry, a painter, filmmaker, and playwright, was born in Sweden and raised in Egypt.

In 2000, he moved to New York, where he studied directing at the School of Visual Arts and the New York Film Academy.

Inji El-Gammal, a Cairo-born actress who grew up in Paris and studied drama therapy at the New School in New York, plays the character of Saneya. 

El-Gammal won Best Actress at the New York Theatre Festival.

She also starred beside Bakry in his 2014 film, His Man, which he wrote and directed.

The cast of Abdo and Saneya also includes Haythem Noor as Leo, Kathleen Regan, Clara Francesca, and Guy LeMonnier.

Arab Spectacular is a segment of the Red Sea International Film Festival "celebrating the rich, diverse fabric of Arab storytelling," according to a festival press release.

Abdo and Saneya is the only Egyptian entry in this section.

Other titles include Front Row (Algeria, France, and Saudi Arabia), directed by Merzak Allouache, and three Saudi productions: Hobal by Abdulaziz Alshlahei, Lail Nahar by Abdulaziz Almuzaini, and My Friend and I by Ahd Kamel.

The fourth edition of the Red Sea International Film Festival will be held from 5 to 14 December at its new headquarters in the Al-Balad district, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Jeddah.