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DUBAI: Saudi director Haifaa Al-Mansour premiered her latest film, “Unidentified,” at the Toronto International Film Festival this weekend.

Al-Mansour’s latest film is billed as a “crime thriller that pushes against gender norms and challenges simplistic narratives of femicide. Riddled with suspense, ‘Unidentified’ is a female-driven detective story that transgresses all manner of jurisdiction in its dogged pursuit of justice,” according to the film’s logline.

The story follows police department receptionist Nawal (played by Saudi actress Mila Al-Zahrani) as she is recruited to help an all-male team of detectives after a young woman’s abandoned body is found in the desert near Riyadh.

“While the police drag their heels, she quietly takes matters into her own hands, going to different all-girls’ high schools to ask about missing students, only to find the administrators uncooperative,” the logline adds.

Written by Al-Mansour, who also directed “The Perfect Candidate,” and Brad Niemann, the film premiered at the ongoing Toronto International Film Festival with Shafi Al-Harthi, Al-Mansour, Al-Zahrani and Adwa Al-Asiri attending the screening.

This summer, the pioneering Saudi filmmaker was appointed to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ board of governors.

In 2012, Al-Mansour made history with the release of her first feature film, “Wadjda.” It was the first feature film shot entirely in the Kingdom and the first feature-length film made by a female Saudi director.

Over the years, Al-Mansour has also become one of the most in-demand television directors in Hollywood, helming episodes of hit series including “Archive 81,” “City of Fire,” “Tales of the Walking Dead,” and “Bosch: Legacy.”

In 2019, Al-Mansour’s feature film “The Perfect Candidate” was submitted as ��������’s official entry for the International Feature Film Award at the 92nd Academy Awards, but it was not nominated.

VENICE: A gentle study of dysfunctional families by veteran American director Jim Jarmusch clinched the top prize at the Venice Film Festival Saturday, while a harrowing docudrama about the Gaza war took second.

Jarmusch’s “Father Mother Sister Brother” starring Cate Blanchett, Adam Driver and Tom Waits, drew mostly positive reviews for its humorous portrayal of awkwardness and guilt.

The “Broken Flowers” director, who wrote the script for three family get-togethers in upstate New York, Dublin and Paris, had called it “a kind of anti-action film”.

“Thank you for appreciating our quiet film,” the 72-year-old said during his acceptance speech.

In a move that might disappoint campaigners against the Gaza war, the Venice jury under American director Alexander Payne did not reward “The Voice of Hind Rajab” with the Golden Lion.

Instead, the film about a five-year-old Palestinian girl killed by Israeli troops last year, which reduced many festival viewers to tears, was given the grand jury second prize.

Franco-Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania produced a dramatised re-telling of Hind Rajab Hamada’s ordeal after she was trapped in a car that came under fire while she and her relatives were fleeing Gaza City.

It was the most talked-about movie on the Venice Lido and tipped by many as the likely winner after a 23-minute standing ovation at its premiere on Wednesday.

Hind Rajab’s story “is not hers alone,” Ben Hania said as she accepted her award.

“It is tragically the story of an entire people enduring genocide, inflicted by a criminal Israeli regime that acts with impunity,” she added.

Brad Pitt, Joaquin Phoenix and Oscar-winning directors Jonathan Glazer (“The Zone of Interest”) and Mexico’s Alfonso Cuaron (“Roma”) joined the film as executive producers after editing had been completed.

Jarmusch signalled his opposition to Israel’s continued siege and bombardment of Gaza by wearing a badge saying “Enough” at the Venice awards ceremony.