Along the shores of the Red Sea, where Hollywood glamour had briefly found an unlikely home, silence will replace the red carpet this year. Saudi Arabia has cancelled its International Film Festival — a cultural showcase that had drawn stars like Emily Blunt and Michael Caine — as the widening conflict across the Middle East renders such gatherings untenable. The cancellation is more than a scheduling loss; it is a signal that geopolitical instability is now reaching into the spaces where nations perform their aspirations for the world.