Emirati director Majid Al Ansari wins Best Horror Feature at Fantastic Fest 2025 for The Vile

Annual festival in Texas celebrates genre films

The Vile (Hoba) tells the story of a wife whose life unravels when her husband takes a second wife. Photo: Image Nation

Acclaimed Emirati director Majid Al Ansari has won Best Horror Feature at Fantastic Fest, the largest genre film festival in the US, for The Vile.

The film, which will be released as Hoba in the UAE on October 30, tells the story of Amani, a wife and mother whose life unravels when her husband takes a second wife, only for something darker to begin invading the home.

The Vile has already been picked up for distribution in the US and is the first film from the UAE to do so. It will also screen at the London Film Festival next month, ahead of its UAE cinema release just before Halloween.

It is the second directorial project for Al Ansari, whose debut film, the crime thriller Zinzana, also premiered at Fantastic Fest in 2015.

Fantastic Fest director of programming Annick Mahnert told IndieWire: “To celebrate our 20th anniversary, we curated a remarkable line-up of feature and short films.

“Each year, our jurors face the difficult task of choosing from an extraordinary pool of talent, and this year was no exception. Despite the challenge, their selections reflect the true spirit of Fantastic Fest – a celebration of global cinema and the diverse voices that bring it to life.”

Charlie Polinger's The Plague, which had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in May, won Best Picture in the main competition, while Polish filmmaker Bartosz M Kowalski was named Best Director for his home-invasion thriller 13 Days Till Summer.

Majid Al Ansari's second feature, Hoba, premiered at Fantastic Fest in Texas. Photo: Image Nation

Speaking to The National ahead of The Vile's premiere, Al Ansari – who had spent the past decade cutting his teeth as a producer on films such as Hwjn and Scales and as a television director on Netflix’s Paranormal and Starzplay’s Kaboos – spoke about stepping back into the director's chair.

“I had to find my joy again,” he said. “Even when I am in the producer's chair, I don’t have the joy as much as directing.”

As a co-writer on the film, he also had to change the way he approached the project, he added. “I usually have no problem killing my favourite shots or scenes,” he said. “But with Hoba, I had to force myself to step away, sometimes for weeks, so I could come back and see it with fresh eyes.”

Hoba is being released in UAE cinemas on October 30