The closing date for submissions for the first cycle is February 27, 2025.
The Red Sea Film Festival Foundation has launched the fifth edition of the Red Sea Fund for filmmakers from the Arab World and Africa. For the first time, the Fund is now accepting submissions from Asia, welcoming voices from the continent to apply alongside storytellers from Saudi Arabia, Africa and the Arab world.
This fund serves as a crucial support system for a diverse range of projects, aiming to nurture a new generation of filmmakers while also providing backing for established auteurs as they navigate the journey from script to screen.
The Red Sea Fund is open to projects in various film formats, including feature-length (60-minutes or more) fiction, documentary, and animation projects. The announced Cycle 1 for the year 2024 is dedicated to film projects in post-production, marking an opportunity for filmmakers to take their works to the next level.
Shivani Pandya Malhotra, Red Sea Film Foundation Managing Director, remarked: “The Red Sea Fund champions projects across stages and cycles, providing financial grants that bring bold ideas to life. Our expansion into Asia reflects our commitment to talents and stories that are often underrepresented, providing filmmakers with an avenue to execute their vision and reach the world.”
Submissions for Cycle 1 are currently open, starting from February 6 and concluding on February 27. Filmmakers are required to provide a complete rough cut of the film as a private online viewing link, with a minimum duration of 60 minutes. Additionally, rough cuts must include subtitles in English for non-English dialogue.
To be considered for the Red Sea Fund, applicants must submit a comprehensive set of documents, including a production company profile, registration documents, passport of the authorised signatory and an official document demonstrating the legal authorisation and capacity of the signatory to enter into the Red Sea Fund Agreement for feature and series projects (if selected).
The submission package, to be provided in English (except for Saudi projects’ scripts, which can be in Arabic), should include a logline, synopsis, film’s chain of titles, final script or writer’s treatment, project budget breakdown, financial plan, details on how the grant money will be utilised during the post-production stage, project timelines, expected date of completion and a director’s/producer’s video explaining the current status of the project and edit.
Applicants will receive written notification of the Red Sea Fund Committee’s decision approximately 10 weeks after the submission deadline. Successful projects will receive letters detailing the amount of financial support and the next steps. The authorised person must respond within a specified timeframe, either accepting or declining the funding.
Upon acceptance, applicants of successful projects must enter into a post-production funding agreement (the “Red Sea Fund Agreement”) within a maximum of four weeks. To gain Red Sea Fund approval, proof of financing from other sources must be provided, whether in cash or in kind, that would generate credits or acknowledgement.
