In addition, the Red Sea Fund has announced 10 winners for its first post-production cycle.
Red Sea Film Festival Foundation has announced the third cycle of the Red Sea Fund, with support to filmmakers that reaches up to $500,000 per film.
The third cycle will support projects with directors from Saudi Arabia, Arab World and Africa, launching a new generation of filmmakers and supporting established auteurs as they bring their work from script to screen.
The Red Sea Fund encourages bold and original ideas that embrace a rich and diverse range of subjects that inform, educate and entertain global audiences whilst accepting feature fiction, documentary, episodic or animation films for all applicants and short fiction, documentary or animation film, only for projects by Saudi directors.
The Red Sea Fund announced 10 recipients of its 2022 programme that were confirmed as recipients of post-production grants. The fund now in its third year, has a strong track record of bringing films to audiences with 100% of last years funded films presented at the inaugural edition of the Festival.
The fiction features and documentaries originate from Palestine, Iraq, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Rwanda, Benin, Yemen, and Tunisia.
Of the selection, the Red Sea Fund supported the feature fiction Ashkal, by Tunisian director Youssef Chebbi. The world premiere of his debut feature has been selected for the 54th edition of Directors’ Fortnight, the non-competitive independent sidebar to the main Cannes festival that was scheduled for May 17 to 28. Set in the Gardens of Carthage, a district of Tunis initiated by the former Regime construction stopped at the beginning of the revolution. The film follows two cops, Fatma and Batal, who find a burnt body in one of the lots. As construction slowly resumes, they start looking into this mysterious case. When the event repeats itself, the investigation takes a puzzling turn.
The slate also includes Slave, directed by Mansour Assad, an Afghani Filmmaker, born and raised in Saudi and the first local film to be selected for post-production funding. The film was selected for its experimental filmmaking techniques and pushing boundaries that are prompting a wave of change within the creative industry in the Kingdom. Another first in this cycle of the Red Sea Fund includes a Yemeni film submission The Burdened, directed by Amr Gmal, which was received for the first time and made it to the committee’s winners list.
Speaking about the third cycle, Mohammed Al Turki, CEO of Red Sea International Film Festival, said: “The Red Sea Fund has supported several, directors, and producers since its inception. The new and exciting plethora of directors in the selection brings new perspectives to the conversation, they are presenting bold and daring stories we haven’t seen before. The industry is beginning to flourish and it’s encouraging to see so many filmmakers eager to make their mark, our role is to nurture and support this movement.”
The 10 backed films are The Last Projectionist, directed by Alex Bakri (Palestine, Germany); De Abdul À Leila, directed by Leila Albayaty (Germany, Belgium, France, Iraq); Slave, directed by Mansour Assad (Saudi Arabia); Nezouh, directed by Soudade Kaadan (France, United Kingdom, Lebanon); Phiona, A Girl from Madrid, directed by Salah Issaad (Rwanda, Benin, France); Ashkal, directed by Youssef Chebbi (Tunisia); The Burdened, directed by Amr Gmal (Yemen); Tuk-Tuk-Tuk Eye, directed by Dhyaa Joda (Iraq); The Cardinal’s Arm, directed by Fayçal Baghriche (France, Algeria); and Suspended, directed by Myriam El Hajj (Lebanon, France, Norway).
Submissions for the Red Sea Funding for Production open from June 27, 2022.
