A total of $830,000 in cash prizes and $126,000 in-kind prizes were awarded to Saudi, Arab and African projects in the development and work-in-progress stages.
Red Sea Souk Awards has announced winners during the ongoing Red Sea International Film Festival (Red Sea IFF) in Jeddah. Aimed at fostering co-production, worldwide distribution, and new business prospects, the Red Sea Souk is a film market created to support the thriving Saudi, African and Arab industries and promote talent. Distributors, sales representatives, and producers looking to expand their regional reach attend it.
Two distinct juries, one for the Project Market and the other for the Works-in-Progress, deliberated over the awards. The Red Sea Fund and industry sponsors contributed to give 24 awards for both Red Sea Lodge Projects and Souk Projects.
Zain Zedan, Manager of Red Sea Souk, said: “We are pleased with the successful achievements of this year’s edition of the Red Sea Souk. The awards are meant to bolster the confidence of emerging, aspiring filmmakers and to open more opportunities for them.”
Myriam Arab, Co-Manager of Red Sea Souk, said: “For this year’s selection the industry enjoyed discovering projects by African and Arab filmmakers and producers including the diaspora. For this second edition, it appears the Red Sea Souk is continuing to expand its border and create new bridges for independent cinema.”
The Arab Cinema Center (ACC), an international promotional platform for Arab cinema, presented two Arab Cinema Centre Awards to You Were the Poet, And I Existed from Saudi Arabia and Trip to Jerusalem, an Arab project for participation in the 2023 Rotterdam Lab.
Meanwhile, Cell Co, a fully integrated post-production company, presented three awards to a film in post-production. The first award, consisting of a complete DCP package valued at $8,000, was given to Hounds. The second and third awards, each consisting of a full promotion package valued at $12,000, were given to The Burdened and Concrete Land.
Leyth Production, a film production company based in Tunisia, awarded the sum of $20,000 to Banel E Adama for sound mixing for their work-in-progress film. They also awarded $50,000 to Concrete Land for editing for their work-in-progress film.
OTICONS presented the award Composer for Original Film Score worth $10,000 to Yunan for their Work-In-Progress film. They also provided an award consisting of a Music License and Supervision worth $6,000 to The Mother of All Lies for their Work-In-Progress film. Finally, they presented the award for music consulting worth $2,000 to Behind the Palm Trees, a Red Sea Project film.
The TITRAFILM Award consisting of subtitles, DCP or broadcasting worth $6,000 was awarded to Banel E Adama.
The Arab Radio and Television Network (ART), a major player in the Arab Film Industry, awarded two $50,000 grants to You Were the Poet, And I Existed and Bubblegum Brigade, Saudi and Arab development projects.
Cinewaves Films, a Saudi distribution company with the largest Saudi film library, presented $50,000 to Scapegoat for the Cinewaves Film Distribution Award. MAD Solutions, the first Pan-Arab creative studio focused on the production, promotion, and distribution of Arabic content in and beyond the Arab world, presented $50,000 to Behind the Palm Trees for the MAD Solutions Distribution Award.
MBC presented three MBC Academy/Shahid cash awards for Arab world distribution rights. The MBC Academy/Shahid Award for an Arab project with an amount of $40,000 was awarded to Men in the Sun. The other award with an amount of $70,000 went to the Saudi project Dancing on Fire. Finally, the Saudi project A Last Argument Against Youth was awarded $120,000.
From the Red Sea Fund, six cash awards were granted by the Red Sea Souk Juries. The Red Sea Souk Post-Production Award with a grant of $30,000 was presented to The Mother of All Lies. Trip to Jerusalem, the recipient of the Red Sea Souk Jury Development Award, walked away with a cash prize of $35,000. The Red Sea Souk Development Award with a grant of $35,000 went to Wolfmother. Vagabonds was presented the Red Sea Souk Production Award with a grant of $100,000. Finally, two Red Sea Lodge Awards, each with a grant of $100,000, were awarded to Aisha Can’t Fly Anymore, an Arab project and Scapegoat, a Saudi Project.
