ADFF extends calls for SANAD fund submissions

The Abu Dhabi Film Festival has extended its call for applications for the Festival’s SANAD grant which aims to support filmmakers from the Arab world. The new deadline for receiving applications is April 20, with the deadline for the second cycle of applications is July 1.

The SANAD fund support projects in the development or post production phase, across Arabic narrative and documentary feature length films.

Each year, SANAD awards a total of USD500,000 in grants to Arab filmmakers in two categories: development funds of up to USD20,000 and post-production funds of up to USD60,000 per project.  Since its establishment in 2010, SANAD has received 450 submissions and funded 60 projects.

SANAD is a key element of the Abu Dhabi Film Festival. Presented by the Media Zone Authority-Abu Dhabi, the Festival contributes to the efforts to establish the Emirate as a regional creative hub through its focus on high quality, Arab cinema. 

Noura Al Kaabi, Chief Executive Officer of the Media Zone Authority-Abu Dhabi said: “The SANAD fund is a fantastic opportunity for filmmakers to have their work produced and out to international audiences and it reinforces ADFF’s efforts to build a sustainable film industry for the region by supporting its filmmaking talent. Through SANAD, we are giving a new generation of young, talented Arab filmmakers the creative space to be able to develop their ideas and vision and tell their stories.”     

Ali Al Jabri, Abu Dhabi Film Festival Director, said: “We encourage both new and established filmmakers to submit bold and remarkable projects that highlight the outstanding quality of Arab cinema. In the past three years SANAD has received applications from more than 450 projects and has supported dozens of successful films that have gone on to win numerous awards at the biggest festivals around the world.”

Films supported by SANAD have featured in festivals like Cannes, Venice, Toronto as well as other major festivals around the world, highlighting the success of the Fund and its ability to support high quality films. The most recent examples of this are, ‘A World Not Ours’, ‘Coming Forth By Day’ and ‘When I Saw You’, all of which made it into the 63^rd Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale) in February. All three of these films won major awards at the 2012 edition of the Abu Dhabi Film Festival and were the only Arab feature length films shown at Berlinale 2013.

SANAD grants may be awarded to producers and directors who are citizens of one of the following Arab countries: Algeria, Bahrain, Comoros Islands, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen. Projects must be associated with a company producing in at least one of the listed countries.