The $10m Red Sea Fund will back more than 100 projects in its first year, as well as episodic content.
The Red Sea Film Festival Foundation has launched the Red Sea Fund. The $10m fund will support projects with directors from the Arab World and Africa, launching a new generation of filmmakers and supporting established auteurs as they bring their work from script to screen.
The fund will back more than 100 projects in its first year, creating a boost for filmmakers from Africa and the Arab world by supporting fiction, documentary and animation feature films, as well as episodic content. Additionally, Saudi nationals will be able to apply to the Red Sea Fund to support short films in development and production.
Speaking about the fund, Edouard Waintrop, Red Sea International Film Festival Artistic Director, said: “Helping African and Arab cinema grow, that’s a very exciting responsibility. That’s what the Red Sea Fund will do at every stage of the making of the chosen movies and episodic content. In providing more than 100 grants of up to $10m to help the development, production and post-production of movies across the Arab World and Africa, the Red Sea Fund will help cinema that is in full metamorphosis.”
The Red Sea Fund is part of the Red Sea Film Foundation’s commitment to the regional screen sector, which will also include launching the inaugural Red Sea International Film Festival that will take place from November 11 – 20, 2021.
The Festival will see the launch of the Red Sea Souk, a regional marketplace and industry hub. Red Sea Souk will include a project market, with pitching sessions of more than 20 projects from the Arab world and Africa, as well as a Films-in-Progress workshop. All projects that apply to the Red Sea Fund will automatically be eligible for the Red Sea Souk – project market and Red Sea Souk films-in progress Workshop.
The Red Sea Souk – Project Market will take place from November 12-15, 2021, at the Red Sea International Film Festival in Jeddah. The projects will compete for the Red Sea Development and Production Awards respectively in the amount of US$25,000 and US$100,000.
The Red Sea Souk Films-in-Progress Workshop will also take place from November 12-15, 2021. Each selected project in Films-in-Progress will compete for the Red Sea Post-Production Awards for US$30,000.
Shivani Pandya, Red Sea International Film Festival’s Festival Managing Director, added: “The Red Sea Fund is a major boost for the African and Arab film industry. Over the past two decades, we have seen the Arab and African film industry grow and flourish. The Fund and the Red Sea Souk will provide more tools to support the Arab and African film business to make even more of an impact on the international marketplace with the launch of its project market and films in-progress workshop this November.”
The Red Sea Souk will also contain panels, networking events, workshops and booths connecting the international film community to the new Saudi market.
Applications are welcome from around the world to support projects that are being helmed by an African or Arab director. The Red Sea Fund is open from June 15 – July 21, 2021, with all details available on the website.
The Red Sea Fund will be split across three main categories; Red Sea Fund – Development, Red Sea Fund – Production, and Red Sea Fund – Post-Production.
