Female filmmakers to receive awards include Saudi Arabia’s Haifaa Al-Mansour, Palestine’s Annemarie Jacir, Tunisia’s Kaouther Ben Hania and Palestinian-American Cherien Dabis.
Red Sea Film Festival Foundation has announced the recipients of the Red Sea Fund’s 2022 production and post-production funding cycles. 36 films by Saudi, Arab and African filmmakers will receive grants to help complete films that shine a light on important narratives and new talents emerging from the region.
The Red Sea Fund’s 2022 production cycle received a high volume of submissions of which 150 were reviewed by the team of professional readers and filtered down to a shortlist of 53 films. Of these 53 films, a final 25 across a range of formats, including feature fiction, feature documentaries, feature animations, episodic series, shorts and immersive films were selected.
Two of the films selected had previously been supported at the development stage by the Red Sea Fund, including Captain Mbaye directed by Joel Karekezi and Aicha directed by Mehdi M. Barsaoui. Also selected to receive funding, Yunan directed by Ameer Fakher Eldin, participated in the Red Sea International Film Festival Project Market, designed to connect the producers of new film projects with international financiers in the industry.
Critically acclaimed filmmakers Haifaa Al-Mansour, Annemarie Jacir, Kaouther Ben Hania, and Cherian Dabis were awarded critical funds to support bringing their fresh narratives to the screen. This underpins the Red Sea Film Festivals’ mission to advocate for women filmmakers who are leading the way and inspiring a new generation of creatives such as Saudi filmmaker Sara Mesfer who receives funding for her feature debut.
Speaking about the selected projects, Mohammed Al-Turki, CEO of Red Sea International Film Festival Foundation, said: “We have been impressed by the quality of submissions received this year which subsequently made it a challenge to narrow the selection down to 25. We are confident the Red Sea Funds will support the winners through the creative process to help share these important stories and showcase a raft of exciting new and established Saudi, Arab and African talent.”
The Post-production cycle resulted in 28 projects being short-listed, 11 of those received post-production grants, including Norah, a Saudi film shot in AlUla, directed by Tawfik Alzaidi and produced by Paul Miller. Also, BLACKLIGHT, directed by Karim Bensalah and produced by Oualid Baha, which won the Final Cut Prize at Venice Film Festival.
Mohammed Al-Turki added: “The 11 selected films show enormous potential as ground-breaking stories that will capture the imagination of global audiences and will benefit most from a final boost of funding to allow these films to reach their full potential.”
Shivani Pandya, Managing Director of Red Sea International Film Festival, stated: “The quality of film proposals we receive improve exponentially year on year. It is our privilege and pleasure to be able to support these filmmakers from Saudi Arabia, Africa and the Arab region, bringing their work to a wider audience through the various initiatives supported by the Red Sea International Film Festival.”
