Jeddah: The Red Sea Film Festival Foundation has announced the third cycle of The Red Sea Fund, with sterling support to filmmakers that reaches up to USD 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 also celebrated the announcement of the 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.
The 10 backed films are: The Last Projectionist, directed by Alex Bakri (Palestine, Germany) Feature Documentary; De Abdul A Leila, directed by Leila Albayaty (Germany, Belgium, France, Iraq) Feature Documentary; Slave, directed by Mansour Assad (Saudi Arabia) Feature Fiction; Nezouh, directed by Soudade Kaadan (France, United Kingdom, Lebanon) Feature Fiction; Phiona, A Girl From Madrid, directed by Salah Issaad (Rwanda, Benin, France) Feature Fiction; Ashkal, directed by Youssef Chebbi (Tunisia) Feature Fiction; The Burdened, directed by Amr Gmal (Yemen) Feature Fiction; TUK-TUK EYE, directed by Dhyaa Joda (Iraq) Feature Documentary; The Cardinal’s Arm, directed by Fayçal Baghriche (France, Algeria) Feature Documentary; and Suspended, directed by Myriam El Hajj (Lebanon, France, Norway) Feature Documentary.

Red Sea IFF’s CEO Mohammed Al Turki 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.”