A total of 14 film projects have received funding from the Red Sea Fund as part of the next edition of the Red Sea International Film Festival to be held from December 6 to 15, organizers announced Thursday.
The film “Antonio Tar”, by Moroccan director El Hadi Ould Mhand, is one of the films that have benefited from this support dedicated to production or post-production operations.
The work tells the story of a simple family, like those inhabiting small Moroccan villages in the 1990s. However, it is also a unique family due to its open-mindedness.
Suddenly, a neurological disease will turn the daily lives of family members upside down and test the love they have for each other.
The main actors of this film are Samir El Kasmi, Loubna Azabal, Jalal Quarriwa, Ayoub El Yousfi and Ahmed Yarziz.
The Fund was launched last June with the aim of supporting film projects by providing them with the funding they need, in order to carry them out and transform them into cinematographic works.
While the Fund has received more than 650 applications, the examination of the rest of the projects will continue over the next few days, with a view to announcing the other winning films next December.
According to the official festival website, the list of projects includes feature films and documentaries from 10 countries, namely Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Egypt, Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, l ‘Iraq, Qatar and Algeria.
The same source specifies that two of these films were an international success, the first is the short film “The sea before you” nominated for the Oscars and winner of the Cannes festival, by the director Elie Dagher and the second is “Farha” by the director. Darin Sallam, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Festival artistic director Edward Weintraub stressed that “Arab cinema benefits from creative talents that tell new stories inspired by Arab culture and heritage. Therefore, we must continue to support Arab filmmakers throughout the year and provide them with what they need in terms of funding and means to reach audiences ”.
He also expressed his pride “in the participation of Arab films in the Venice film festival or other international festivals”, noting that the years to come will certainly see more films of this caliber.
The Red Sea Festival is the premier international film festival in Saudi Arabia. It is a non-profit initiative launched by the Saudi Ministry of Culture to support the film industry in the Kingdom and enrich local film content, as well as promote new Arab works.
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