A total of 36 films from Saudi Arabia, the Arab region and Africa, including two Moroccan ones, have received support from the “Red Sea Fund” for the production and post-production phases under the year 2022, announced the Saudi Fund.
The cinematographic works subsidized within the framework of the third cycle of the production phase notably include the two Moroccan films “Moul Lkelb” (the man with the dog), directed by Kamal Lazraq, and “Amina” by Nora El Hourch.
Among the films financed as part of the fourth cycle of the post-production phase is “Backstage”, a joint Moroccan-French-Belgian-Tunisian work directed by Afef Ben Mahmoud, said a press release from the institution.
The Fund, which said it received the highest number of applications for the production funding cycle in 2022 since its launch, noted that specialized committees screened more than 150 works, selecting a list of 53 films that varied between fiction, documentaries, animated films, series, short films and virtual reality films.
Thus, 25 films were selected for production funding, including two films that had received support from the development phase of the Red Sea Fund, namely “Captain Mbaye” directed by Joel Karekezi and “Aisha” directed by Mehdi Barsaoui.
As for the film “Yonan” by Amir Fakhreddin, it was chosen to participate in the “Projects Market” of the Red Sea International Film Festival. This program aims to connect producers of new film projects with international film industry professionals.
Separately, the Fund announced that several distinguished female filmmakers will receive a grant for the production of their new films, noting that this support is in line with the vision of the Red Sea International Film Festival to encourage women filmmakers, such as Saudi director Sarah Mesfer, who received funding to produce her third short film.
In post-production, 11 films received funding from a list of 28 nominations, including director Karim Ben Salah’s ‘Black Light’, which won the ‘Final Cut’ award at the Venice International Film Festival.