Red Sea Souk Awards winners were announced today during the ongoing Red Sea International Film Festival (Red Sea IFF) in Jeddah. Aimed at fostering co-production, worldwide distribution, and new business prospects, the Red Sea Souk is a film market created to support the thriving Saudi, African and Arab industries and promote talent. Distributors, sales representatives, and producers looking to expand their regional reach attend it.
This year, the four-day souk attracted a larger crowd and was jam-packed with pitch sessions, meetings, screenings, industry talks, and networking activities. Two distinct juries, one for the Project Market and the other for the Works-in-Progress, deliberated over the awards. The Red Sea Fund and generous industry sponsors contributed to give 24 awards for both Red Sea Lodge Projects and Souk Projects.
Zain Zedan, Red Sea Souk Manager, said: “We are pleased with the successful achievements of this year’s edition of the Red Sea Souk. The awards are meant to bolster the confidence of emerging, aspiring filmmakers and to open more opportunities for them”.
Myriam Arab, Red Sea Souk Co Manager, said: “For this year’s selection the industry enjoyed discovering projects by African and Arab filmmakers and producers including the diaspora. For this second edition, it appears the Red Sea Souk is continuing to expand its border and create new bridges for independent cinema”
The Arab Cinema Center (ACC), an international promotional platform for Arab cinema, presented two Arab Cinema Centre Awards to ‘You Were the Poet, And I Existed’ from Saudi Arabia and ‘Trip to Jerusalem’, an Arab project for participation in the 2023 Rotterdam Lab.
Meanwhile, the Cell Co, a fully integrated post-production company, presented three awards to a film in post-production. The first award, consisting of a complete DCP package valued at 8,000 USD, was given to ‘Hounds’. The second and third awards, each consisting of a full promotion package valued at 12,000 USD, were given to ‘The Burdened’ and ‘Concrete Land’.
Leyth Production, a film production company based in Tunisia, awarded the sum of 20,000 USD to ‘Banel E Adama’ for sound mixing for their work-in-progress film. They also awarded 50,000 USD to ‘Concrete Land’ for editing for their work-in-progress film.
OTICONS presented the award Composer for Original Film Score worth 10,000 USD to ‘Yunan’ for their Work-In-Progress film. They also provided an award consisting of Music License and Supervision worth 6,000 USD to ‘The Mother of All Lies’ for their Work-In-Progress film. Finally, they presented the award for music consulting worth 2,000 USD to ‘Behind the Palm Trees’, a Red Sea Project film.
The TITRAFILM Award consisting of subtitles, DCP or broadcasting worth 6,000 USD was awarded to ‘Banel E Adama’.
The Arab Radio and Television Network (ART), a major player in the Arab Film Industry, awarded two 50,000 USD grants to ‘You Were the Poet, And I Existed’ and ‘Bubblegum Brigade’, Saudi and Arab development projects.
Cinewaves Films, a leading Saudi distribution company with the largest Saudi film library, presented 50,000 USD to ‘Scapegoat’ for the Cinewaves Film Distribution Award. MAD Solutions, the first Pan-Arab creative studio focused on the production, promotion, and distribution of Arabic content in and beyond the Arab world, presented 50,000 USD to ‘Behind the Palm Trees’ for the MAD Solutions Distribution Award.
MBC presented three MBC Academy/Shahid cash awards for Arab world distribution rights. The MBC Academy/Shahid Award for an Arab project with an amount of 40,000 USD was awarded to ‘Men in the Sun’. The other award with an amount of 70,000 USD went to the Saudi project ‘Dancing on Fire’. Finally, the Saudi project ‘A Last Argument Against Youth’ was awarded 120,000 USD.
From the Red Sea Fund, six cash awards were granted by the Red Sea Souk Juries. The Red Sea Souk Post-Production Award with a grant of 30,000 USD was presented to ‘The Mother of All Lies’. ‘Trip to Jerusalem’, the recipient of the Red Sea Souk Jury Development Award, walked away with a cash prize of 35,000 USD. The Red Sea Souk Development Award with a grant of 35,000 USD went to ‘Wolfmother’. ‘Vagabonds’ was presented the Red Sea Souk Production Award with a grant of 100,000 USD. Finally, two Red Sea Lodge Awards, each with a grant of 100,000 USD, were awarded to ‘Aisha Can’t Fly Anymore’, an Arab project and ‘Scapegoat’, a Saudi Project.
