One of the targets for the Red Sea Fund when it launched three years ago was to “be part of the Oscars somehow by 2027”, according to fund manager Emad Eskander.
“But it happened this year – we have seven films shortlisted for the Oscars,” Eskander told a Red Sea panel session, to loud applause from the audience.
The seven Red Sea-backed films submitted in the international feature category are Kaouther Ben Hania’s Four Daughters, submitted by Tunisia, Mohamed Kordofani’s Goodbye Julia (Sudan), Ahmed Yassin Al Daradji’s Hanging Gardens (Iraq), Amjad Al Rasheed’s Inshallah A Boy (Jordan), Baloji’s Omen (Belgium), Amr Gmal’s The Burdened (Yemen) and Asmae El Moudir’s The Mother Of All Lies (Morocco). The Fund can award up to $500,0000 per project.
Eskander said the Fund was part of an ecosystem that the Red Sea Foundation - which spans the festival, the Red Sea Labs programme and the Souk - is trying to create to support Saudi, Arab and African films.
He cited upcoming Saudi feature Dancing On Fire by Hana Alomair. “It’s one of those local projects that applied [to the Fund] two years ago, got rejected, came back to the Labs, and great scripts come out of it. We’ve invested in it now and the film is happening next year. And it’s here in the Souk as well.”
Eskander also said on the panel that it was a great time to be a Saudi filmmaker. “All the support that is coming from the government is unreal.” Citing the Cultural Fund Development Fund, the Red Sea Fund, Ithra Film Production and the Saudi Film Commission’s Daw initiative, Eskander said: “At this stage, if you have a good pitch deck this year, you might be funded – everybody would go after you and try to make it happen. I’m not sure it is that easy for a lot of filmmakers around the world.”
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