Saeed Taji Farouky’s Egypt-UK co-production Standing At The Ruins is among the eight work-in-progress features selected for the 13th Final Cut in Venice industry lab.
Standing At The Ruins is a fiction feature, selected as part of the Final Cut’s Focs on the UK. The lab as a whole is open to feature projects from African countries plus Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria and Yemen.
Scroll down for the full list of Final Cut in Venice titles
Palestinian-UK director Farouky has previously directed three feature documentaries, including 2021’s A Thousand Fires which debuted at Locarno.
Other titles in the Final Cut selection include fiction title The Station, the debut feature of Yemeni-Scottish filmmaker Sara Ishaq, about a woman who struggles to keep her women-only fuel station afloat amid a fuel crisis. The project came through the 2020 Cannes L’Atelier and 2024 Venice Gap Financing Market, and wrapped production last month.
Ishaq’s 2014 title Karama Has No Walls was nominated for the best documentary short Oscar.
The Final Cut programme consists of three days of activities from August 31-September 2 during the Venice Production Bridge.
Prizes on offer include €5,000 from La Biennale di Venezia for the best film in post-production; plus in-kind prizes from partners including Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Fund.
The 82nd Venice film festival runs from August 27-September 6.
Final Cut in Venice 2025 titles
Fiction
House Of The Wind (Cam-Ben-Fr-Bel) dir. Kouemo Yanghu Auguste Bernard
My Semba (Ang) dir. Hugo Salvaterra
Standing At The Ruins (Egy-UK) dir. Saeed Taji Farouky
The Station (Yem-Jor-Fr-Ger-Neth-Nor-Qat) dir. Sara Ishaq
Yesterday The Eye Didn’t Sleep (Bel-Leb-Pal) dir. Rakan Mayasi
Documentary
Legacy (Sen-Fr) dir. Mamadou Dia
Untitled Yemeni project (Yem-Qat-Nor-Fr) dir. Mariam Al-Dhubhani
Out Of School (Den-Mor) dir. Hind Bensari
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