The Red Sea Film Festival Foundation has announced the recipients of the Red Sea Fund's 2022 production and post-production funding cycles. As many as 36 films by Saudi, Arab and African filmmakers will receive grants to help complete films that shine a light on important narratives and new talents emerging from the region. The Red Sea Fund's 2022 production cycle received a high volume of submissions, 150 of which were reviewed by a team of professional readers and filtered down to a shortlist of 53 films. Of these 53 films, a final 25 across a range of formats, including feature fiction, feature documentaries, feature animations, episodic series, shorts, and immersive films were selected. Two of the films selected had previously been supported at the development stage by the Red Sea Fund, including 'Captain Mbaye' directed by Joel Karekezi and 'Aicha' directed by Mehdi M. Barsaoui. Also selected to receive funding, 'Yunan' directed by Ameer Fakher Eldin, participated in the Red Sea International Film Festival Project Market, designed to connect the producers of new film projects with international financiers in the industry. The post-production cycle resulted in 28 projects being short-listed, 11 of those received post-production grants, including 'Norah', a Saudi film shot in AlUla, directed by Tawfik Alzaidi and produced by Paul Miller, and 'BLACKLIGHT', directed by Karim Bensalah and produced by Oualid Baha, which won the Final Cut Prize at Venice Film Festival.
