Festival (RSIFF) today announced the winners of the Red Sea Souk Awards that featured four days of industry talks, workshops, an active project market and networking sessions. All films in the Red Sea Souk were deliberated on by two separate juries for the Project Market and the Works-in-Progress to grant the Red Sea Souk Awards. More than 700,000 USD were awarded to the projects selected in the Red Sea Souk Awards with funds provided by the Red Sea Fund as well as generous industry sponsors. 

Zain Zedan, Red Sea Souk Manager, said: “Today we presented the Souk awards to an exceptional selection of new and established voices in filmmaking, including numerous women powerhouses. We are so proud of the creativity and talent displayed today and we would like to congratulate them on their momentous achievements, we can’t wait to see what more they accomplish in elevating the Saudi film industry.”

From the Red Sea Fund, five cash awards were granted by the Red Sea Souk Jury. The Red Sea Souk Award with a grant of 30,000 USD was presented to ‘Contra’ by Lotfy Nathan for their film in post-production. The remaining four awards supported by the Red Sea Fund Award included a Red Sea Souk Award with a grant of 25,000 USD that was presented to the winner ‘Akashinga’ by Naishe Hassan Nyamubaya for their film in development and a Red Sea Souk Award with a grant of 100,000 USD that was presented to the winner ‘AÏCHA’ by Mehdi M. Barsaoui for their film in production. Furthermore, the two Red Sea Lodge Awards each with a grant of 100,000 USD were awarded to the winners ‘The Zarqa Girl’ by Zaid Abuhamdan and ‘The Photographer of Madina’ by Dalyah Bakheet. There was an additional Red Sea Souk Award, the Special Mention Award with a grant of 15,000 USD awarded to ‘Birthday’ by Lara Zeidan.

From the sponsors, the Cell Studios, a fully integrated postproduction facility, presented three awards to a film in post-production. The first award consisting of a full DCP package worth 10,000 USD was awarded to ‘The Cemetery of Cinema’ by Thierno Souleymane Diallo. The second award consisting of a full promotion package worth 10,000 USD was awarded to ‘Dirty, Difficult, Dangerous’ by Wissam Charaf.

Finally, the third award consisting of a full colour grading package worth 15,000 USD was presented to ‘Fragments from Heaven’ by Adnane Baraka. 

Leyth Production, a Tunisian-based film production company, presented the Leyth Production Award consisting of Sound Mixing by S.G., sound designer, in Auditorium 7.1 equivalent to 15,000 USD to the winner ‘Abdelinho’ by Hicham Ayouch to their film in post-production. Meanwhile, Arab Cinema Center (ACC), an international promotional platform for Arab cinema, presented the Arab Cinema Centre Award with participation in the 2022 Rotterdam Lab to the Saudi winner ‘Zeba’ by Arar Qarim, and ‘Seeking Haven for Mr. Rambo’ by Khaled Mansour.

MAD Solutions, the‌ ‌first‌ ‌Pan-Arab‌ ‌creative‌ ‌studio‌ ‌dedicated‌ ‌to‌ ‌the‌ ‌creation,‌ ‌promotion‌ ‌, and‌ ‌distribution‌ ‌of‌ ‌Arabic‌ ‌content‌ ‌to‌ ‌and‌ ‌from‌ ‌the‌ ‌Arab‌ ‌world, presented the Mad Solutions Distribution Award in the amount of 50,000 USD to the winner ‘The Seasons of Jannet’ by Mehdi Hmili. Whereas Cinewaves 

Films, a leading Saudi distribution company with the largest Saudi film library, presented the Cinewaves Film Distribution Award in the amount of 50,000 USD to the winner ‘Zeba’ by Abrar Qari.

The Arab Radio and Television Network (ART), one of the major players in the Arab Film Industry, presented two awards. The first award is the winner of the Arab Radio and Television Network (ART) Distribution Award in the amount of 50,000 USD, ‘MONTREAL’ by Ameen Nayfeh. The second winner of the Arab Radio and Television Network (ART) Distribution Award in the amount of 50,000 USD was ‘Within Sand’ by Mo Alatawi. Lastly, the final Souk Award was the winner of the Shahid Distribution Award in the amount of 100,000 USD, ‘Hala’s Aziz’ by Jawaher Alamri.