Winners of 2022 Red Sea Souk Awards announced

The winners of Red Sea Souk Awards 2022 were announced during the ongoing Red Sea International Film Festival (Red Sea IFF) in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Running alongside the festival, Red Sea Souk is a film market that aims at supporting Saudi, African, and Arab industries. It encourages co-production, global distribution, novel business opportunities, and collaborations between the international and Arab film industries.

The four-day souk (meaning marketplace) witnessed pitch sessions, networking events, meetings, screenings, and industry talks.

According to a press release, two distinct juries deliberated over the awards. As many as 24 awards were given for Red Sea Lodge projects, as well as Souk projects via contributions of the Red Sea Fund and industry sponsors.

Zain Zedan, Manager of Red Sea Souk, said: “The awards are meant to bolster the confidence of emerging, aspiring filmmakers and to open more opportunities for them."

The winners

Myriam Arab, Co-manager of Red Sea Souk, 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.”

Among the winners were You Were the Poet, And I Existed and Trip to Jerusalem  from Saudi Arabia, which received two Arab Cinema Centre Awards presented by The Arab Cinema Center (ACC), an international promotional platform for Arab cinema.

The Cell Co, a post-production company, presented three awards. The first award was given to Hounds while The Burdened and Concrete Land received the second and third awards, respectively.

Leyth Production, a Tunisia-based film production, awarded $20,000 to Banel E Adama for sound mixing and $50,000 to Concrete Land for editing their work-in-progress film.

Yunan received the Composer for Original Film Score award worth $10,000 from OTICONS for their work-in-progress film. OTICONS extended an award consisting Music Licence and Supervision worth $6,000 to The Mother of All Lies for their work-in-progress film. Behind the Palm Trees, a Red Sea Project film, won the award for music consulting.

Banel E Adama received the TITRAFILM Award comprising subtitles, DCP, or broadcasting worth $6,000. The Arab Radio and Television Network (ART) awarded two $50,000 grants to Saudi and Arab development projects, You Were the Poet, And I Existed and Bubblegum Brigade.

Cinewaves Films, a Saudi distribution company, presented $50,000 to Scapegoat for the Cinewaves Film Distribution Award. MAD Solutions, a Pan-Arab creative studio presented $50,000 to Behind the Palm Trees for the MAD Solutions Distribution Award.

MBC presented three MBC Academy/Shahid cash awards for Arab world distribution rights to Men in the Sun, Dancing on Fire, and A Last Argument Against Youth.

The Red Sea Souk Post-Production Award, with a grant of $30,000, was presented to The Mother of All Lies. Trip to Jerusalem won the Red Sea Souk Jury Development Award worth a cash prize of $35,000.

The Red Sea Souk Development Award, comprising a grant of $35,000 went to Wolfmother. Vagabonds received the Red Sea Souk Production Award worth a grant of $100,000.

Further, two Red Sea Lodge Awards, each with a grant of $100,000, were awarded to Arab project Aisha Can’t Fly Anymore and Saudi project Scapegoat.

At present, the second edition of the Red Sea International Film Festival is being held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. It began on December 1 and will continue until December 10, 2022.