Lebanese director Katia Jarjoura wins top production award at Red Sea Souk Robbery Beiruta heist thriller that includes a $75,000 prize, the awards show is underway at the Jeddah, Saudi Arabia event.
Robbery Beirut The series centers on an event planner in Beirut who, in order to raise funds for her sister’s medical surgery, robs her own bank to recoup her savings that have been frozen by the financial system as the country’s economy collapses. But the robbery takes an unexpected turn.
The main film competition of the fourth Red Sea Film Festival is still the summary review and awarding of awards. This year’s jury is chaired by Spike Lee. The festival, which will be held from December 5 to 14, will feature 16 films in its latest main competition lineup, including Reema Kagti’s malegaon super boy and Kudwin Ayyub’s moon.
Other winners on Wednesday included a $70,000 Red Sea Lab production award for Mohamed Al’Omda’s Red Sea Hut project blue card; Lydia Matata received a $50,000 grant in the same category Strong wind; and allocated $40,000 Silent Onedirected by Javasin Zantar.
In the development project category, the Red Sea Souk jury awarded $30,000 to Makbul Mubarak’s project Watch it burn.
Ahead of Wednesday’s awards ceremony, the Red Sea Film Festival unveiled 38 feature film projects and, for the first time, showcased TV series projects in production or in development at this year’s Red Sea Souk Project Market.
Projects by directors from across the Arab world, Africa and Asia stem from Red Sea Lab’s annual development program within the Lodge, which is run in partnership with TorinoFilmLab and sponsored by Film Alula.
Shivani Pandya Malhotra, managing director of the Red Sea Film Foundation, said in a statement about the awards: “This year’s Red Sea Souk winners reflect the incredible talent and talent from Saudi Arabia, the Arab world, Africa and Asia. Creativity. These areas have tremendous storytelling power and through initiatives like Souk we are proud to support these voices and give them a platform to flourish.
Holly Daniel, Director of Red Sea Souks, added: “This year’s Souks Project Market saw a record number of meeting requests for selected projects, which reflects the high quality and potential of the participating teams. We would like to thank all award-winning partners for their support of Souks and the amazing projects they continue to champion.
