Launched in 2021, the Red Sea Fund has supported more than 250 projects, including feature films, documentaries, animated films, short films and series.
Qawther bin Haniya four daughtersAsme el Mudir’s mother of all liesAmjad Al Rashid Because Allah is a boyAli Karsami mandobuBaloji’s omenand Tawfiq Alzadi’s Nora is one of the functions it supports.
The Red Sea Film Foundation’s funds hosted a landmark Cannes Film Festival this year, with four of the films it supported selected for inclusion in its programme. This includes NoraLast December, the film had its world premiere at the Red Sea International Film Festival (RSIFF) and made history by becoming the first Saudi Arabian film to be selected for the official selection in Cannes.
Speaking ahead of this year’s fourth edition of RSIFF, Emad Iskandar, Director of the Red Sea Foundation THR He is proud of what his team has accomplished in a short period of time.
“People are often surprised by the knowledge of the general audience in Saudi Arabia. We are often exposed to Hollywood, Bollywood, and a large number of people are also (familiar with) Japanese animation,” he stressed. “We were exposed in this way, but not as much, to independent arthouse films. Now that’s changing, and we have the advantage of having this new perspective.
He and his team can rely on creative experience in their work. “I am a filmmaker first, and so are my team members,” Iskandar explains, sharing that being rooted in film fundamentals is also a key part of his secret to success. “After just a few years, the name of the game is sustainability. We need to make our work sustainable and focus on building the film infrastructure. I believe what we are doing is based on doing the basics well.
The fund boss also appreciates the enthusiasm of those around him. “I have to hand it to my team. Everyone on the team is excited to see each project and discuss it,” he said. “Through an Excel spreadsheet, I can see how this job can be one of the simplest jobs on the planet. Let readers do their job, send you reports, say yes, yes, no. This A job can be 10 minutes a month or 10 hours a day, and our working hours are 10 hours a day.
The fund team will really start to find form and confidence in 2023. “Then suddenly we came to Cannes with eight films, and they all won awards. And one project, four daughterswhich competed at the Oscars this year (as Tunisia entered the Best Documentary category). We couldn’t believe it.
This was followed by another first, the first Saudi film to be selected for the official selection of the esteemed Cannes Film Festival, namely NoraThe story is set in the 1990s, when all forms of art and painting were banned in the country. “This shows us that the search and careful selection we have done is effective,” the fund boss stressed.
Speaking of curation: Before the fund officially opens to Asian projects in 2025, “we have an initiative this year that allows us to curate projects,” Iskandar said. “The first project we carefully selected was Kill a Mongolian horse (Written by Jiang Xiaoxuan, explores the connection between humans and horses in Mongolian culture and social changes). The film had its world premiere during the Venice Days program and is part of the RSIFF competition line-up.
Iskandar said the addition of Asia would bring excitement to the fund, but also bring challenges THR. “To be honest, opening up to Asia is a little daunting,” he shares, without hiding his enthusiasm. “Just think about huge markets like India, China, South Korea, Philippines, Indonesia and Japan. That’s one of the things we’re looking forward to as we expand our fund efforts next year.