Red Sea Fund Selects 30 Film Projects From 916 Submissions

Jeddah (GNP): The Red Sea Fund, a programme of the Red Sea Film Foundation, has announced 30 selected projects from 916 submissions across its first two funding cycles of 2026.

The selections continue the fund’s year-round support for distinctive filmmakers and stories from Saudi Arabia, the Arab world, Africa and Asia. The size of the applicant pool shows how much demand there is for that support.

Cycle 1, which was dedicated to projects in post-production, received 220 submissions. That is the highest number for a post-production cycle since the fund began, and one of its most competitive so far. Thirteen projects were ultimately selected.

Cycle 2, dedicated to projects in production, drew far more interest, with 696 submissions. Seventeen projects made the final list, spanning feature fiction, feature documentary and short fiction.

Saudi filmmakers feature strongly in that second group. Five Saudi projects were chosen: Remind Me to Forget by Lama Jamjoom, Green Corpse by Khaled Zidan, Maria’s Mansion by Raed Alsemari, Bait Bahar by Yaser Hammad and Microwave by Mishary Almazyaad.

International festivals have already provided early signs of the fund’s reach. At the Toronto International Film Festival, Angh won the Platform Award and held its world premiere alongside Four Seasons in Java. Other films also screened in Venice and at the Locarno Film Festival.

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The foundation’s leadership points to that momentum as evidence of the standard of the work. Faisal Baltyuor, CEO of the Red Sea Film Foundation, said the international attention building around several Cycle 1 titles reflects the calibre of the projects. He added that the foundation is excited to see the Cycle 2 projects continue that journey.

For Baltyuor, the two cycles show what the fund exists to do, which is to identify bold, distinctive projects and support filmmakers at critical stages of their work.

Baltyuor said, “These two cycles reflect exactly what the Red Sea Fund is here to do.”