RED SEA FUND OPENS APPLICATIONS FOR CYCLE 1 OF 2025 POST-PRODUCTION GRANTS, AND EXPANDS TO ASIA FOR THE FIRST TIME
For the first time, the Fund is now accepting submissions from Asia, welcoming voices from the continent to apply alongside storytellers from Saudi Arabia, Africa, and the Arab world. Interested filmmakers can submit their applications HERE .
Shivani Pandya Malhotra, Red Sea Film Foundation Managing Director, remarked: 'The Red Sea Fund champions projects across stages and cycles, providing financial grants that bring bold ideas to life. Our expansion into Asia reflects our commitment to talents and stories that are often underrepresented, providing filmmakers with an avenue to execute their vision and reach the world.'
Established in 2021, the Red Sea Fund has supported 280+ projects. Several former recipients have gone on to earn global recognition and accolades.
The first cycle of 2025 is open to a range of post-production projects, including feature-length fiction, documentary, or animation films.
About The Red Sea Film Foundation:
The Red Sea Film Foundation is a rapidly emerging force in the global film industry. As an independent, non-profit organization, it fosters the film sector in Saudi Arabia, the Arab world, Asia, and Africa. Its initiatives are closely aligned with Saudi Arabia's plans for nurturing film and culture, emphasizing the pillars of a vibrant society and a thriving cultural scene. Leading the charge on the cultural and cinematic front, the Red Sea Film Foundation is transforming Saudi Arabia into a prominent global hub for film and a platform for storytellers. The Red Sea Film Foundation's flagship initiatives—the Red Sea Fund, Red Sea Labs, the Red Sea Souk, and the Red Sea International Film Festival—aim to champion and support filmmakers in bringing their visions to life and presenting their films on a global stage.
About the Red Sea Fund:
The Red Sea Fund is a pioneering initiative by the Red Sea Film Foundation, dedicated to nurturing talent and fostering growth in the global film industry. With a focus on supporting filmmakers from Saudi Arabia, the Arab region, and Africa, the fund provides crucial financial support, mentoring, and resources to bring diverse narratives and innovative ideas to life.
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CairoScene
2 hours ago
- CairoScene
Inside the Cairo Catering Studio Run by a Brother-Sister Team
Inside the Cairo Catering Studio Run by a Brother-Sister Team Founded by siblings Hosny and Habiba Makhlouf, The Cater reshapes events with fine technique, close authorship, and total control over how food is seen and served. It was the night of an important dinner at the French Embassy, and brother-sister catering team Habiba and Hosny Makhlouf were in the kitchen. Dressed in chef whites and moving with the practiced ease of people used to orchestrating behind the scenes, they prepared a menu designed to leave an impression. The brief was exacting: French pastries for a high-profile gathering of diplomats, chefs, and magazine editors. What arrived at the table was both meticulous and unexpected - delicate creations laced with rose water, cardamom, pistachios, and orange blossom. The technique was French. The soul was unmistakably Arab. Embassy chefs stepped out from the kitchen to taste what they had heard about. Recipes were requested. And when the night drew to a close, the pair were invited into the embassy's own pastry lab for a quiet conversation about method, flavour and vision. It may not have been their first event, but it clarified what their company, The Cater, had become. Hosny and Habiba Makhlouf had started the business as a family-run partnership built on two distinct instincts - his rooted in classical technique, hers drawn from global food experiences. From the beginning, their aim was to introduce a new rhythm to Cairo's catering scene, one that fused precision with curiosity and made visual storytelling as important as taste. 'That mix - Hosny's classical training and my global food inspiration - is what shapes The Cater's identity,' Habiba tells SceneEats. Hosny trained at École Bellouet Conseil in Paris and now leads the kitchen with structure and discipline. Habiba focuses on creative direction, drawing from her exposure to different cuisines and traditions. Both remain closely involved in everything from menu development and client communication to event setup and social media. 'We don't just delegate. We really enjoy being hands-on and present throughout the process,' she says. The Cater's very first event took place during Ramadan and was hosted for family. 'The beauty of starting with family is that it gave us complete creative freedom,' Habiba explains. With no outside expectations, they built the menu and the aesthetic exactly the way they wanted. 'Phones were out the entire night. Everyone was photographing the food and posting it, and our social media started gaining traction right then and there.' Their process today is structured but collaborative. A team of experienced chefs works alongside the founders to develop dishes that are refined but still original. 'We combine their technical knowledge with our creative vision and fresh energy,' Habiba says. A separate logistics and service team manages setup and coordination, making sure every detail transitions smoothly from kitchen to table. Every event begins with a client conversation. Some come with detailed ideas. Others describe a feeling. The team responds with custom menus that align with the theme while staying true to their visual and culinary language. 'We believe in collaborating closely with each client, having ongoing conversations to make sure every detail aligns with their expectations,' she says. The Cater specialises in globally inspired dishes built from fine dining techniques. Their menus often pair classic preparations with unexpected flavour profiles, layered textures and styled plating. 'Our goal has always been to bring a fine dining experience into the world of catering, something that feels elevated, refined, and beautifully curated from start to finish,' Habiba says. Visual presentation shapes every part of their work. Trays, garnishes, utensils and even the pace of service are considered part of the experience. 'We make sure nothing feels basic, repetitive or simple,' she says. This attention to detail is what defines their aesthetic. 'Clients constantly tell us that our aesthetic, combined with our flavour, is what makes The Cater stand out.' While their team can scale up for larger events, they often gravitate toward intimate celebrations. Engagements, birthdays, and weddings give them room to craft deeply personal menus and expressive presentation. Their structure allows them to handle both scale and nuance with clarity and control. The French Embassy event offered a clear example of their direction. 'Preparing French pastries for such a prestigious client was both exciting and a bit intimidating,' Habiba recalls. 'We knew our work would be scrutinised closely, which pushed us to be even more creative and precise.' The menu combined the logic of French pastry with the warmth of Middle Eastern ingredients. 'Chefs from the embassy came out to taste our creations and even asked for recipes, which was a huge honour.' That night led to an ongoing relationship. The embassy kitchen invited them inside for a private walkthrough, and they've stayed in touch since. Cairo itself has played a major role in shaping their rhythm. 'Cairo's fast-paced lifestyle also means our clients value efficiency and reliability, so we've built a team and a system that can deliver flawless events on time, every time,' Habiba says. The city's layered food scene has also encouraged them to keep experimenting and refining their style. Hosny and Habiba continue to grow The Cater with careful intent. They've hinted at expanding into delivery, retail, or a physical location. But for now, their focus remains on depth, not scale. 'The Cater will continue to expand its flavour profile and offerings. Our potential in delivery and catering is limitless,' she says. Their style is defined by quiet precision. What they've built feels personal, considered, and tightly composed. Each event is treated as a story told through food, where even the smallest decisions are part of the experience.
Al-Ahram Weekly
2 days ago
- Al-Ahram Weekly
Sunlit frames - Culture - Al-Ahram Weekly
As the Mediterranean sun blazes across the summer festival circuit, Arab cinema is claiming its rightful place with shining clarity. From Venice to Locarno, Toronto to Karlovy Vary, this season has seen an unprecedented lineup, with Arab voices and visions making waves on the world stage. But this isn't just about representation or numbers; it's about nuance, craft, and the multiplicity of Arab storytelling that refuses to be reduced to a single frame. The 82nd Venice Film Festival (27 August-6 September), in particular, was an unexpected mirror reflecting back the region's troubled, poetic, and urgent pulse. For the first time in the festival's history, Morocco was named the featured country at the Venice Production Bridge. Moroccan producers will pitch five projects under the VPB Focus banner, with additional works-in-progress showcased in Final Cut in Venice and immersive installations featured in the XR program, a landmark recognition that signals Morocco's evolving cinematic momentum. But beyond institutional recognition, the Moroccan cinematic voice is also making itself heard artistically—most notably through one of its most acclaimed contemporary auteurs: Maryam Touzani. Touzani's latest film, Calle Malaga, makes its world premiere in the festival's Spotlight section, an official selection dedicated to showcasing bold and genre-defying works that challenge and reinvent the relationship between film and viewer. Calle Malaga marks Touzani's Spanish-language directorial debut. Co-written with longtime collaborator Nabil Ayouch, the film stars Spanish icon Carmen Maura as Maria Angeles, a woman determined to preserve her childhood home in Morocco against her daughter's plans to sell it. Set between intimate memory and looming loss, the film extends Touzani's fascination with the personal as political, quietly radical, emotionally layered, and deeply human. Following its Venice debut, the film will continue its journey across the Atlantic with a North American premiere at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival, featured in the prestigious Special Presentations section. Born in Tangier in 1980, Maryam Touzani has become a leading voice in Moroccan cinema. Her debut Adam (2019) and follow-up, The Blue Caftan (2022) were both selected as Morocco's official submissions for the Academy Awards, garnering global acclaim for their delicate exploration of womanhood, repression, and resistance. *** Despite the absence of world premieres by Egyptian filmmakers this summer, Egypt's Film Clinic — founded by producer, screenwriter, and distributor Mohamed Hefzy — maintained a striking presence at the 82nd Venice Film Festival. Since its founding, the Cairo-based company has positioned itself as a vital force in championing emerging filmmakers across Egypt and the wider Arab world. This year, it has co-produced and/or handles the regional distribution of three Arab films making their world premieres at Venice. Leading the trio is Hijra by Saudi filmmaker Shahad Ameen, premiering in the official Spotlight section. The film marks Ameen's return to Venice following her acclaimed debut Scales (2019), and her second collaboration with Film Clinic. A poetic road movie, Hijra follows a grandmother and her two granddaughters on a journey across the Saudi desert — a meditation on loss, belonging, and generational connection. Shot at nine diverse locations, from AlUla and Tabuk to Jeddah and NEOM, the film brings together a wide network of Arab collaborators, with Film Clinic also handling MENA distribution through its indie arm. Also backed by Film Clinic, Cotton Queen — the debut feature by Sudanese director Suzannah Mirghani — is featured in the Critics' Week. Set in a Sudanese cotton-farming village, the film centres on a teenage girl who becomes the focal point of a tense power struggle when a young businessman proposes marriage. The film is co-produced with Mad Solutions, a leading Egypt-based distribution entity founded by Alaa Karkouti and Maher Diab, specialised in supporting emerging cinema in the region, and marks Mirghani's transition from award-winning shorts to long-form storytelling. The company's third Venice title is Roqia, a chilling Algerian horror by Yanis Koussim, also screening in the Critics' Week. The story unfolds between past and present as a disciple fears that his aging mentor, a traditional healer battling Alzheimer's, may unleash a buried evil. Film Clinic Indie Distribution is handling MENA rights. Also worth noting is that the Egyptian-British award-winning actor Amir El-Masry participates in the closing film of the Venice Film Festival this year, Nights of Hero 100, directed by Julia Jackman. The film stars Emma Corrin, Nicholas Galitzine, and Richard E. Grant. *** Palestine owns the heart of the international festival circuit this summer. At Venice, the main competition is led by one of the season's most urgent and emotionally shattering films: The Voice of Hind Rajab, directed by Tunisian auteur Kaouther Ben Hania. The hybrid feature reconstructs the final, globally broadcast phone call of six-year-old Hind Rajab, killed during the Israeli bombardment of Gaza in January 2024. Ben Hania, fresh from her Oscar-nominated Four Daughters, delivers a cinematic act of mourning that is also a moral reckoning. In the Orizzonti Shorts section, Coyotes by Said Zagha marks a historic first as the inaugural Palestinian short selected in this competitive lineup. The film, anchored by Maria Zreik and Ali Suliman, explores grief and resilience through a lean, powerful narrative. Meanwhile, at the Locarno Film Festival (6-16 August), Palestinian filmmaker Kamal Aljafari returns with With Hasan in Gaza, a meditative road movie built from rediscovered MiniDV footage. Written, directed, shot, edited, and produced by Aljafari himself, the film follows a journey across Gaza in 2001 with a local guide, Hasan, whose fate remains unknown. 'It is a film about the catastrophe,' Aljafari states, 'and the poetry that resists.' Also in Locarno's Concorso Internazionale, Still Playing by Mohamed Mesbah depicts a father and video game creator navigating Israeli army raids in the West Bank while crafting digital worlds where parents can no longer protect their children. The film blurs the line between resistance and resignation. Baisanos, a collaborative work by Chilean-Palestinian siblings Andrés and Francisca Khamis Giacoman, offers a different lens on identity and memory. Through the loyal fans of the Deportivo Palestino football club in Chile, the film opens a dialogue between diaspora and homeland, dream and return. In Toronto (TIFF, 4-14 September), Annemarie Jacir's long-awaited Palestine 36 will have its world premiere. Set during the 1936 uprising against British colonial rule, the film reimagines a key moment in Palestinian history with an international cast that includes Jeremy Irons, Hiam Abbass, Liam Cunningham, Yasmine Al Massri, and Saleh Bakri. Shot by legendary French cinematographer Hélène Louvart, it is poised to be a landmark in Jacir's already formidable career. The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (4-12 July) also amplifies Palestinian voices. All That's Left of You by Cherien Dabis screened in the Special Screenings section. Set in the West Bank in 1988, the film freezes at a pivotal protest scene before the mother of the protagonist breaks the fourth wall and takes the audience through 70 years of dispossession, from the Nakba to the present. The cast includes Palestinian icons Saleh and Mohammad Bakri alongside Dabis herself. In the same festival, anthropologist and filmmaker Diana Allan presented Partition in the Imagina section. A conceptual work shot on 16mm film, it combines colonial newsreels and recruitment propaganda with the voices and songs of recently displaced Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. The result is an unsettling, layered meditation on the aftershocks of partition past and present. *** In addition to Cotton Queen by Sudanese director Suzannah Mirghani, which headlines the Venice Critics' Week, two other Arab female filmmakers make striking feature debuts on the international stage this season. At Venice, in the Out of Competition Non-Fiction section, Libyan director Jihan Kikhia presents My Father and Qaddafi, a deeply personal excavation of trauma, politics, and memory. In 1993, her father Mansur Rashid Kikhia — a former Libyan diplomat and peaceful opponent of Qaddafi — disappeared in Cairo. The film traces her mother's nineteen-year search for truth and Jihan's own reckoning with the silences surrounding his fate. Intimate yet political, the documentary reveals how entire lives and legacies can vanish under the weight of dictatorship, and how the survivors carry the absence forward. Meanwhile, at the Toronto International Film Festival (4-14 September), Jordanian filmmaker Zain Duraie will premiere Sink in the Discovery section. A searing, empathetic drama, Sink centres on a mother's struggle to navigate her son's deteriorating mental health, brought to life with emotional nuance and heightened by the lush cinematography of Farouk Laâridh (Four Daughters). TIFF describes the debut as 'a magnificent portrait' and a breakthrough for a vital new voice in Arab cinema. *** This summer's festivals offered striking variations on the wars that have fractured the Levant and Iraq for decades. At Locarno, two powerful films by acclaimed Iraqi directors confront the aftermaths of conflict through deeply personal lenses. Tales of the Wounded Land, screening in the Concorso Internazionale section, marks Abbas Fahdel's latest act of witnessing. 'My film was born from the need to bear witness to a war that shattered our lives and homes,' he states, 'and to show how, despite everything, resilience and humanity continue to flourish amid the ruins.' Set in southern Lebanon, the film is an intimate chronicle of a war that lingered for 18 months, capturing the lives of those trapped in its shadow. Through the voices of family, friends, and neighbours, Fahdel documents the silent labour of survival—of rebuilding, mourning, and preserving dignity amid loss. In Piazza Grande, Mohamed Jabarah Al-Daradji's Irkalla: Gilgamesh's Dream reimagines the mythic in post-war Baghdad. 'Irkalla is my return to a wound that never healed — a myth reborn through the soul of a child,' Al-Daradji explains. 'Not just a film, but a whispered resistance against silence.' The story follows nine-year-old Chum-Chum, a diabetic dreamer who believes the Tigris hides a gate to the underworld where he can reunite with his lost parents. Similarly, the Proxima Competition at Karlovy Vary International Film Festival features TrepaNation, a raw and explosive autobiographical film by Syrian filmmaker and visual artist Ammar al-Beik. Set in a refugee camp near Berlin in 2014, the film documents his seven-month stay in a cubicle where, to survive he films, rebels, and archives. Czech film historian Karel Och describes it as 'the result of ten years of editing; the intensive autobiography intersects the history of Europe and the Middle East, and film history, too.' *** North African cinema, in which questions of homeland and exile often intertwine, continues to assert its bold presence across the summer festival circuit. At Locarno's Concorso Internazionale, controversial Franco-Tunisian director, screenwriter, and actor Abdellatif Kechiche returns with the latest installment of his sprawling saga, Mektoub: My Love. Known for his naturalistic style and emotionally charged portraits of youth and desire, Kechiche is a polarising yet pivotal figure in contemporary cinema. His new film follows Amin, who returns to Sète after studying in Paris, still clinging to his dream of becoming a filmmaker. A chance encounter with an American producer and his wife Jess, who is chosen as the potential lead of Amin's script The Essential Elements of Universal Existence, opens a new chapter, yet fate, unpredictable as ever, has its own script to follow. In Piazza Grande, Hafsia Herzi, who launched her acting career in Kechiche's La Graine et le Mulet — a role that earned her a César and Venice's Best New Actress award — makes her mark as a director with La Petite Dernière (Little Sister). Based on the acclaimed novel by Fatima Daas, the film follows the inner world of a young Muslim woman in Clichy-sous-Bois, a Parisian suburb, as she navigates her sexual identity, faith, and fractured relationships. 'Reading the book was an instant crush,' Herzi notes. 'As a woman, I was deeply moved. I immediately thought: I've never seen a character like this on screen. This story is truly universal.' Elsewhere in Fuori Concorso, Tunisian director Mehdi Hmili gives us Exile, a surreal and politically charged drama. The story centres on Mohamed, a steelworker haunted by the death of a friend in a workplace accident, now living with a piece of rusted metal lodged in his skull. As the rust invades his body, he becomes a reluctant martyr — rising against corruption and transforming into a symbol of sacrifice and resistance. Hmili, who debuted with the 2016 Thala My Love — a love story set during the Tunisian revolution — continues to fuse the personal with the political in hauntingly poetic ways. * A version of this article appears in print in the 7 August, 2025 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly Follow us on: Facebook Instagram Whatsapp Short link:
CairoScene
2 days ago
- CairoScene
Arabic Renditions of Beloved Global Hits
From Simone to Elyanna, Arab artists have been reimagining global hits in their mother tongue for decades—creating covers that feel like echoes from a more familiar parallel world. Aug 08, 2025 Possessing a charm all its own, Arabic has lent its poeticism to covers of international hits for decades – making them hit all the more close to home. Fairouz's Arabic lyrics on her cover of John Lennon's 'Imagine', 'Yemken', much like 90s pop icon Simone's on her cover of 'Cheri Cheri Lady', feel like postcards from a parallel world. Jadal's live acoustic rendition of Coldplay's glossy 'Adventure of a Lifetime' feels like a translation of feeling, with the delicate strum of the oud enriching the song's emotional core. The blend of regional instrumentation and Arabic lyrics gives these already beloved tracks an added layer of relatability and character. Arab artists continue to breathe new life into iconic songs from around the world. This year saw Elyanna reimagine Bollywood's 'Deewani Mastani' with her sultry Arab pop cover, 'Kayani', while TARA's 'Ya Helwe Ciao' embraced the adaptable spirit of a passed-down anthem like 'Bella Ciao' – just the latest in a long, ever-evolving line of cross-cultural covers. Simone - Tany Tany (Cheri Cheri Lady Cover) Fairouz - Yemken (Imagine Cover) Elyanna - Kayani (Deewani Mastani Cover) TÄRA - Ya Helwe Ciao Jadal - Adventure of a Lifetime Hayajan - Comfortably Numb Mashrou' Leila - Get Lucky Rachid Taha - Rock El Casbah ('Rock the Casbah' Cover) Jacqueline - Ana Baddi Ish ('I Will Survive' Cover) The Jets - Adaree Lieh ('Daddy Cool' Cover)
