Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Fund Gets Behind Projects From Tarzan & Arab Nasser, Sofia Alaoui & Amanda Nell Eu

Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Foundation, which last week announced the cancellation of the 2026 edition of its Red Sea International Film Festival, is keeping its pledge to continue year-round support of independent filmmakers in the Arab world and beyond. The foundation’s Red Sea Fund has unveiled the 30 projects selected in its first two funding cycles of 2026, supporting filmmakers in Saudi Arabia, the Arab world, Africa and Asia. (scroll down for full list) Cycle one, dedicated to projects in post-production, received a record 220 submissions. In one of the most competitive rounds to date, 13 projects were selected. Watch on Deadline Six of these titles have already premiered internationally including Ben’imana by Marie Clémentine Dusabejambo which won the Caméra d’Or for best first feature at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival, where it premiered in Un Certain Regard. Other grantees already making waves on the festival circuit include Strawberries by Laïla Marrakchi, which also played in Cannes Un Certain Regard; Toronto titles Angh by Theja Rio, which won the Platform Award, automatically qualifying it for the Best International Feature Film category at the Academy Awards, and Four Seasons in Java by Kamila Andini. Venice selection Al Baraneya by Ashgan El-Hamus and Lê Bảo’s Hearing which competed at the Locarno Film Festival have also won the fund’s support. Cycle two dedicated to projects in production, received 696 submissions, with 17 projects ultimately selected, spanning feature fiction, feature documentary and short fiction. They include Gaza Forever by Palestinian twin directors Tarzan and Arab Nasser, who won the Cannes Un Certain Regard Director Award for Once Upon A Time In Gaza in 2025; apocalyptic sci-fi drama Tarfaya by French-Moroccan director Sofia Alaoui, and Lotus Feet, the first film by Malaysian filmmaker Amanda Nell Eu since her 2023 debut feature breakout Tiger Stripes. Five Saudi projects feature in cycle two selection: Remind Me to Forget by Lama Jamjoom, Green Corpse by Khaled Zidan, whose Mera, Mera Mera was in competition at Clermont-Ferrand; Maria’s Mansion by Raed Alsemari, whose Dunya’s Day won the shorts jury award in Sundance in 2019; Bait Bahar by Yaser Hammad and Microwave by Mishary Almazyaad, who co-directed Blue Spirit, the 2022 documentary about the AlHilal soccer team. The unveiling of the selection comes just days after the Red Sea Film Foundation announced the cancellation of its annual festival due to take place in Jeddah in December. Faisal Baltyuor, CEO of the Red Sea Film Foundation said the two cycles reflected the Red Sea Fund’s continued commitment to providing year-round support to filmmakers at critical stages of their creative journeys. “These two cycles reflect exactly what the Red Sea Fund is here to do: identify bold, distinctive projects and support filmmakers at critical stages of their journey. The international momentum already building around several Cycle 1 titles is a strong testament to the calibre of the work, and we are excited to see the Cycle 2 projects continue that journey,” he said. Full list of selected projects CYCLE 1: POST-PRODUCTION (13 projects) HearingDirector: Lê Bảo Producers: Elizabeth Wijaya, Weijie Lai, Thi Bao Yen HuynhVietnam, Singapore, France, Norway, Indonesia, Taiwan, China Who Stole My Cross?Director: Park SyeyoungProducers: Park Syeyoung, Philippe BoberSouth Korea, Germany Al BaraneyaDirector: Ashgan El-HamusProducers: Frank Hoeve, Kesmat El Sayed Egypt Ben’imanaDirector: Marie-Clémentine DusabejamboProducers: Samantha Biffot, Marie-Epiphanie Uwayezu Rwanda AnghDirector: Theja RioProducers: Nancy Beso, Jai RodgersIndia Bells of KabulDirector: Chabname ZariabProducers: Lou Chicoteau, Jean-Etienne BratFrance, Germany,Belgium Four Seasons in JavaDirector: Kamila AndiniProducer: Ifa IsfansyahIndonesia Grey GlowDirector: Michèle TyanProducer: Sabine SidawiLebanon, France, Qatar SelviDirector: Sailesh RathnakumarProducer: Anjali PatilIndia Guardian of the IslandDirector: Sewmehon Yismaw SendekieProducer: Tamirat Mekonen Teklu Ethiopia On the Donkey RouteDirector: Ahmad Al-BazzProducer: Ameen Nayfeh Palestine, Canada Tomorrow Will Be Rain…Director: Cemal Alomar Producers: Orwa Hamadallah, Cemal AlomarSyria, Turkey, United Kingdom StrawberriesDirector: Laïla Marrakchi Producers: Saïd Hamich Benlarbi, Juliette Schrameck, Adria Monés, ElisaHeene Morocco, Spain, France, Belgium CYCLE 2: PRODUCTION (17 projects) Remind Me to ForgetDirector: Lama JamjoomProducers: Mawadda Sallam, Maryam Sindi, Lama JamjoomSaudi Arabia Daughters of the SeaDirector: Martika EscobarProducers: Monster Jimenez, Rajiv Idnani, Alba SotorraPhilippines The Northern Bald IbisDirector: Ameer Fakher Eldin Producer: Dorothe BeinemeierGermany, Lebanon, Luxembourg HumDirector: Don Josephus Raphael Eblahan Producers: Hannah Schierbeek, Alemberg Ang Philippines PiecesDirector: Imran Hamdulay Producer: Adam ThalSouth Africa Gaza ForeverDirectors: Tarzan Nasser, Arab Nasser Producers: Rashid Abdelhamid, Hugo Legrand-Nathan, Yacine MedkourPalestine, Jordan, France Lotus FeetDirector: Amanda EuProducer: Fei Ling Foo Malaysia The Side Effects of Trusting LifeDirector: Ahmad Ghossein Producer: Georges Schoucair Lebanon, Germany, Norway Green CorpseDirector: Khaled ZidanProducer: Bakr Alduhaim Saudi Arabia The ScapegoatDirector: Yılmaz Özdil Producers: Mehmet Aktaş, Marylou Ribes, Emre Kayış Turkey LegDirector: Shokir Kholikov Producer: Aigerim SatybaldyKazakhstan, Italy The Last OasisDirector: Zhengyu Shao Producer: Xiao Xu China Maria’s MansionDirector: Raed Alsemari Producers: Amri Rae Cacanindin, Sara AlmodaimighSaudi Arabia Let Us FightDirector: Eli Maene Producer: Maisha Maene Democratic Republic of the Congo TarfayaDirectors: Sofia Alaoui, Annabella Nezri Producers: Sofia Alaoui, Toufik Ayadi, Christophe Barral, Annabella Nezri Morocco Bait BaharDirector: Yaser HammadProducers: Mohamed Kordofani, Khalid Awad Saudi Arabia MicrowaveDirector: Mishary AlmazyaadProducer: Sagda Alnoor Saudi Arabia