Red Sea International Film Festival Announces The Winners Of The 2025 Red Sea Souk Awards

December 10, 2025

The Red Sea Souk has announced the winners of its Project Market during tonight’s Souk Awards Ceremony, spotlighting standout projects from a curated selection of 40 feature films and series. The awards offer crucial financial support at various stages of a project’s lifecycle, including development, production, and post-production, as well as dedicated support for projects within the Lodge and SeriesLab.

The Red Sea Fund backed 10 jury-granted awards – two for works-in-progress, six for projects in development and two for series projects, and further cash and in-kind awards were presented by international award partners from across the film landscape including Arab Cinema Center, ART, Blue Bee Productions, CNC, DTS, Filmmore, Freshly Ground Stories & Fineprint, Habbar, Ithra, Leyth Production & Easy Distribution, MAD Solutions, Oticons and Shift Studios.

Faisal Baltyuor, CEO of the Red Sea Film Foundation, said: “The Souk has been a growing force in the global film market with almost double the attendance from 2024, welcoming 166 exhibitors across 90 stands for this year’s edition. We’re proud to highlight the best of the new wave of projects emerging from both debut and established creators, and know that the support our awards provide will be invaluable to the talented filmmakers we’re privileged to be championing.”

Shivani Pandya Malhotra, Managing Director of the Red Sea Film Foundation, said: “Each year we are amazed by the talent and storytelling on display in our Souk Project Market – and this year’s winners highlight some of the most exciting and innovative voices from the Arab World, Africa and Asia that are defining the future of cinema in these regions. We have seen projects that have won Souk Awards go on to dazzle audiences around the world, are proud to be offering support from across our ecosystem to help bring these incredible stories to life. A huge congratulations to tonight’s winners and nominees!”

Director of the Red Sea Souk Holly Daniel, said: “The Souk’s Project Market is a vital part of our industry strand that champions the next generation of storytellers, and we have seen projects with incredible potential in our Awards this evening. It’s testament to the importance of supporting these filmmakers that in this fifth edition of the festival, we’re seeing projects like Zain Duraie’s Sink and Cyril Aris’s A Sad And Beautiful World that were supported by the Souk now competing in our main Features Competition. Along with our Award partners, we are thrilled to be celebrating these talented filmmakers as we conclude this edition of our thriving programme.”

List of winners:

Arab Cinema Center (ACC)

1 supported place for an Arab producer on the International Film Festival Rotterdam

Producers Lab 2026

Awarded by Arab Cinema Center

Winner: Fahd Samman producer of DHEL

Arab Radio and Television Network (ART)

2 x ART Award for one Saudi Project with a Production Grant $50,000 for a Project in

Development or Production

Awarded by ART

Winner: A NOBLE DEPARTURE

Winner: DHEL

ART Award for one Arab Project with a Production Grant $50,000 for a Project in

Development or Production

Awarded by ART

Winner: PLAYHOUSE by Maha Haj

BLUE BEE PRODUCTIONS

Blue Bee Productions Award for one project with an amount of $10,000

Awarded by Blue Bee Productions

Winner: POSITIVE by Hanaa Saleh Alfassi

CNC

CNC Award for one project with an amount of €10,000 ($11,600 equivalent)

Awarded by the Red Sea Souk Projects in Development Jury

Winner: THE DAUGHTER by Tian Guan

DTS

DTS in-kind award consisting of sound post-production worth the equivalent of $30,000

Awarded by DTS

Winner: DHEL by Dania Altayeb

Filmmore

Filmmore in-kind award consisting of a full digital intermediate for a feature film worth

$32,500

Awarded by Filmmore

Winner: BEN’IMANA by Marie-Clémentine Dusabejambo

Freshly Ground Stories & Fineprint

Two In-Kind Awards of Professional Business and Legal support worth $5,000.

Awarded by Freshly Ground Stories

Winner: TO CATCH A FALLING SKY by Cheta Chukwu

Winner: PHILAX by Ruken Tekes

Habbar

Habbar cash $10,000 plus in-kind award worth $40,000 for marketing services

Awarded by Habbar

Winner: GREEN CORPSE by Khalid Zidan

ITHRA

Ithra cash award of 50,000 SAR ($13,333 USD) for a Saudi project

Awarded by Ithra

Winner: GREEN CORPSE by Khalid Zidan

LEYTH PRODUCTION & EASY DISTRIBUTION

Leyth Production in-kind award for editing worth 50,000 USD.

Awarded by Leyth Production

Winner: ABOUT LOVE AND SEPTEMBER LAWS by Mohamed Kordofani

Easy Distribution in-kind award for Film distribution in Tunisia equivalent to $10,000

Awarded by Easy Distribution

Winner: THE PRODIGAL SON by Rani Massalha

MAD Solutions

MAD Solutions in-kind award worth 50,000 USD as MG dedicated to world sales rights

Awarded by MAD Solutions

Winner: INFIDELS by Eli Jean Tahchi

OTICONS

One in-kind Award worth 10,000 USD consisting of Music Consulting services

Awarded by Oticons

Winner: RIA by Arvin Belarmino

SHIFT STUDIOS

12,000 USD Shift Studios awards for a promotion package worth 12,000 USD

2 Awards

Awarded by Shift Studios

Winner: A NOBLE DEPARTURE by Dahlia Baeshen

Winner: ABOUT LOVE & SEPTEMBER LAWS by Mohamed Kordofani

8,000 USD Shift Studios award consisting of a full DCP package worth 8,000 USD

Awarded by Shift Studios

Winner: POSITIVE by Hanaa Saleh Alfassi

Red Sea Souk Works in Progress Awards:

Red Sea Souk Post-Production Jury Special Mention Award with a grant of 15,000 USD

Awarded by Red Sea Souk WIP Jury

Winner: YESTERDAY THE EYE DIDN’T SLEEP by Rakan Mayasi

Red Sea Souk Post-Production Award with a grant of 40,000 USD

Awarded by Red Sea Souk WIP Jury

Winner: BEN’IMANA by Marie-Clémentine Dusabejambo

Red Sea Souk Series Awards:

Two 10,000 USD Red Sea Souk Series Award

Awarded by Red Sea Souk SeriesLab Jury

Winner: MONEY TOWN by Tony Koros

Winner: SIDE EFFECTS by Hind Metwalli

Red Sea Souk Projects in Development Awards:

15,000 USD Red Sea Souk Jury Special Mention Award