Work In Progress
Rules and Regulations
The Red Sea Souk Work-in-Progress is designed to support up to ten (10) feature films to foster their international distribution and to showcase new talents.
The Souk WIP is exclusively available for industry professionals and will take place on 07-11 December 2024, in Jeddah as part of the Red Sea Souk; the film market of the Red Sea International Film Festival (the “Festival”).
The WIP Showcase will welcome feature films: fiction, animation and creative documentary by directors of African, Arab or Asian nationality/origin (Appendix 1) (minimum duration 60 minutes).
A press release will announce the selected work in progress films to the international and regional industry.
The team (Director/Producer) of the selected film in progress will benefit from mentoring sessions with an editing expert to enhance the cut of the film. These sessions will take place online from mid-October till mid-November 2024.
A Book of Projects will be available on the Festival website and will be offered to the professionals attending the Red Sea Souk. This will give visibility to the teams and films.
Sections of the selected films in the post-production phase (the “work in progress”) will be screened for a strictly professional audience. Only industry passholders will be allowed to attend the screenings: producers, distributors, sales agents, exhibitors, buyers, TV networks, and technical industries, film funds, festival programmers and film institutions, in order to help films achieve completion, distribution and public exhibition.
No press will be given access to the Screenings.
One-to-one meetings between the WIP selected teams and the professionals attending the Red Sea Souk will be organized on 08-11 December 2024. Meetings are scheduled after all the projects have been presented to industry professionals attending the Souk.
Additional Souk networking events, encounters and meetings will allow Directors and Producers of the selected Work-in-Progress to interact directly with a wide range of industry decision-makers.
Any selected film talents who do not speak English will benefit from the service of an interpreter hired by the Red Sea Souk
All the selected Work-in-Progress will compete for two main Souk awards offered by the Red Sea Fund which will be granted by an international Jury:
- Post Production Award: US$ 40,000.00 cash prize
- WIP Jury Special Mention Award: US$ 15,000 cash prize
Films previously supported by the Red Sea Fund are eligible for the Souk Work-in-Progress awards.
Selected films may also compete for relevant awards to be presented by Souk sponsors. Sponsors awards will be announced mid-November.
All the winners will be announced during the Red Sea Souk Award Ceremony that will be held on the last day of the Red Sea Souk on 11 December 2024.
Film submissions must be made through the Red Sea Souk online application process. Incomplete applications will not be considered.
The call for applications for the Red Sea Souk Work-in-Progress will close on 29 August 2024.
Please pay attention to the following eligibility criteria:
- Directors must meet one of the following criteria:
- For Saudi Directors, the director must be of Saudi nationality or origin.
- For Arab Directors, the director must be of Arab nationality or origin.
- For African or Asian Directors, the director must strictly be of African or Asian nationality (Appendix 1)
- The film must not have been screened as a work-in-progress, or otherwise, in any other festival or market prior to the Red Sea Souk.
- The film is currently in the post-production stage and the Director and Producer agree and are entitled to present the film at the Red Sea Souk.
- A film in post-production that was submitted to the official sections of the Festival but was not selected can still be considered by the Selection Committee to participate in the Work in Progress (WIP) the same year.
If the film is not in the English language, it must come with English subtitles at the time of its application to the WIP Showcase.
The Director and Producer must be available to participate in the full Work-in-Progress (WIP) in Jeddah. Priority will be given to films with a Producer or Co-Producer with African, Arab or Asian nationality/origin.
Special attention will be given to the first or second feature films, fiction, animation and documentary, (minimum duration of 60 minutes) and films with no international sales or distribution attached.
The following documents to be submitted in English:
- Logline
- Synopsis
- Film's Chain of Titles
- Final Script
- Biographies for the director(s) and producer(s) already attached to the project
- Director’s Statement/vision
- Director’s motivation in video
- Producer’s statement
- A complete project budget report
- Financial plan
- Detailed timelines and expected date of completion
- Links to the previous work(s) of the director
- Mood board/Storyboard (optional)
- A link to a complete rough cut or selection of scenes from the film (20mn minimum) with English subtitles
- Full details of any other funding applications made and/or already received
- A summary budget with main chapters figures detailed
Any other materials that would support the application.
The selection of the films in WIP is made by a committee composed of industry professionals and the Souk senior team. Up to ten films will be selected. No justification will be given to any refusal of films.
The selection results will be communicated to the selected teams by early October 2024. Producers of the selected films in post-production should confirm the acceptance of the Red Sea Souk WIP invitation within a week. This confirmation is binding for both Parties and will involve accepting all regulations established by the Red Sea Souk.
Notably, the following conditions and undertakings will apply:
- The Red Sea Souk will cover travel expenses and accommodation for up to six nights, for the Director, and for one Producer, for each of the selected films in post-production (06-11 December 2024).
- The documentation required by the Red Sea Souk for the Book of Projects, one to one meetings platform and website will be duly completed and sent no later than mid-October 2024.
- Once selected, the film cannot be included on any VoD platforms with the exception of cases where their use is strictly professional and has restricted access.
- The invitation made to each selected film will remain strictly confidential till the official announcement is published.
- The complete WIP Showcase program and all screening times are exclusively decided by the Red Sea Souk.
The format accepted for the Screenings is exclusively MOV files. The MOV files must have been previously viewed and approved by the Producer/Distributor.
The MOV files, in the original version with English subtitles must be sent no later than 14 November 2024, at the address to be specified by the Festival. Should the MOV files not arrive by that date, the screenings will be canceled.The cost of subtitling in English is the responsibility of the film producers or representatives.
The Festival reserves the right to reject MOV files found to be unsuitable for screening during control by its Technical Department. In the event of irregularities in the MOV files, the Festival will issue the film owners or representatives with the corresponding technical report.
As a binding condition, all selected Work-in-Progress films must include the authorized Red Sea Souk logo and the following mention in the closing credits of the film:
“With the support of the Red Sea Souk Project Market 2024.”
The Work-in-Progress film that will be awarded one of the two the Red Sea Souk Post-Production Awards must display alongside the logo of the Red Sea Souk the mention:
“Red Sea Souk Post-Production Award 2024”
“Red Sea Jury Special Mention Post-Production Award 2024”
and follow all other obligations with respect to credits which may be requested by the Red Sea Souk.
If other film partners appear in the opening credits, the Red Sea Souk logo and the award mention must also be included in the opening credits.
The project owners must ensure they are legitimately entitled to enter and represent the Work-in-Progress film at the Project Market.
Participation in the WIP constitutes unconditional adherence to the present Red Sea Souk rules and regulations. All doubts arising from the interpretation of these rules and regulations will be solved by the Festival. The Festival reserves the right to settle any case not covered by the present or the Festival’s regulations, and to waive them in special and well-motivated instances.
Contact : [email protected]
Appendix 1 (African, Arab or Asian Countries List): Afghanistan, Algeria, Angola, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Benin Bhutan, Botswana, Brunei, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cambodia, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, China, Comoros, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Cyprus, Djibouti, DR Congo, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Macao, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, North Korea, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Philippines, Qatar, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Sao Tome & Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Somalia, South Africa, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Syria, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe.