RED SEA LODGE 2021

WHERE AMBITIONS
ARE HONED
Open to teams of Saudi and Arab directors and producers, with scriptwriters if on board. This intensive creative and professional training program will take your project from idea to reality. Every year, it turns ambitious emerging filmmakers into the next big thing.
For filmmakers on the cusp of their big break, the Red Sea Lodge, in collaboration with TorinoFilmLab, selects projects for creative and professional mentorship, development, and next-level industry opportunities.
In 2021, the Lodge expands across seven months and five workshops to give you a broad overview and strong grounding to explore your project’s full dramatic and production potential. Participants will be mentored by a Head of Script Development and Head of Production, with guidance from specialists across the industry.
Alongside ongoing script development sessions, the programme features a producers coaching programme and covers professional development, production, financing, sales and marketing. During the workshop participants also have the opportunity to work with internationally experienced experts from the fields of directing, cinematography, editing sound, and post-production, sales.
Following development and meetings with industry professionals, two projects will be awarded the annual Red Sea Lodge two production prizes – $100,000 each – a grant and a premiere at the next Red Sea International Film Festival.
The Zarqa Girl
In Zarqa, Jordan, an abandoned girl grows up to become the biggest and most feared thug in the city. Based on a true story.
Directed by: Zaid Abu Hamdan
Written by: Zaid Abu Hamdan
Produced by: Ahmad Abu Koush
Seeking Haven for Mr. Rambo
30-year-old Hassan lives with his mother and Rambo, his dog and only friend, in an old and impoverished Cairo district. After a neighbor proposes a dogfight, Hassan must flee with his trusted companion.
Directed by: Khaled Mansour
Written by: Mohamed El-Hosseiny
Produced by: Rasha Hosny
The Sea Needs to Heave
Nadia has a special bond with her eldest son Basil, a 17-year-old genius. However, Nadia ignores the warning signs of a mental health problem when Basil begins to behave erratically.
Directed by: Zain Duraie
Written by: Zain Duraie
Produced by: Alaa Alasad
The Day of Wrath: Tales from Tripoli
A hybrid-documentary recreating five uprisings from different periods in history. A portrait of Tripoli through its collective desire for change.
Directed by: Rania Rafei
Written by: Rania Rafei
Produced by: Jinane Dagher
Road 250
After years of living abroad, Dima, the daughter of a diplomat, returns to Kuwait, where she has to adapt to her new surroundings and classmates in an all-girls school.
Directed by: Haya Alghanim
Written by: Haya Alghanim
Produced by: Nadia Ahmad
It's a Sad and Beautiful World
Lebanese couple Nino and Soraya seemed destined to live happily-ever-despite the harsh world around them. But things go awry after Soraya unexpected falls pregnant.
Directed by: Cyril Aris
Written by: Cyril Aris
Produced by: Georg Neubert
Fiery Eyes
Set in the 1940s, amid the vast deserts of the newly established Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Batla finds herself in a tense conflict with the men of her tribe after her husband goes missing.
Directed by: Abduljalil Alnasser
Written by: Abduljalil Alnasser
Produced by: Ayman Jamal
Hala's Aziz
Trapped in a marriage to a toxic narrow-minded man, a desperate wife decides to leave their crippling relationship, leading both to go on life-changing journeys.
Directed by: Jowaher Alamri
Written by: Jowaher Alamri and Jude Elmasoud
Produced by: Mohammed Sendi
Raoya – The Bookkeeper
It's the 12th century, and the Mongol empire is expanding across the world. During the siege of Baghdad, a young girl finds herself trapped in a strange world inhabited by flightless birds.
Directed by: Mahmoud Zaini
Written by: Ieva Radina
Produced by: Omar Mugeem
The Photographer of Madina
Based on the true story of Khadija, a female photographer from Medina who opens a studio for women, the first in Saudi Arabia.
Directed by: Dalyah Bakheet
Written by: Afnan Bawyan
Produced by: Saleem Homsi
Within Sand
Snam, a 23-year-old tobacco merchant, is ambushed by thieves in the desert, leaving him with only a dagger. He encounters a lone wolf on his desperate search for a way home.
Directed by: Moe Alatawi
Written by: Moe Alatawi
Produced by: Mohammad Alghamdi
Zeba
In 1938, at the port of Jeddah, three generations of women journey towards Mekkah, much to their Afghani family's chagrin.
Directed by: Abrar Abdulaziz
Written by: Bashayer Abdulaziz
Produced by: Bakr Alduhaim