The Abu Dhabi Film Festival today announced the first round of recipients of its recently launched Sanad film fund. A total of US$500,000 in grants for development and post-production is being provided to 28 outstanding feature-length narrative and documentary films by both new and established filmmakers from all over the Arab world. A list of the selected projects follows below.

Sanad is the Abu Dhabi Film Festival's development and post-production fund. It provides talented filmmakers from the Arab world with meaningful support from within the region towards the development or completion of their feature-length narrative and documentary films.

Established in April 2010, Sanad (a synonym for "support" or "help" in Arabic), provides grants to both upcoming and established Arab filmmakers in two categories: development funds of up to US$20,000 and post-production funds of up to US$60,000 per project. The film world responded with great enthusiasm to the launch of Sanad, with dozens of submissions being made in the first few weeks alone.

During the selection process, the Sanad team was excited to discover a fascinating new trend in Arab film: a large number of filmmakers from all over the region are developing experimental, daring films. Describing 2010 as the 'Year of the Independents', the team noted that there was a marked trend towards artistic innovation and radical departures from the conventional in style, language and approach.

Interestingly, young directors are not the only ones taking thematic and stylistic risks; seasoned directors are also straying from the beaten path. Broken narrative structures, off-kilter characters and unconventional image composition are used to pose serious questions about the status quo. Even though political engagement remains mostly abstract and indirect, these films are bound to surprise viewers.

"We are privileged to be the first-hand witnesses of such an exciting trend and we want to transmit this passion to audiences in Abu Dhabi and beyond. Artistic films can be difficult, but the courage of the directors, screenwriters, editors and actors to step away from formulas is one of the most reassuring signs of the vitality and potential of Arab filmmaking," said Marie-Pierre Macia, head of Sanad.

Peter Scarlet, executive director of the Abu Dhabi Film Festival, added, "I am not sure there has been a comparable trend towards artistic independence here since the late 1960s. These filmmakers are breaking the mold and developing a new cinematic vocabulary that is unique to the Arab region. It is our mission to provide these inspired artistic experiments with the support they need."

"We are committed to fostering a vibrant regional film culture and the high number of applications for Sanad shows that independent films are an important and growing part of it. These daring films reflect Abu Dhabi's spirit of openness and innovation and we are proud to help Arab filmmakers explore new directions," commented Eissa Saif Al Mazrouei, the Festival's project director.

As the first film fund in the region to be connected to a festival, Sanad benefits recipients not only through generous funding, but also from the international exposure of festival screenings as well as year-round publicity and support. Every October, the Festival is committed to showing many of the Sanad-funded films.

There are two open calls for applications each year. The second cycle of Sanad grants will be announced in February 2011.

ABOUT THE FESTIVAL

The Abu Dhabi Film Festival (formerly the Middle East International Film Festival) was established in 2007, with the aim of helping to create a vibrant film culture throughout the region. The event, presented each October by the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (ADACH) under the patronage of its chairman H.H. Sheikh Sultan Bin Tahnoon Al Nahyan, is committed to curating exceptional programs to engage and educate the local community, inspire filmmakers and nurture the growth of the regional film industry.

With its commitment to presenting works by Arab filmmakers in competition alongside those by major talents of world cinema, the Festival offers Abu Dhabi's diverse and enthusiastic audiences a means of engaging with their own and others' cultures through the art of cinema. At the same time, a strong focus on the bold new voices of Arab cinema connects with Abu Dhabi's role as a burgeoning cultural capital in the region and marks the Festival as a place for the world to discover and gauge the pulse of recent Arab filmmaking.

SANAD

POST-PRODUCTION PROJECTS
NARRATIVE


DEATH FOR SALE by FAOUZI BENSAIDI
MOROCCO | BELGIUM | FRANCE

IN THE LAST DAYS OF THE CITY by TAMER EL SAID
EGYPT | UNITED KINGDOM

OK, ENOUGH, GOODBYE by RANIA ATTIEH, DANIEL GARCIA
LEBANON

QUARANTINE by ODAY RASHEED
IRAQ | GERMANY

HERE COMES THE RAIN by BAHIJ HOJEIJ
LEBANON

MY BROTHER by KAMAL EL MAHOUTI
MOROCCO | FRANCE

ON THE PLANK by LEILA KILANI
MOROCCO | FRANCE

SUN DRESS by SAEED SALMEEN
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES | SYRIA


POST-PRODUCTION PROJECTS
DOCUMENTARY


IN MY MOTHER'S ARMS by ATIA and MOHAMED AL-DARADJI
IRAQ | UNITED KINGDOM

MOHAMMAD SAVED FROM THE WATERS by SAFAA FATHY
EGYPT | FRANCE


DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS
NARRATIVE


AZIZA DOESN'T KNOW WHAT SHE SAYS by NADIA EL FANI
TUNISIA

DEAD SEA by IHAB JADALLAH
PALESTINE | FRANCE

ZANKA CONTACT by ISMAEL EL MAOULA EL IRAKI
MOROCCO | FRANCE

PLAYGROUND STORIES by BRAHIM FRITAH
MOROCCO | FRANCE

TRAIN STATION by MOHAMED AL-DARADJI
IRAQ | UNITED KINGDOM | NETHERLANDS

CHRONICLES OF MY VILLAGE by KARIM BACHIR TRAIDIA
ALGERIA | THE NETHERLANDS

IBN BATTUTA by TARIQ TEGUIA
ALGERIA | LEBANON | FRANCE | GREECE

MAY IN THE SUMMER by CHERIEN DABIS
JORDAN | FRANCE

THE STROKE by HALA LOTFY
EGYPT

VIA DOLOROSA by SOBHI AL-ZOBAIDI
PALESTINE

WHEN I SAW YOU by ANNEMARIE JACIR
JORDAN

WISH THE LIGHT HAS AN EYE TO SEE by MOHAMAD MALAS
SYRIA | FRANCE

FOREIGN BODY by RAJA AMARI
TUNISIA | FRANCE


DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS
DOCUMENTARY


LEBANESE ROCKET SOCIETY by JOANA HADJITHOMAS, KHALIL JOREIGE
LEBANON | FRANCE

MY JINN by DALIA AL KURY
JORDAN | GERMANY

IN SEARCH OF OIL AND SAND by PHILIPPE LAURENT DIB
EGYPT

AS IF WE WERE CATCHING A COBRA by HALA ALABDALLA
SYRIA | FRANCE

SEDUCTION by OMAR AMIRALAY
SYRIA

Global Arab Network