07/09/2023 - VENICE 2023: The jury of the Biennale di Venezia award has recognised the South African project Carissa, directed by Jason Jacobs and Devon Delmar

The participants and the jury members of Final Cut in Venice

This Tuesday ended the 7th edition of Final Cut in Venice, the workshop supporting the post-production of films from Africa and the Arab countries (Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine and Syria) held between 3 and 5 September during the Venice Production Bridge and the Venice Film Festival. The initiative has given a prize of €5,000 to the best film in post-production.

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The jury of the Biennale di Venezia award, comprising Bobby Allen (MUBI), Enrico Bufalini (Cinecittà) and Sarah Chazelle (The Party Film Sales), has awarded on this occasion Carissa by Jason Jacobs and Devon Delmar. “We remained fascinated by this journey from modernity to a return to traditions and the choices that one is led to make between the easier life of economic progress and the more harmonious one with nature,” specified the jury members.

Carissa also received the “Coup de coeur de la Cinémathèque Afrique”, consisting in the acquisition of the non-commercial and non-exclusive broadcasting rights of the film for 7 year worth between €4,000 and €6,000 depending on the genre, the length of the film and the number of available territories; in addition, the International Fribourg Film Festival has offered its participation in the production costs of a DCP (worth €2,500).

The jury of the supporters, instead, decided to support, as well as Carissa, four other participating projects. Sudan, When Poems Fall Apart by Hind Meddeb received the following prizes: MAD Solutions will offer a $10,000 guarantee or, for a feature-length documentary film, an MG of $3,000 for marketing, publicity and distribution in the Arab world for an Arab project; El Gouna Film Festival has offered $5,000 and invited the film to participate in the CineGouna Platform; TitraFilm has offered up to €5,000 for colour grading and up to €3,000 for the production of a DCP master, the creation of files for iTunes, Google or Netflix, and up to €2,000 for subtitling in French and English. In addition, Rai Cinema has offered €5,000 for the acquisition of a right of first refusal for the eventual granting of the rights of use and economic exploitation on television of this work in the Italian territory with the obligation to mention "in collaboration with Rai Cinema S.p.a." in the credits; meanwhile, the Red Sea Fund of the Red Sea International Film Festival has offered a prize worth another €5,000.

The project She Was Not Alone by Hussein Al-Asadi has received 5 other prizes. Specifically, Sub-Ti Ltd will offer up to €7,500 for the creation of a DCP master with Italian or English subtitles; Sub-Ti Access Srl will offer up to €7,500 for a version accessible to the sensory impaired including audio subtitles in voice over, in Italian or in English; Oticons will offer the support of one of the film composers represented by the company and a soundtrack that they will create with services for a total value of €12,000; the Amiens International Film Festival will offer to contribute to the production costs of a DCP (worth €2,500) and, finally, Eye on Films will offer to benefit from the Eye on Films label and will contribute to the publicity launch of the film worth €2,500 on the occasion of its world premiere in a category A festival.

Happy Holidays by Sandar Copti received, meanwhile, a prize worth €15,000 for colour correction by Laser Film and €15,000 from Studio A Fabrica for the sound mixing.

Finally, Life is A Railroad by Kevin Mavakala, Manassé Kashala, Isaac Sahani and Tousmy Kilo won €5,000 in reimbursement for post-production services (awarded by the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (OIF) - ACP - EU) and the Music Supervision prize (worth €3,000) from Oticons.

The awards:

La Biennale di Venezia award
Carissa - Jason Jacobs, Devon Delmar (South Africa)
Production: Deidre Jantjies, Annemarie Du Plessis (Na Aap Productions)

Supporters’ jury

“Coup de cœur de la Cinémathèque Afrique” award
Carissa - Jason Jacobs, Devon Delmar

El Gouna Film Festival award
Sudan, When Poems Fall Apart - Hind Meddeb (France/Tunisia)
Production: Abel Nahmias, Michel Zana, Alice Ormières

Eye on Films award
She Was Not Alone - Hussein Al-Asadi (Iraq/Saudi Arabia/United States)
Production: Huda Al Kadhimi, Huma Gupta

Festival International du Film d’Amiens award
She Was Not Alone - Hussein Al-Asadi

Festival International de Films de Fribourg award
Carissa - Jason Jacobs, Devon Delmar

Laser Film award
Happy Holidays - Scandar Copti (Palestine/Germany/France/Qatar/Italy)
Production: Tony Copti, Dorothe Beinemeie

MAD Solutions award
Sudan, When Poems Fall Apart - Hind Meddeb

Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (OIF) – ACP – EU) post-production award
Life is A Railroad - Kevin Mavakala, Manassé Kashala, Isaac Sahani, Tousmy Kilo (Democratic Republic of Congo/France/Germany)
Production: Dieudo Hamadi, Jeanne Basset

Oticons award
She Was Not Alone - Hussein Al-Asadi

Music Supervision Oticons award
Life is A Railroad - Kevin Mavakala, Manassé Kashala, Isaac Sahani, Tousmy Kilo

Rai Cinema award
Sudan, When Poems Fall Apart - Hind Meddeb

Red Sea Fund of the Red Sea International Film Festival award
Sudan, When Poems Fall Apart - Hind Meddeb

Sub-Ti Ltd award
She Was Not Alone - Hussein Al-Asadi

Sub-Ti Access Srl award
She Was Not Alone - Hussein Al-Asadi

TitraFilm award
Sudan, When Poems Fall Apart - Hind Meddeb

Studio A Fabrica award
Happy Holidays - Scandar Copti

(Translated from Italian)