The awards of Final Cut in Venice 2021

For the fifth year, La Biennale di Venezia will give a cash award of € 5,000 to support the best film in post-production. The Jury of La Biennale di Venezia Prize, composed of Edouard Waintrop (Red Sea Film Festival), Beatrice Gulino (Teodora Film) and Manola Novelli (Pluto Film) has awarded the film:

HANGING GARDENS, by Ahmed Yassin Al Daradji (Iraq, Palestine, United Kingdom)
Producer: May Odeh

2021 “We were impressed by the quality of the selection and we were glad to discover societies we were never confronted with. We were struck by the original and genuine way the directors told their stories. After a long and passionate discussion we have chose to award Hanging Gardens. First of all because of the story: a very dramatic subject supported by truly strong and captivating characters. We were really amazed by the courage of the director and of the producer to bring on screen such delicate and difficult topic and how Ahmed Al Daradji managed to drive us to this underworld. The three of us could sincerely relate to the main characters with which we had the necessary empathy to think that Hanging Gardens will be a cruel and beautiful film”.

The Jury of the Supporters of the 9^th edition of Final Cut in Venice has decided to give their support to the following films in post-production:

UNDER THE FIG TREES / TAHT EL KARMOUSS by Erige Sehiri (Tunisia, Qatar, Switzerland, France)
Producer: Erige Sehiri

Has been supported by:

Laser Film (Rome) is offering € 15,000 for the color correction of a feature-length film for up to 50 hours of work (technician included);

Mactari Mixing Auditorium (Paris)  is offering up to € 15,000 for the sound mixing of a feature length film (up to 12 days of work, sound mixer not included).

MAD Solutions is offering for a feature-length fiction project an MG of $ 10,000 for marketing, publicity and distribution in the Arab World for one Arab project.

Sub-Ti Ltd. (London) is offering up to € 7,000 for the creation of the DCP master with Italian or English subtitles;

Sub-Ti Access Srl (Turin) is offering up to € 7,000 for the accessible contents of the film for audiences with sensory disabilities.

El Gouna Film Festival is offering $ 5,000 awarded to one of the Arab projects and an invitation to participate in the industry platform CineGouna;

Rai Cinema is offering € 5,000 for the purchase of two-year broadcasting rights.

Festival International de Films de Fribourg is offering its participation in the production costs of a DCP (€ 2,500).

HANGING GARDENS by Ahmed Yassin Al Daradji (Iraq, Palestine, UK)
Producer: May Odeh

Has been supported by:

Oticons is offering one of the selected projects to benefit from the film composers represented by the company and the original score that they will create. The production of the original score will include all relevant services, such as spotting sessions, composition, orchestration,  mock-ups,  final production, for a value of € 12.000.

Eye on Films is giving the possibility to benefit from the Eye on Films label, that will present the film to distributors and festivals affiliated to EoF and will contribute to the communication of the film for a value of € 2,500 during its world premiere in an A-category festival.

THE MOTHER OF ALL LIES by Asmae El Moudir (Morocco, Germany, Qatar)
Producer: Silvana Santamaria

Has been supported by:

Titra Film (Paris) is offering up to € 5,000 for color-grading; up to € 3,000 for the production of a DCP master, or the creation of i-Tunes, Google or Netflix files; up to € 2,000 for French or English subtitles (translation not included).

The Cinémathèque Afrique of the Institut Français (Paris) is offering the Prize “Coup de cœur de la Cinémathèque Afrique”, consisting of the acquisition of the non-commercial and non-exclusive broadcasting rights for 7 years with a value of € 4,000 – 6,000 depending on the genre, length and available territories of the film.

WE STUDENTS / NOUS, ÉTUDIANTS!  by Rafiki Fariala (Central African Republic, France, Democratic Republic of Congo, Italy)
Producer: Daniele Incalcaterra

Has been supported by:

The Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (OIF) – Clap ACP is offering  € 5,000 as a refund for post-production services – delivered by societies based in one of the EU or OACPS countries (except South Africa) – of a feature-length film realised by a director from one of the ACP countries and produced or co-produced by a society based in one of the ACP countries.

Festival International du Film d’Amiens is offering its participation in the production costs of a DCP (€ 2,500).