09/09/2026 - VENICE 2026: Machérie Ekwa Bahango’s Madi Makambu and Bassel Ghandour’s Occupational Hazards lead the pack with five awards apiece, with the former scooping the €10,000 La Biennale di Venezia Prize

It’s a wrap for the 14th edition of Final Cut in Venice (6-8 September), the workshop aimed at supporting films in post-production from Africa and selected Arab countries (Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria and Yemen). The initiative was once again hosted by the Venice Production Bridge (3-9 September) during the Venice Film Festival.

In this, its tenth year, the La Biennale di Venezia Prize, now worth €10,000 and intended to support the best film in post-production, was handed to Machérie Ekwa Bahango’s Madi Makambu (DR Congo/France/Belgium). Staged by CL1 D’oeil Studio and Boucan Films, the project revolves around Madi and Djino, whose relationship is thrown into turmoil when the former gives birth to a child that Djino did not father after experiencing pregnancy denial.

Bahango’s project emerged as one of the edition’s two biggest winners, earning itself four additional awards. It secured tailored film-music services worth up to €10,000 from Oticons, a minimum guarantee from MAD Solutions, access to Mnemonica’s cloud-based platform worth €10,000, and €5,000 from the Red Sea Fund.

Also collecting five prizes was Bassel Ghandour’s Occupational Hazards (Jordan/Qatar/UK/Saudi Arabia/Palestine), a dark comedy about a Palestinian family in Jerusalem struggling to prevent their home from collapsing, both literally and figuratively. The project received €15,000 in sound-mixing services from Studio A Fabrica, up to €7,500 towards the creation of a subtitled DCP from Sub-Ti Ltd, and accessible-content services worth up to €7,500 from Sub-Ti Access. It also secured €5,000 from Rai Cinema in exchange for first-negotiation rights for Italian free-TV exploitation, alongside up to €10,000 in digital visual-effects services from M74.

Three other projects picked up two awards each. Youssef Chebbi’s Plague (Balaa) (Tunisia/France/Qatar/Saudi Arabia/Slovenia) received €15,000 in colour-correction services from Laser Film and €2,500 towards DCP production from the Amiens International Film Festival. Sofia Djama’s A Quarter to Thursday (Jeudi moins le quart) (France/Belgium/Algeria) was backed by Titra Film, which is providing post-production services worth up to €10,000, and by the El Gouna Film Festival, which awarded it $5,000 and an invitation to its CineGouna industry platform.

Meanwhile, Abraham Gezahagne’s Mehal Sefari (Ethiopia/Canada/Germany/Netherlands/Norway/Saudi Arabia) won the Cinémathèque Afrique “Coup de cœur” Award, entailing the acquisition of non-commercial, non-exclusive broadcasting rights worth between €4,000 and €6,000, as well as €2,500 towards DCP production from the Fribourg International Film Festival.

Finally, Alaa Eddine Aljem’s Eldorado, the Taste of the South (Morocco/France/Italy/Norway) received €5,000 from the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie as reimbursement for eligible post-production services.

Here is the full list of this year’s award winners:

La Biennale di Venezia Prize
Madi Makambu – Machérie Ekwa Bahango (DR Congo/France/Belgium)
Production: CL1 D’oeil Studio, Boucan Films

Supporters’ jury

Oticons Award
Madi Makambu – Machérie Ekwa Bahango

MAD Solutions Award
Madi Makambu – Machérie Ekwa Bahango

Mnemonica Award
Madi Makambu – Machérie Ekwa Bahango

Red Sea Fund Award
Madi Makambu – Machérie Ekwa Bahango

Studio A Fabrica Award
Occupational Hazards – Bassel Ghandour (Jordan/Qatar/UK/Saudi Arabia/Palestine)
Production: The Imaginarium Films, Tough Crowd, Cocoon Films, Metafora Productions

Sub-Ti Ltd Award
Occupational Hazards – Bassel Ghandour

Sub-Ti Access Award
Occupational Hazards – Bassel Ghandour

Rai Cinema Award
Occupational Hazards – Bassel Ghandour

M74 Award
Occupational Hazards – Bassel Ghandour

Laser Film Award
Plague (Balaa) – Youssef Chebbi (Tunisia/France/Qatar/Saudi Arabia/Slovenia)
Production: Supernova Films, Blast Films, Portobisso

Festival International du Film d’Amiens Award
Plague (Balaa) – Youssef Chebbi

Titra Film Award
A Quarter to Thursday (Jeudi moins le quart) – Sofia Djama (France/Belgium/Algeria)
Production: Tessalit Productions, Furyo Films, Artémis Productions, Zoudj Doro Production

El Gouna Film Festival Award
A Quarter to Thursday (Jeudi moins le quart) – Sofia Djama

Cinémathèque Afrique “Coup de cœur” Award
Mehal Sefari – Abraham Gezahagne (Ethiopia/Canada/Germany/Netherlands/Norway/Saudi Arabia)
Production: Gobez Media Inc, Abricom Multimedia, Barents Film, 2Pilots, New Amsterdam

Festival International du Film de Fribourg Award
Mehal Sefari – Abraham Gezahagne

Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie Post-production Award
Eldorado, the Taste of the South – Alaa Eddine Aljem (Morocco/France/Italy/Norway)
Production: Le Moindre Geste, Haut Les Mains Productions, Dugong Films, Jacaranda Productions, Duo Film