The seven films that will take part in the 12th edition of Final Cut in Venice have been selected. Since 2013, the industry programme has been supporting the post-production of films hailing from African countries and from five nations in the Middle East (Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine and Syria), as an integral part of the Venice Production Bridge at the Venice Film Festival. The programme offers the opportunity to present films still in production to industry professionals, in order to facilitate their post-production and ease their access to the market. Five of the selected titles are co-productions with European countries.

Over the course of three days, from 1-3 September, during the Venice Production Bridge, working copies of seven the selected films will be showcased to producers, buyers, distributors, production companies and festival programmers. The first two days of the workshop will be dedicated to screenings of these seven movies, while on the final day, a special session of one-to-one meetings will be organised between the teams behind the selected projects and those professionals who have a Gold and Trade accreditation for the Venice Production Bridge. Interestingly, one project has been selected as part of the VPB Focus on Wallonia-Brussels.

Final Cut in Venice will wrap with the handing out of in-kind or cash awards, aimed at supporting the films financially at the post-production stage. For the eighth year running, the Venice Film Festival will offer an award worth €5,000 to the best film in post-production. The winner of the La Biennale di Venezia Award will be determined by a jury made up of three members appointed by the director of the Mostra, Alberto Barbera. Meanwhile, the other prizes offered by partners will be handed out at the incontestable discretion of the director of the Mostra, assisted by the aforementioned partners and by the managers of the institutions involved. The brand-new brochure containing the details of the projects selected for this edition of Final Cut in Venice can be consulted in the VPB Brochures Downloads section of the Venice Production Bridge website – please follow this link.

The seven selected films in post-production are as follows:

Fiction films

Aisha Can’t Fly Away - Morad Mostafa (Egypt/Tunisia/Saudi Arabia/Qatar/France)
In This Darkness I See You - Nadim Tabet (Lebanon/France/Qatar/Saudi Arabia)
My Father’s Scent - Mohamed Siam (Egypt/Norway/Saudi Arabia/Qatar/France)
The Prophet - Ique Langa (Mozambique/South Africa)

Docu-fiction

Ancestral Visions of the Future - Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese (France/Germany/Lesotho)
Your Daughter - Sara Shazli (Egypt)

Documentary

Those Who Watch Over - Karima Saidi (Belgium/France/Qatar) (Focus on Wallonia – Brussels)