Final Cut in Venice - The 8 selected work-in-progress films
The 8 work-in-progress films of the 13th edition of Final Cut in Venice have been selected. Final Cut in Venice is the industry program that has been providing since 2013 concrete support in the completion of films from all African countries and from six countries of the Middle East: Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria and Yemen.
Final Cut in Venice is one of the projects launched by the Venice Production Bridge of the 82nd Venice International Film Festival (August 27th - September 6th, 2025), directed by Alberto Barbera and organised by La Biennale di Venezia. The program offers the opportunity to present films still in production phase to international film professionals, in order to facilitate post-production and film market access.
The program consists in three days of activities (August 31st to September 2nd 2025) on the Venice Lido during the Venice Production Bridge and 82nd Venice Film Festival, in which the working copies of the 8 selected films are introduced to producers, buyers, distributors, post-production companies and film festival programmers.
Two of the selected projects are part of the VPB Focus on the United Kingdom and VPB Focus on Morocco.
The 8 work-in-progress films selected are:
FICTION
HOUSE OF THE WIND (LA MAISON DU VENT) by Kouemo Yanghu Auguste Bernard (Cameroon, Benin, France, Belgium)
MY SEMBA (MEU SEMBA) by Hugo Salvaterra (Angola)
STANDING AT THE RUINS (AL WOQOOF ALA EL ATLAL) by Saeed Taji Farouky (Egypt, United Kingdom) – Focus on the United Kingdom
THE STATION (AL MAHATTAH) by Sara Ishaq (Yemen, Jordan, France, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Qatar)
YESTERDAY THE EYE DIDN’T SLEEP by Rakan Mayasi (Belgium, Lebanon, Palestine )
DOCUMENTARY
LEGACY (SOLEIL, LUNE, ÉTOILES) by Mamadou Dia (Senegal, France)
UNTITLED PROJECT FROM YEMEN by Mariam Al-Dhubhani (Yemen, Qatar, Norway, France)
OUT OF SCHOOL (LA COUR DES GRANDS) by Hind Bensari (Denmark, Morocco) – Focus on Morocco
Prizes
The program will conclude with the awarding of prizes, in kind or in cash, for the financial support of the films in their post-production phase.
For the ninth year, La Biennale di Venezia will give a prize of € 5.000 for the best film in post-production. The “La Biennale di Venezia Prize” will be attributed by a jury composed of three members named by the Festival Director, while the other prizes will be awarded by final and irrevocable decision of the Festival Director and the Final Cut in Venice's supporters.
The prizes are:
- € 15.000 for the colour correction of a feature-length film offered by Laser Film (Rome) for up to 50 hours of work (technician included);
- € 15.000 offered by Studio A Fabrica (Ajaccio) for the sound mixing of a feature length film (up to 12 days of work, sound mixer not included);
- Oticons will offer tailored film music services to one of the films, in the form of either music consulting, and/or music supervision and/or the production of an original score by one of our represented film composers. These services, valued at up to €10,000, will encompass all relevant processes, such as spotting sessions, composition, mock-ups and final production (for original score), or expert support in music licensing and supervision (if applicable).
- for a feature-length fiction film a minimum of $ 10.000 MG or for a feature-length documentary a minimum of $ 3.000 MG for marketing, publicity and distribution in the Arab World or internationally, offered by MAD Solutions for one Arab project (except for projects already funded by MAD Solutions);
- Titra Film (Paris) will offer up to € 5.000 for colour-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);
- up to € 10.000 for the sound mixing of a feature length film (up to 7 days of work, auditorium and technician included) offered by 196-MEDIA (Rome);
- up to € 10.000 for digital visual effects “2D Comp” offered by M74 srl (Rome)
- Mnemonica will offer its cloud platform to safely store, share and distribute the winning movie for a value of € 10,000.
- up to € 7.500 for the creation of the DCP master with Italian or English subtitles, offered by Sub-Ti Ltd. (London);
- up to € 7.500 for the accessible contents of the film for audiences with sensory disabilities: subtitles for the deaf and hearing-impaired and audio description for the blind and visually impaired, including audio subtitles in voiceover, in Italian or English (the subtitles and the audio-described soundtrack for the DCP will be provided) offered by Sub-Ti Access Srl (Turin).
- € 5.000 offered by Red Sea Fund (Red Sea International Film Festival);
- € 5,000 by Rai Cinema for a first negotiation right for the acquisition of Free TV exploitation rights in the Italian territory and obligation to mention “in collaboration with Rai Cinema S.p.a.” in the credits of the work;
- $ 5.000 awarded to an Arab project offered by the El Gouna Film Festival and an invitation to participate in the industry platform CineGouna;
- € 5.000 offered by Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (OIF)/ACP/EU 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;
-“Coup de cœur de la Cinémathèque Afrique” Prize, offered by Cinémathèque Afrique of the Institut Français (Paris). The prize consists in the acquisition of the non-commercial and non-exclusive broadcasting rights for 7 years for a value of € 4.000 – € 6.000 depending on the genre and length of the film and the number of available territories;
- participation in the production costs of a DCP (€ 2.500), offered by the Festival International du Film d’Amiens;
- participation in the production costs of a DCP (€ 2.500), offered by the Festival International du Film de Fribourg
For the fourth year in a row, the FCV program will benefit of the additional support of the Red Sea International Film Festival within our supporters.
The first 2 days of the program (August 31st to September 1st 2025) will be dedicated to the selected film screenings: Moreover a special session of one-to-one meetings between the selected projects and the professional will be organised on the 2nd of September from 9:30 am to 4:30 pm. Furthermore, on the 2nd of September, Final Cut award ceremony will take place from 5:00 pm at Spazio Incontri (Hotel Excelsior).
