DUBAI: Congolese director Macherie Ekwa Bahango’s “Madi Makambu” has won five Final Cut awards at the Venice Film Festival, including the coveted La Biennale di Venezia Prize and the Red Sea Fund Award. The 14th edition of Final Cut supported films in post-production from across Africa and six countries in the Middle East: Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria and Yemen. Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Fund’s $5,800 award was handed to “Madi Makambu.” The story focuses on two lovers as they face Madi’s pregnancy denial — a condition where a woman remains completely or partially unaware that she is pregnant. Another big winner was “Occupational Hazards” by Bassel Ghandour, which picked up five awards. It follows a Palestinian family in Jerusalem as “they navigate everyday life under occupation and apartheid, specifically exploring the absurdity of the situation, and more importantly, the wildly creative, mischievous, and ingenious ways Palestinians navigate daily life there,” Ghandour said, according to Variety.