DUBAI: Two Saudi feature film projects have been selected for the 44th Sud Ecriture International Workshop in partnership with the Red Sea Fund.
The script development program supports emerging filmmakers from Africa and the Arab world as they develop their first or second feature films. Since its launch in 1997, the Tunsia-based initiative has helped to nurture new cinematic voices through intensive mentoring and screenplay development.
Representing Saudi Arabia in this year’s selection are filmmaker Nada Al-Wabel with “The Man from Copenhagen” and Zahra Zuhair with “Running with street cats.” The pair are among just five filmmakers chosen for the 2026 workshop, joining directors from Morocco, Senegal and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
During the program, participants take part in workshop sessions, working closely with an international team of mentors to refine their screenplays through in-depth script consultations. The workshop is designed to strengthen projects creatively while preparing filmmakers for the next stages of production and international co-production opportunities.
In “The Man from Copenhagen,” Al-Wabel’s project, a motorbike accident in the middle of the desert leads to a stranger being taken in by Leila, who lives with her father and son. His presence becomes a catalyst for family tensions, transforming the relationships between Leila and the men around her, according to a social media post by Sud Ecriture International Workshop.
Zahra Zuhair’s “Running with street cats” is the story of a young divorced woman who regains control of her life while exposing a network of labor contract fraud.
