24/10/2021 The CineGouna projects awarded cash and other prizes this year were 13 projects in development, 6 films in post-production, in addition to one guest film in post-production. Participating directors and producers in CineGouna SpringBoard presented their films to producers, organisations, distributors, and festival programmers to get their artistic guidance. In addition, one-on-one meetings were held between filmmakers, industry experts, and consultants to develop scripts and incomplete films as well as increase chances for international and regional collaborations. The CineGouna SpringBoard jury included Mohamed Soueid, the Lebanese producer and film critic; Nina Lath Gupta, former CEO of the NFDC; and Ismaël Ferroukhi, the Moroccan director and screenwriter. The CineGouna SpringBoard jury included Mohamed Soueid, the Lebanese producer and film critic; Nina Lath Gupta, former CEO of the NFDC; and Ismaël Ferroukhi, the Moroccan director and screenwriter. The jury gave a special mention to Abo Zabaal 1989 (Egypt) by Bassam Mortada for its ability to create a home for memories and surpassing the filmmaker's own understanding of his life's events, which were portrayed from the perspectives of his parents. A Quarter to Thursday in Algiers (France) by Sofia Djama won the Best Project in Development award with a cash prize of $15,000; a CineGouna Platform certificate; and US $2,000 worth of in-kind services from Clackett. They Planted Strange Trees (Palestine) by Hind Shoufani won the Best Film in Post-Production award with a CineGouna Platform certificate; a cash prize of $15,000; and The Indie Deer’s cash grant of $10,000. Fifty Meters (Egypt) by Yomna Khattab won multiple cash prizes: a $10,000 full film promotion package from The Cell Post Production; a $10,000 cash grant from Trend VFX; a $10,000 from Synergy Films; a US $15,000 cash grant for script development from Mariam Naoum and Sard Writing Room; a $5,000 worth of post-production services from BEE Media Productions; a $10,000 from Cult; a $1,000 for locations services from Clackett; and a $7,000 Master's Degree US scholarship from Gemini Africa. This project also won a chance from Arab Cinema Center to participate in Rotterdam Film Lab.
