AFAC x Netflix Women in Film – Bring Your Story to Life 2024 (up to $25,000) Deadline: 1 October, 2024

Applications are open for the AFAC x Netflix Women in Film – Bring Your Story to Life 2024. After their joint program in 2023 with Women in Film: Introduction to the Creative Process, Arab Fund for Arts and Culture (AFAC) and Netflix have renewed their partnership with a new initiative aimed at supporting emerging Arab women filmmakers. This new program is open to emerging Arab women filmmakers residing in UAE, KSA, Kuwait, Jordan, and Egypt. The program will support the full production of short films (maximum length of 10 minutes) carried by women heads of department: director, writer, producer, cinematographer, and editors.

This initiative offers upcoming women talents an opportunity to showcase their unique voices. The call welcomes film projects applications carried by a team of minimum 2 heads of department (director and producer or writer, director and producer) and a maximum of 5 heads of departments. The call also accepts applications from individual cinematographers and editors who are interested in joining the selected film projects in need of a cinematographer and/or editor.

Funding

• Each film project will receive a maximum budget of $25,000 to bring their story to life. The budget will include the prep, the shoot, and the post-production expenses to finish their films. Additionally, the program offers virtual consultations in script writing, producing, directing, cinematography and editing. The projects will have post-production support sessions in Saudi Arabia.

Eligibility

The call is open for:

• Women between the ages of 21 and 28
• Arab women residents of Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, or the UAE
• Filmmakers who have directed no more than one short film outside their studies.

Ineligible Candidates

AFAC will not consider applications submitted by:

• Members of the AFAC board of trustees, their business partners, or family members.
• AFAC staff members, their business partners, or family members.
• Members of the current year’s reader and juror committees.
• Applicants with a current open AFAC grant.

Deadline: 1 October, 2024

Application

For film projects by teams

• Applicants must apply with a story treatment and draft script for short fiction narrative films that are culturally sensitive, and contribute to viewers’ understanding of the lived experiences of local culture
• Applicants cannot apply with an animation film project.
• Each project must involve a core team of 4 to 5 members covering the following positions: writer, director (the writer and director can be the same person), producer, cinematographer and editor. The submitted application can include a minimum of 2 heads of departments (writer/director or writer and producer) and a maximum of 5 heads of departments.
• Applicants who directed a full-length feature film for distribution or TV series for broadcast are not eligible to apply.
• The program encourages collaborations across the different countries involved in the development of the proposed projects. A maximum of two core crew members (e.g., director of photography and editor) can be flown to the country of production (where the rest of the core crew members are already located).
• All core team members must be Arab women resident in one of the countries listed above.
• The proposed projects must function on a small budget with minimal production aspects. Each project can have a maximum of two locations and a maximum of three actors. There should be no VFX, animation, or graphics involved.
• The project must abide by the deadlines. Otherwise, it will be disqualified.
• Five (5) projects will be selected for support.
• The final projects will not be published on the Netflix platform.

For submissions by individuals (for cinematographers and editors)

• Cinematographers and editors interested in working on short films can apply as individual applicants by submitting previous projects they have worked on, without being part of a team.
• After teams and individual applicants are selected to be part of the program, an online matchmaking meeting will take place for teams that are incomplete to pitch their projects and match with a cinematographer and/or editor.

Complete the application form:

• Application form for Project Proposal (teams)
• Application from for Individual Applicants (Cinematographer and Editor)

For more information, visit AFAC x Netflix Women in Film.