Twelve projects by emerging Saudi Arabian and other Arab and African filmmakers have been selected for the Red Sea Lodge, a development program run by the Red Sea Labs in collaboration with the TorinoFilmLab and funded by Film AlUla.
“Black Snake”, a film by Naishe Nyamubaya and Sue-Ellen Chitunya, and “Fantastic Tale”, a film by Vincho Nchogu and Joshua Olaoluwa were recently selected as one of the projects for development at the Red Sea Labs 2023.
“Black Snake” by Naishe Nyamubaya and Sue-Ellen Chitunya
Naishe Nyamubaya, Director
Zimbabwean-Egyptian filmmaker Naishe Nyamubaya is passionate about telling authentic and character driven stories from remote corners of the world. He is renowned for fusing documentary and fiction in his films to confront issues like social injustice, climate change, immigration, and conflict between humans and wildlife. He is an alumni of the TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) Filmmaker Lab, class of 2022. His short film, Mum, I Need Oil For My Car (2019), was selected for the BFI Future Film Festival, and received the Best African Short Film award at the Zimbabwe International Film Festival. His second film, Taming Kara (2019), was selected at the Chicago International Film Festival, and won Best Short Narrative at the Kukastream African Film Festival. Four walls And A Roof (2021) was selected at the Jozifilm Festival, and won Best Diaspora Film at the European Film Festival in Zimbabwe. Chimbo Chebere (The Hyena’s Song) won the Jury Prize for development at the Red Sea International Film Festival in 2021, and was selected for Cinefondation’s L’atelier at the Cannes Film Festival in 2022.
Sue-Ellen Chitunya, Producer
Sue-Ellen Chitunya is a filmmaker from Zimbabwe. She is a UCLA professional production program alumna and a 2019 Georgia State University 40 under 40 recipient. She is also a Roger and Chaz Ebert Foundation Fellowship recipient. She was inducted into the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences for her success as a short film producer.
Chitunya, an Ebert, has taken part in a number of initiatives for the growth of artists, including the Industry Academy, the WIF Emerging Producer Program, and the Film Independent Producing Lab. Her shorts have screened at several film festivals, including Rotterdam, BFI London, and Tribeca. She is known for her work as a Post Production Coordinator on Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Endgame (2019) and Black Panther (2018). She also worked on the interactive rom-com Mr. Right and the feature documentary For Tomorrow, both of which can be found on Amazon Prime.
“Fantastic Tale” by Vincho Nchogu and Joshua Olaoluwa
Vincho Nchogu, Director
Kenyan director-writer Vincho Nchogu’s career started in Uganda, where she produced a number of television shows and documentaries, like Wonder Stove, which was commissioned by the Ugandan government; The Trail, commissioned by the European Union; and 3W, commissioned by the Uganda Broadcasting Corporation.
Her short film “Resurrect” was featured at Cannes by Cinema du Monde. Nchogu was the producer of the East and Central African portion of the Future Express documentary series, which was directed by Dutch director Robert Hof. She produced and managed the direction of the short experimental film “Index” while she was a resident at the Robert Wilson Watermill Centre in New York.
Joshua Olaoluwa, Director
Josh Olaoluwa is a Nigerian film producer who is passionate about creating films with compelling African narratives. His most recent works have been featured on MTV Base, CNN, Netflix and the Smithsonian Institute. His debut feature documentary as a producer is the Making of the King, a behind the scenes documentary on the making of Netflix’s first original series in Nigeria, King of Boys. Echanger, a short on socio-economic inequity in West Africa, premiered at the African International Film Festival. Trainwreck (2020), a short film on safe sex was selected to screen in Paris at the Nollywoodweek Festival. Ije (2020), a short memoir inspired by #EndSars political activism in Nigeria, premiered at the New Vision International Film Festival, Netherlands, where it was nominated for best International short film.
The Red Sea Labs is a platform for filmmakers, writers, and other industry professionals. It offers multiple programs to assist creatives in realizing their ideas and projects from inception to production. The Red Sea Lodge is a 10-month intensive mentorship program aimed at the next generation of upcoming filmmakers to assist them in making their project ideas a reality. During the program, participants are expected to explore their projects production potentials while they work with experienced experts from all over the world in different fields such as directing, cinematography, editing sound, post-production, and sales. The winning teams will receive $200,000 after the workshops, which will be distributed among team members, at the Red Sea Film Festival in December 2023.
