‘Aisha Can’t Fly Away’ Wins at Final Cut as Venice Production Bridge Wraps
The 12th edition of Final Cut in Venice, the industry program supporting films in post-production from Africa and Arab countries, came to a wrap with an awards ceremony that saw Egyptian filmmaker Morad Mostafa’s “Aisha Can’t Fly Away” take the La Biennale di Venezia Prize for a film in post-production, worth €5,000 ($5,546).
Morad’s feature debut, which has previously been through the Doha Film Institute’s Qumra Lab, tells the story of a Somali woman caring for her elderly parents in Cairo while witnessing the tensions between the different ethnic groups who make up the city’s society.
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This year’s jury was composed of Wayne Borg of Neom, Monica Ciarli of Minerva Pictures, and former director of the European Film Market Dennis Ruh. In their statement, the jury labelled Mostafa’s story “powerful and authentic,” adding: “Despite being a first feature film, it showcased confident direction and a distinct cinematic voice. The film’s gritty realism, attention to detail, and impactful storytelling left a strong impression on us.”
On top of winning the main award, Mostafa’s project has been awarded a series of additional awards by the jury of supporters, including prizes by the Cinémathèque Afrique of the Institut Fran?ais, Rai Cinema, Festival International de Films de Fribourg and Titra Films.
Mohamed Siam’s “My Father’s Scent,” Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese’s “Ancestral Visions of the Future,” Ique Langa’s “The Prophet” and Nadim Tabet’s “In This Darkness I See You” were also awarded prizes by the jury of supporters, which included MAD Solutions, Festival International du Film d’Amiens, the Red Sea Fund, El Gouna Film Festival and Studio A Fabrica (Ajaccio).
The seven films at the 12th edition of the Final Cut in Venice were selected out of 52 submitted projects by 57 filmmakers.
(See our report on Arabic-language cinema here.)
Venice Production Bridge, the industry arm of the Venice Film Festival, came to an end with healthy numbers, including an 8% increase in industry delegates from 2023. A total of 63 panels have been held at the VPB market, an increase of 15% from 2023. There were 41 VPB market screenings, including 14 screenings of films not in the festival’s official selection. This year saw a focus on streaming, with 10 European and international streaming platforms participating in VPB’s Meet the Streamers program.
Meetings-wise, there was a 103% jump in one-to-one meetings in 2024, with 236 meetings held between streaming platforms and accredited international distributors, rights holders and AV professionals. The Book Adaptation Rights Market saw a 14% increase in one-to-one meetings, going from 560 in 2023 to 640 in 2024. Every year the market highlights a literary genre, this year it has been crime and thriller with dedicated publishing houses and literary agencies.
This year’s VPB welcomed key industry players to one-to-one meetings of the Venice Gap-Financing Market, Book Adaptation Rights Market, Final Cut in Venice, Meet the Streamers and VPB Market screenings. Among the producers, distributors, financiers, institutions, broadcasters, sales agents, VR/XR experts and festival heads to attend the industry program, there were representatives from companies such as Amazon, Apple TV, Netflix, Studiocanal UK, Fremantle Media, Mubi, Neon, A24 and many more.
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