Within the events of the 4th Venice Final Cut Workshop at the 73rd Venice International Film Festival, the two Arab film projects Obscure by Syrian Director Soudade Kaadan and Ghost Hunting by Palestinian director Raed Andoni have won 4 awards that will provide support for the projects in the post-production phase.

The first award that Obscure has earned is the MAD Solutions award that offers promotional and distribution services to the winning project across the Arab world. The second award is the Fribourg International Film Festival award that consists of producing a 35mm un-subtitled copy of the film or contributing €1500 to the DCP version of the film.

Ghost Hunting by Palestinian director Raed Andoni has earned a free color correction support that could reach up to €15,000 presented by the Italian company Laser Film. Also the film has been offered the participation in the production costs of a DCP by the International Film Festival of Amiens.

The film project Obscure by Syrian director Soudade Kaadan is a co-production between Syria and Lebanon (KAF production). Obscure is about blindness, mainly the blindness of insight, and the complete loss of vision, in reality and in cinema. A journey of research into finding answers to several questions; the questions that took shape and toll during times of war and chaos.

The film project Ghost Hunting is a documentary about a group of Palestinian ex-prisoners, who decide to rebuild the Israeli investigation center in which they were all imprisoned. They gather in an empty yard near Ramallah and attempt to re-enact a story that once took place inside the center's walls.

The 4th Venice Final Cut Workshop supports films in the post-production stage in Africa, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine and Syria. The film selections are screened to an audience of producers, distributors and programmers of international film festivals. The workshop concludes with an award ceremony to honor the winning films that will be supported through the post-production phase.

The aim of Venice Final Cut is to develop the role of the Venice International Film Festival to become a bridge that supports independent filmmaking in these countries by providing effective production support and promoting the films on the international market level.

About Arab Cinema Center (ACC)

Arab Cinema Center (ACC), organized by MAD Solutions, opened the year with intensive activities at the 45th International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR), followed by the 66th Berlinale, the Qumra Doha Film Institute, the Center's first Arab stop since its launch in 2015, in addition to Silk Road Film festival in Ireland, Hong Kong International Film & TV Market (FILMART), and most recently at the 69th Cannes Film Festival.

Previously, Arab Cinema Center (ACC) revealed its year-round partnership with Variety magazine as the Center's media partner; in addition to a digital partnership with Festival Scope and a technology sponsorship with Striim.in to promote ACC's events in 2016. The Center has launched a magazine during the 69th Cannes Film Festival, which is regarded as the first English-language publication of its kind specialized in Arab cinema and designed to address international film markets, shedding light on Arab cinema updates as well as prominent and up-and-coming Arab filmmaking potential and talents.

Arab Cinema Center (ACC) is operating as an international promotional platform for Arab cinema as it provides Arab filmmakers with a professional window to connect with filmmakers from all over the world through a number of events that it organizes and provides networking opportunities with representatives of companies and institutions specialized in co-production and international distribution, among others.

The Center's activities vary between Film Market main wings, introduction sessions for Arab and foreign filmmakers, welcome parties, meetings with international organizations and festivals, in addition to releasing an ACC guide to be distributed among the Film Market visitors.