Funding, Labs & Project Markets Round-Up 2023: Asia, Africa & Middle East

For the last edition of 2023, Streamlined is staying true to it name and purpose by streamlining all the news out of the autumn 2023 season of labs, project markets and funding announcements in Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

Funding for cinema from these regions through government subsidies and film festivals still appears to be centred in Europe, South Korea, Southeast Asia and the Middle East. African cinema is being supported by European funds including Berlin’s World Cinema Fund, Rotterdam’s Hubert Bals Fund and various French initiatives, but now has a new source of support in Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Fund.

Streamlined’s first edition of 2024 will take a closer look at this Saudi fund, which along with the Doha Film Institute in Qatar, is becoming a significant source of funding for independent cinema. For now, here’s a recap of activity in 2023.

Mami Wata received distribution support from Berlin’s WCF