JEDDAH: The Red Sea International Film Festival on Tuesday announced the 12 projects from upcoming filmmakers in the Kingdom and the Arab region who have been selected for the Red Sea Lodge. The lodge is a mentoring program launched in collaboration with the Torino Film Lab and a key part of the festival’s drive to support and promote grassroots talent. At the first edition of the festival in December, The Red Sea Lodge 2021 winners “The Zarqa Girl” by Zaid Abuhamdan and “The Photographer of Madina” by Dalyah Bakheet both received a grant of $100,000. The initiative hosts five intensive labs that take a diverse talent at the early stages of their careers through the essentials of filmmaking to bring their authentic stories to the screen. The eight-month program has been designed to nurture and support emerging talent, improve access to Arab content and promote the region’s talent on the international stage. The final workshop will take place during the second edition of the festival, which is scheduled to run from Dec. 1 to 10 in Jeddah. Of the 12 projects selected, six are from Saudi Arabia while the others are from Egypt, Algeria and Lebanon, with 50 percent of the concepts directed, produced and written by women.