Culture Resource is pleased to announce the grantees of the 2025 round of the Production Awards, which aims to promote and encourage a new generation of artists and writers from the Arab region by supporting their first creative projects in cinema, literature, music, performing arts, and visual arts.
The program team received 450 applications, of which the jury selected 33.
Cinema
Aida Kaddan, Palestine / Film director
Post-production of “Another Day Shall Come”, a short experimental documentary
An audio-visual portrait of stifled Palestinians living in Occupied Palestine during Israel’s genocide in Gaza. It features a collection of anonymous voices, edited into scenes shot in Palestine over four seasons, encapsulating 76 years of identity deprivation and marginalization from both cinematic representation and the broader Palestinian narrative.
Doha Hamdy, Egypt / Film director
Post-production of “Aya Meets Ghosts”, a short fiction film
In a society driven by fear and superstition, rumors spread at a school that Aya, a 7-year-old girl, is haunted by ghosts. Reluctantly, she embarks on a journey to uncover the truth, facing rejection, confronting death for the first time, and unearthing a hidden truth about her family.
Hozifa Abd Elhalim, Egypt / Film director
Production of “The Last Wish”, a short fiction film
A young boy discovers he can communicate with the dead, leading him on a surreal journey with an unlikely companion: a dead man who just wants one last glimpse of the sky before his final rest.
Ibrahim Omer, Sudan / Film director
Production of “Dry Sky”, a full-length hybrid documentary
A Sudanese filmmaker returns to his village after 27 years to uncover the truth about the execution of 12 men during the war. Through a short narrative film project with the village’s youth, he aims to confront fear and silence and seek justice through a symbolic trial. Dry Sky is a journey to document the past and the lingering wounds of war.
Jad Chahine, Egypt / Film director
Production of “My village blames women for the end of mankind”, a short fiction film
A young fisherman lives with his mother, sister, and wife in a village plagued by a deadly epidemic that infects women. To prevent the epidemic from spreading, the villagers seek to eliminate the infected.
Rami Jarboui, Tunisia / Film director
Production of “The Salt of the South”, a full-length documentary
The film explores a family’s deep connection to the sea across two continents and generations. It highlights the resilience of Fathia, a marine farmer in southern Tunisia, as her son Fadhel, a former fisherman, seeks climate refugee status in Europe amidst the ecological collapse threatening their way of life. The sea, both a giver and a destroyer, pushes them to reshape their lives in a quiet struggle to preserve their heritage, where the choices before them blur between survival and loss.
Tareq Khalaf, Palestine / Film director
Production of “Azziza’s Garden”, a short documentary
Worried about the deteriorating political situation in the West Bank, Azziza, the director’s great aunt, asks him to leave and return to the US, leaving her and his grandmother alone in the midst of war. The director takes refuge in Azziza’s garden, continuing to document her seasonal ways of living while confronting the difficult decision to leave.
Jury:
Afef Ben Mahmoud, Tunisia / Director, producer, and actress
Hajooj Kuka, Sudan / Director
Mohamed Soueid, Lebanon / Writer and director
“I was truly impressed by the quality and depth of the submitted projects. Even though many were not selected, I would like to congratulate all the applicants. The world is going through challenging times when fundamental human principles and values seem to be fading away. Now more than ever, art and creativity must persist to express our reality. From this standpoint, I found all projects, without exception, to be compelling and significant. They carry messages that invite us to reflect on and reconsider many aspects of life. I also noticed that many projects tackled themes like death, war, and oppression, underscoring the state of emergency and distress we are collectively facing. I wish these projects strength and resilience, and I hope to see them all come to life.”
-Afef Ben Mahmoud
Literature
Ahmed Mohsen, Egypt / Writer
“Rediscovering How to Walk”, a book
The book attempts to blend multiple literary genres that are not widely prevalent in Arabic writings. The first is crónica, which in Arabic literature is confined to travel literature, whereas in South American literature, it is more concerned with narrative form and structure, regardless of its subject matter. The second is Nature Writing, as it emerged in poetry with Walt Whitman and in the narratives of naturalists like David Henry Thoreau, John Burroughs, and Annie Dillard. This genre seeks to engage with nature not as a mere subject for passive contemplation by the writer but as a source of knowledge, both material and spiritual.
Ahmed Samir Santawy, Egypt / Writer
“The Prison Book”, an autobiography
The writer recounts his imprisonment from February 2021 to July 2022 in Egypt’s prisons, where incarceration reshaped his life. This book is an attempt to reclaim and narrate the experience, weaving together scattered fragments in which the private intertwines with the political and the legal, the personal with the collective. Some of these fragments take a poetic form, while others include police, national security, and court reports as well as analyses and reflections about the logic of power and the logic of resisting it, diaries written inside the prison, and stories about what happened there.
Ayman Hashim, Sudan / Writer
“Bullet Chewers”, a short story collection
The story collection unveils the magic of Sudan’s villages and cities – a country as culturally vast as a continent. Through magical realism and fantasy, the collection highlights the forgotten elements of tales and legends in the form of a short story, weaving together grandmothers’ tales, oral narratives, and marginalized historical events.
Dhia Bousselmi, Tunisia / Writer
“Who Killed Salah Garmadi?”, a novel
The novel revolves around Salah Garmadi, a university professor specializing in linguistics, and his fight in the 1970s against the Bourguiba regime in Tunisia. It traces his relationships with his students, lover, colleagues, the police, and politicians. At a time when Tunisia was known for its most repressive regimes, Salah Garmadi was an example of a defender of freedom and a champion of an open Tunisia. As a result, he became a target not only of the regime but also of Islamists at the time. So was the car crash a mere coincidence or a carefully orchestrated act by his enemies?
Ghassan Naddaf, Palestine / Writer
“Every Land Is Karbala”, a short story collection
The story collection explores the question of “freedom-tragedy” under genocide in Palestine through researching and examining the lived experience in the West Bank, seeking to capture and reflect on the transformations within the Palestinian reality. The project will include three sections: the genocide and lived experience in Gaza, resisting helplessness in the West Bank, and summoning experiences from the Arab heritage.
Mohamed Casper, Egypt / Writer
“The Lady and Artist”, a novel
The documentary novel explores the life of Huda Shaarawi, not as a feminist icon but as a mother who rejected her granddaughter, born to her son from the singer Fatma Sirry in a secret marriage. Shaarawi leveraged her influence to pressure the artist, leading the latter to seek legal recourse, resulting in the first paternity case in Egyptian courts.
Reem Alyemen, Yemen / Writer
“Melodies of the Land and Sea: The Chants and Stories of Hadramout”, a digital documentary book
The project aims to document the traditional chants of Hadramout, sung by construction workers, fishermen, and farmers, while exploring the stories behind them. 30 chants and 25 stories will be collected and presented in a digital book that carefully compiles them through text and audio.
Jury:
Bashir Mefti, Algeria / Writer
Jamal Gubran, Yemen / Journalist and writer
Rasha Omran, Syria / Writer, poet, and cultural activist
“I was honored to serve on Culture Resource’s jury this year, as it allowed me to explore a wealth of experiences and discover young Arab literary talents across diverse forms, themes, and genres. Many of them reflect the struggles, wars, internal and external conflicts shaping the Arab region, while capturing the aspirations and dreams of young writers striving to express their turbulent reality, one filled with conflicts and nightmares. Their texts become windows to freedom and hope, expressed with a distinct voice that reflects their identities and surroundings with transparency and sincerity. I was thrilled by these young talents who present their aesthetic works with remarkable awareness and maturity, especially within an Arab region marked by wars and a reality weighed down by the tragedies of our brutal era, where values are eroding and literature resists, in its own way, the injustice against our people.”
-Bashir Mefti
“What stood out in this round was the abundance of short story projects compared to novels and poetry, especially considering that short stories were not as prevalent in contemporary Arabic literature until recently. I can only attribute this trend to the influence of social media, as we’ve all grown accustomed to concise forms of storytelling. Additionally, the fast-paced political developments that unfolded in the Arab region after 2011 likely call for a quicker mode of expression, which the short story often provides. I was also impressed by the number of submissions from Sudan, all of which, without exception, centered around war. Many of these truly caught my attention, and I wish I could rank them all among the top. For future rounds, I hope to see more projects in playwriting, a genre I find to be underrepresented in the young, contemporary Arabic literary scene, as well as projects that push boundaries with bold and unexpected innovation.”
-Rasha Omran
Music
Ayham Allouch, Syria / Composer and sound artist
“Between The Maps There’s A Song”, an audio and music project
The project aims to revive the memory of the land and its sounds in the Levant, especially Syria, by exploring traditional songs and folk chants that have long been part of the collective cultural memory of the land and its people. The project is a research and artistic journey that goes beyond traditional documentation, taking on an experimental approach that blends field recordings, sound design, and experimental music to create a sonic experience that reconnects with the region’s cultural roots and identity amidst the ongoing conflicts and displacement.
Dalia Rudwan, Syria / Performer
“Sites of Clouds” (Working title), a live music performance and sound installation
The project aims to produce a musical model that mimics the folk narration heritage, using the tale of Al-Zir Salem, one of the most famous folk tales in the Levant and northern Arab peninsula, where reality and myth cannot be separated. The message it carries represents warriors as heroes, and those who choose war and continue to fight as legendary characters who follow their destiny. But what about the narrative of the place and the women – wives, mothers, lovers, and daughters? By reinterpreting the story and exploring voices silenced by the clamor of battle, the project attempts to create a Syrian folk model that draws from ataba, poetry, zajal, and joufiya, blending these music forms with others to produce an authentic product that carries the region’s identity, offering a narrative different from the one that has dominated for centuries.
Faris Kamal Ahmad Amin, Palestine / Performer and composer
“Songs from the Land”, a music album and live performance
A community-based participatory music initiative that embraces a horizontal approach to songwriting and composition through improvisation and experimentation. The project aims to involve children from five Palestinian villages in all stages of song production (writing, composing, recording, and performing) to reflect their realities, hopes, and life challenges. This project will culminate in a music album and live performance, in collaboration with Al-Mada Foundation for Community Development through Arts, bringing together a group of community artists and musicians.
Farah Kaddour, Lebanon / Performer and composer
“Tilt”, a music album
TILT is a music ensemble founded by three Lebanese musicians: Farah Kaddour (Buzuq), Samah Boulmona (Arabic Accordion), and Ali Hout (Percussion), after numerous collaborations in different projects. Their debut album embraces an acoustic sound, which has become central to their music identity, one they are eager to further explore and refine.
R6sonance, Algeria / Music producer
“Lithic Memory”, a music album
An experimental electronic album that explores the boundaries between Algerian cultural heritage and abstraction. By reinventing traditional Algerian instruments through modular synthesis and ambient compositions, it questions cultural memory’s role in contemporary music without conventional fusion, offering an abstract experience linked to Amazigh mythology and Algerian identity.
Vipa, Tunisia / Performer, sound artist, and music producer
“One Band One Sound”, a music album and live music performance
The project fuses traditional fanfare and Tunisian contemporary hip-hop, focusing on solidarity, collective work, and overcoming daily challenges. It blends heritage and modernity, highlighting Tunisian identity within a global artistic context.
Jury:
Ayman Asfour, Egypt / Violinist and composer
Deena Abdelwahed, Tunisia / Producer, electronic music performer and DJ
Feras Charestan, Syria / Qanun player
“I extend my sincere gratitude and appreciation to all the applicants whose ambition and remarkable dedication to music filled me with optimism and pride. Their passion for creativity and music production inspires all music lovers and those who believe that enriching our musical heritage is a source of hope and inspiration for humanity, especially in this pivotal moment in history. The selection process was exceptionally challenging due to the high level of competition and the quality of the submitted projects. We tried our best to ensure the broadest possible representation of both geographical and musical diversity. I would like to encourage those who were not selected for this round to apply again next year.”
-Ayman Asfour
Performing arts
Forat Alhattab, Syria / Multidisciplinary performance artist
“If a mountain turns into a sea: Spaces of imagination in food”, a multidisciplinary project
The project is an experimental journey centered around food in its narrow and broad concepts through an exhibition that traverses the mountain-sea dichotomy. The work consists of an art installation and a live performance, drawing on field research into oral history, culinary traditions, and the geographical, environmental, and historical layers of food. The project focuses on two rural areas: Deir Atiyah in Syria’s Qalamoun Mountains and the Kerkennah Islands located off the coast in Tunisia. The viewers are immersed in a gastronomic and narrative journey that delves into the realms of imagination and creative landscapes of food.
Khalil Albattran, Palestine / Theater director
“Khalil Khalil”, a monodrama dance performance
In his performance, named after his martyred brother, Khalil AlBattran explores the lives of Palestinian children named after their martyred relatives as a tribute to their memory and as a means of sustaining resistance, as perceived by their families and society. Khalil tries to reconcile with two identities, using dance and music as a means to express his emotions and assert his own identity, free from the responsibility of bearing the martyr’s name.
Mohanad Smama, Palestine / Choreographer
“No Limits”, a dance performance
The performance merges contemporary dance with Palestinian folklore, portraying a body’s journey across boundaries, defying imposed restrictions. The performance takes the audience on an immersive journey into the heart of Gaza, where the dancer navigates the body’s response to physical and emotional trauma amid war.
Toto, Egypt / Choreographer and dancer
“Full Moon”, a dance performance
A contemporary dance performance exploring identity, rebellion, and transformation through shaabi dance, martial arts, and contemporary dance. It follows a protagonist’s journey of self-acceptance, challenging stereotypes and bridging cultural divides. The performance aims to inspire dialogue on identity and heritage, blending powerful movements with emotionally resonant themes.
Yara Boustany, Lebanon / Choreographer
“Mātri-phagía” (Working Title), a multidisciplinary project
A site-specific performative installation questioning the peculiarly destructive role of humanity in the relentless dance of evolution. Beirut embodies the mother-city, meeting her last breath – devoured, transfigured, and remolded; a city that nurtures its children through a cycle of destruction and rebirth. Three bare bodies consume its essence, absorbing and digesting its remnants in a transformative dance and enchanted ritual, revealing beauty in the horrific.
Yara Toni Al Khoury, Lebanon / Theater practitioner, poet, and choreographer
“If you feel lonely, take a walk”, a physical theater performance
The performance explores the themes of entrapment and loneliness by narrating the journey of an anorexic young woman, observing time passing by in her forced isolation at a psychiatric institution.
Jury:
Adel Abdelwahab, Egypt / Theater director, curator of performing arts, and the artistic director of the Theater is a Must Festival
Hoor Malas, Syria / Choreographer and performer
Jumana Al-Yasiri, Syria-Palestine-Iraq / Cultural researcher and expert
“The projects were inspiring, addressing the current political and social issues. They showcased the richness of the Arab region and reflected the artists’ profound sensitivity and deep understanding of the artistic language essential to theater and contemporary performing arts. This program, particularly the theater and performing arts grants, plays a pivotal role in supporting the independent theater sector and has remained one of the most significant production grants in the Arab region.”
-Adel Abdelwahab
“It is always a profound honor to have the opportunity to witness the courage, resilience, and creative potential of artists, as well as the remarkable diversity and richness of their proposals and ideas! Their work embodies perseverance and strength, offering a magical window into their reality, allowing us to glimpse and imagine their hopes and desires. There’s no better way to resist colonialism, war, violence, isolation, and harsh reality than through the creation of art – more and more art.”
-Hoor Malas
“I was struck by the number of projects that intersected in their political and social themes, while employing diverse tools and forms of expression to address these urgent issues. I was also moved by the number of projects emerging from regions marked by historical violence and by how theater practitioners navigate this difficult reality, transforming it into both a subject and catalyst for their art. The selection process was challenging and required great sensitivity, and as a jury, we wished we could support everyone. I hope to see the supported projects come to life and that those who were not selected this time find other pathways to realize their projects. Wishing everyone the best of luck!”
-Jumana Al-Yasiri
Visual Arts
Afraa Ahmed, Yemen / Visual artist
“Glossary of the Moon Window” (Working Title), an illustrated book
The book documents the journey that has introduced new terms and meanings for the ‘Qamariya’ (Moon Window) that was once mere gypsum windows, and now it symbolizes a connection to home and raises questions about identity and belonging in a changing context. The book includes a series of texts, photographs, and drawings, along with scanned materials related to the project. It also features conversations with the artist’s family, interviews with craftsmen from the Qamariya workshops, and links to audiovisual content to enrich the experience.
Almuqawil Meshal, Saudi Arabia / Visual artist
“D.I.Y. (Do It, Yousef)”, a multidisciplinary project
A multi-channel video installation that documents the daily progress of an unknown construction project in Riyadh. Through social media, Meshal regularly shares updates on the self-repairs carried out by participating artist Joseph Vadakumcheri (aka Yousef). The work incorporates found debris from the construction site, a livestream, a phone for inquiries, and more. The acts of restoration and maintenance serve as a form of resistance against the urban transformation in Saudi Arabia – and the wider region – where large-scale developments are built by an often invisible migrant workforce. As a collaborative and community-driven initiative, Meshal and Joseph bring together creatives from across the Arab region – Saudi Arabia, Yemen, the UAE, Jordan, and Palestine – in an attempt to answer a pressing question: Before we forget, how can we preserve our ever-changing culture?” through a series of restorations, self-repairs, and improvised solutions.
Nastassia َAïcha Nasser (Nastia), Lebanon / Architect and curator
“Fokhar Mbareh, Fokhar Bukra”, an exhibition
This will be the first exhibition organized in Ayta el Fokhar, located in the Rachaya district, a village nestled in the folds of the Anti-Lebanon Mountains. Revolving around the forgotten use of clay that gave its name to the village, the exhibition reassembles hidden stories to collectively imagine what could lie ahead.
Othmane Ouallal, Morocco / Visual artist
“Conquest / Escape”, paintings and an installation
The project focuses on the impacts of urbanization on the oasis of Tazarine in Morocco, addressing the social, cultural, and environmental challenges faced by oasis regions due to urban sprawl. The project includes a sculptural installation and a series of murals reflecting the contrast between modernity and tradition. Through a multidisciplinary approach that combines graphic design, painting, and sculpture, the project traces the history and evolution of the oasis over time. Set within a contemporary aesthetic-political framework, the work navigates the lingering presence of history while engaging with postcolonial questions.
Ruby Caurlette, Syria / Visual artist
“Leave, Stay, Live”, an interactive multimedia art exhibition
The exhibition explores airports not only as transit hubs but as spaces of visual and psychological conflicts, capturing everything from final farewells to reconnecting with familiar places, through the reenactment of the departure experience in migrant narratives. The artist experiments with diverse materials, including wood, folded paper structures, and 3D printing, to evoke resonance and light while constructing obstacles that mirror the experience of navigating airports and travel.
Wafaa Samir, Egypt / Visual artist
“What are you trying to tell me?”, an illustrated book
The book explores pain as a language, focusing on the body as an archive carrying individual and collective information and histories within our geographical, environmental, and temporal context. The project is concerned with how we express pain through texts and visuals, and how spoken and visual language can be used to describe another invisible one.
Yosr Ben Messaoud, Tunisia / Visual artist
“Nested Can”, a multidisciplinary project
The project uses tin cans to explore themes of exile and migration. These cans symbolize connections between migrants and their homelands, containing food prepared by loved ones. The cans transform into sensory vessels for video installations, representing bonds despite the absence of familiar landmarks. Through this project, Yosr seeks to restore the voices of expatriates and those lost in exile, tracing their official and unofficial travels – through memory and imagination – in pursuit of stability and a welcoming community, with these cans crossing borders alongside them.
Jury:
Essa Al Mufarji, Oman / Multidisciplinary visual artist
Gilbert Hage, Lebanon / Photography professor and consultant
Semhane Khelil, Algeria / Visual artist, translator, and researcher in International Relations and Human Rights Protection
“My participation in evaluating the submitted projects allowed me to explore a variety of experiences, ideas, and questions that preoccupy young Arab artists, whether on a personal, social, or political level. The projects varied in their artistic styles, adding a unique intellectual and geographical depth to the evaluation process. All submissions were carefully reviewed based on clear criteria, including the clarity of the concept, quality, feasibility, social and political relevance, and the depth and thoroughness of the proposal. This process enabled us to select the most comprehensive and outstanding projects. We look forward to seeing these projects come to life, enriching the regional art scene and supporting artists in realizing their future projects. While many submissions presented profound and unique ideas, some were not selected due to incomplete or unclear applications. Therefore, I encourage submitting more comprehensive and clear applications to enhance future opportunities.”
-Essa Al Mufarji
“What stood out to me is that these young talents recognize their concerns as more than just individual or local – they are collective, sometimes even carrying universal dimensions. I would like to commend the self-made creatives who submitted exceptional proposals and encourage them to apply in even greater numbers in the future. Many have not had the opportunity to study at prestigious universities abroad or access the support networks available to their graduates. This underscores the vital role of cultural organizations in our region in supporting and empowering them to realize their artistic ambitions. We’ve received many outstanding applications, making the selection process challenging considering the high quality of the submissions. I congratulate the grantees and eagerly look forward to seeing their projects come to life.”
-Gilbert Hage
“I extend my heartfelt congratulations to all the artists whose fascinating works I had the privilege of discovering in the field of Visual Arts. I was truly impressed by the high artistic quality demonstrated, regardless of the tools and mediums chosen by artists from various disciplines. The political, cultural, economic, and social themes explored in their works reflect a deep awareness among young artists in the Arab region—not only of the challenges within their societies but also of the immense potential for a better future, improved living conditions, and the pursuit of human dignity. I especially congratulate the grant recipients and wish all participating artists great success in their creative journeys. Art remains a powerful and essential force for change, which is why I strongly support the mission of Culture Resource.”
-Semhane Khalil
Image from Hussein Hosameldin’s Film “The Day I Lost My Name”, supported by the Production Awards program 2024.
