• Home

Shasha Grant for The Kidnap, Shelter

ABU DHABI — The Shasha Grant of $100,000 will be divided between two filmmakers Dima Hamdan and Kasem Kharsa for their films The Kidnap and Shelter respectively. The Shasha Grant is designed to showcase rising talent in film and television across the Middle East.

The announcement was made by the Abu Dhabi Film Commission (ADFC) on Friday at the end of its fourth annual Circle Conference at the Intercontinental Abu Dhabi.

Mohammed Khalaf Al Mazrouei, Culture and Heritage Affairs adviser at Crown Prince Court and director general of the Abu Dhabi Culture and Heritage (ADACH) presented the Shasha Grant prize in the presence of Shaikha Al Zain Al Sabah from Kuwait, Eissa Saif Al Mazrouei, director of Special Projects at ADACH and David Shepheard, Director of ADFC.

Hamdan and Kharsa were chosen as this year’s Shasha Grant recipients from among six finalists who came to the Circle Conference to pitch their projects to a jury of industry 
leaders.

Hamdan’s film, The Kidnap, tells the story of a Jordanian police chief whose life is thrown apart when his pregnant wife is kidnapped. He embarks on a secret mission to find her, and uncovers a dark secret that threatens his family and professional future.

Kharsa’s film, Shelter, is the story of an amnesiac Iraqi refugee struggling to survive in Beirut. When he is arrested and falsely accused of war crimes, he is forced to piece together a violent past, and a gypsy boy he orphaned who is now hunting him down.

As part of the grant, ADFC will continue to work closely with Hamdan and Kharsa to see the project through development and production.

ADFC also presented a special prize to finalists Rana Kazkaz and Anas Khalaf for their project Damascenes: a trip to the 37º South Market at the Melbourne International Film Festival as part of a partnership between ADFC and the MIFF 37º South 
Market. — olivia@khaleejtimes.com

• UAE