Fantastic Tale is an adventurous story of Sweetie, who fixes an old boat to chase a mystical pink fish to reunite with his sister.
By Helena Olori
Fantastic Tale, an upcoming feature film directed by Kenyan filmmaker, Vincho Nchogu and produced by Josh Olaoluwa, Nigerian producer behind Ebonylife’s romantic dramedy, A Sunday Affair, has been named as one of the four winning projects for the 4th edition of the Red Sea Lodge, as announced at the 2023 Red Sea International Film Festival.
The other winning projects are Amaal Youssif’s By Hasnaa’s Side, My Father Killed Bourghiba by Fatma Riahi, and Black Snake directed by Zimbabwe’s Naishe Nyamubaya.
“Congratulations to the winning Red Sea Lodge projects, and we hope that these grants provide the necessary support for these projects to enjoy the spotlight at the next editions of the #RedSeaIFF,” the Red Sea Film Foundation shared in a post on Instagram.
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Earlier this year, the Red Sea Lodge opened its doors to African projects, in recognition and support of the burgeoning film industry on the continent. In partnership with TorinoFilmLab, the programme “selects projects for creative and professional mentorship, development, and next-level industry opportunities”.
Fantastic Tale from Nigeria and Black Snake from Zimbabwe were the two African projects selected to participate in the Red Sea Lodge’s intensive creative programme. For 10 months, these projects, alongside 10 others, underwent development through five workshops, three of which were held in Saudi Arabia, one online, and the final in Torino, Italy.
The programme culminated with a pitch session, during which the 12 participating projects competed on the sidelines of the Red Sea International Film Festival in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Subsequently, the Jury selected four outstanding projects as the winners of the Red Sea Lodge Prize for Production, each receiving a substantial production fund of $50,000.
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Having completed the development phase, Fantastic Tale is now set to enter the production stage, which includes finishing the script and raising the rest of the production cost, with the awarded funds contributing to the financing of its principal photography over the next few years.
Fantastic Tale is an adventure-fantasy drama that tells the story of Sweetie, an eccentric child who repairs an old boat and sails down a perilous lagoon, driven by the determination to catch a mystical pink fish that could make him wealthy enough to bring his sister home.
Olaoluwa’s co-founded Conceptified Media African Film Company will helm the film’s production.