The Team
Shivani Pandya, Managing Director
As the Managing Director of the Dubai International Film Festival, Shivani Pandya holds the mandate to direct strategic and operational aspects of the festival. Prior to her current role, Shivani was the executive director of the festival. She has been with DIFF since its beginnings in 2004 and contributed to the successful management of the festival project plan while overseeing the festival’s marketing and operations departments.
Shivani’s previous responsibilities were as a member of the Dubai Media City - Business Development team since 2000. In her capacity, she added considerable industry specific experience towards developing a strategy for nurturing the film industry in Dubai and promoting it as a location of choice for film production.
During her tenure, she established the media cluster’s broadcasting department, and facilitated the addition of more than 20 international broadcasters under the DMC umbrella.
She holds a Baccalaureate Honours degree in Economics from Delhi University and a Masters in Marketing and Communications from the Xavier’s Institute of Communication in Mumbai, India.
Masoud Amralla Al Ali, Artistic Director
As Artistic Director of DIFF, Masoud Amralla Al Ali oversees the entire programming for the festival that comprises films from Arab and international filmmakers.
Masoud’s passion for cinema ensured that his knowledge, experience and expertise were an important part of DIFF from the very first edition. The 2006 edition of DIFF saw Masoud’s appointment as Artistic Director of Arabic Programming and General Coordinator of the Muhr Awards – a platform that recognises talent from the world of Arab cinema. As Artistic Director, he was responsible for selecting films from the Arab and non-Arab worlds for the Arabian Nights and Emerging Emiratis programming sections.
In his capacity as Artistic Director of the UAE Cultural Foundation, a national cultural institution funded by the federal government in Abu Dhabi, he founded the Emirates Film Competition, an annual cinema event held in Abu Dhabi to promote Arab films and encourage Arab filmmakers from the UAE and the region.
Masoud is highly respected in the film community and is generally regarded as one of the region’s best-informed experts on Arab cinema. He has directed several documentary films and writes extensively as a critic on Arab cinema in Arabic publications.
Mahsa Motamedi, Director of Marketing and Sponsorship
Mahsa Motamedi has been closely involved with DIFF since its inaugural year, in 2004. As Director of Marketing and Sponsorship, she works with a roster of high-profile sponsors, taking the festival increasingly on to the world stage. Mahsa has a passion for marketing and believes that DIFF’s excellent content speaks for itself in promoting a strong brand with international reach.
Mahsa has been an integral part of the organisation since 2000 and was responsible for the launch event of Dubai Internet City. Given her love for the media, she shifted to Dubai Media City, where she was a key member of the marketing department for 5 years. She spearheaded initiatives such as IBDAA, the Student Media Awards, and managed the project for several years.
Originally from Iran, Mahsa was educated in England and started her advertising career in London before moving to the UAE.
Simon Field, International Artistic Director
Simon Field was appointed as the Artistic Director for International Programming for DIFF 2006, making him responsible for all non-Arab programming and overseeing a strong team of programmers. In addition to providing overall artistic direction for the festival’s non-Arab cinema, Field continued to curate the festival’s Insights from Asia, and Café Europe programmes.
At DIFF 2005, Simon Field was responsible for the two programmes, Insights from Asia, which provided the Dubai audiences an opportunity to view the best contemporary cinema from the Far East, as well as Café Europe which showcased a selection of films from the important film-producing countries of Europe.
Simon worked for many years as a freelance writer, lecturer on cinema and a curator, before becoming Director of Cinema at London’s Institute of Contemporary Arts in 1988.
For eight years he programmed the ICA’s two cinemas and ran their film distribution company ICA Projects. In 1996 he was invited to become Director of the International Film Festival in Rotterdam. There he continued to emphasise the festival’s profiling of new directors and directions in cinema with a special focus on Asian cinema, the cinema of developing countries and cross-overs between cinema and the other arts.
Since leaving Rotterdam in 2004, Field joined the London-based film production company Illumination Films. In collaboration with Keith Griffiths at Illumination Films, he continues to work on the major New Crowned Hope project and develop future films.
Dan Butkovich, Festival Development Director
Dan Butkovich is responsible for ensuring DIFF’s new initiatives are consistent with the overall vision of the festival. In his role, Dan works at developing all of DIFF’s technological demands and adapting them to meet the requirements of the festival’s comprehensive internal training programmes. He also oversees Registration & Accreditations, the Box Office, and Customer Services.
Dan has more than 20 years of experience in the field of customer service management, across a range of arts and not-for-profit organisations and has worked closely with DIFF since it was launched. In the previous edition he was involved in tripling audience attendance since the inaugural year and worked with a team to ensure DIFF patrons received the highest level of customer services.
In recent years, Dan has provided consultancy services to numerous organisations, including DIFF, and worked at developing policies and processes for various departments, implementing ticketing solutions for events, providing training and establishing international guidelines for customer services.
Previously with the Toronto International Film Festival Group, Dan, developed and managed the Box Office and Customer Services departments. Under his leadership, the Box Office became an important source of revenue for the festival and brought in more than $4 million from the five divisions of the group. Dan also maintained a 95 % customer satisfaction rate for 10 consecutive years.
Jane Williams, Assistant Executive for Industry Office
Jane Williams set up DIFF’s Industry Office in 2006. As the Manager, she arranges and organises events and networking opportunities that benefit the festival’s industry delegates. Jane also oversees the production of the Industry Guide, which contains the profiles of registered Industry guests attending DIFF.
Jane moved to Amsterdam in 1998 to become Head of Training at the Maurits Binger Film Institute in Holland. Since 2002 she has been working as a freelance consultant specialising in project selection and consulting in training. She has worked for the Cinemart and Hubert Bals Fund at the International Film Festival Rotterdam, the Balkan Fund, Thessaloniki International Film Festival, Greece and the Industry Office at the BAFICI in Buenos Aries. She is an expert for the European Commission and currently consults for the Royal Film Commission in Jordan.
Maria Herman, Manager of Operations
As Manager of Operations, Maria’s role is wide ranging, from special projects such as the amFAR charity event and working with UNICEF, to involvement with the operations of the different venues within the festival.
Prior to her arrival in Dubai, Maria has 16 years working experience and was the Manager of Guest Relations at the Toronto International Film Festival for over five years. During this time she was also involved in the development of a year round Guest Relations Office, servicing all divisions of the Toronto International Film Festival Group, including Cinemateque Ontario and Canada’s Top Ten.
In addition, she ran the Education Programme at the Sprockets Toronto International Film Festival for Children as Manager of Education and Outreach. During her four years with Sprockets she achieved her goal of assisting teachers with their curriculum by engaging children in discussions through film. Maria has a Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University of Western Ontario and has worked in both Mexico and the Dominican Republic.
Marketing Manager
Zeina Alami
Sponsorship Manager
Nouf Al Hammadi
PR Manager
Alia Al-Ali
Human Capital
Marina Verghese
Competition Administrator
Badriah Al Khouri
Executive Assistant to Chairman
Lacey Plato
Administrative
Eric D’souza
