The Exchange

Launched in 2009 The Exchange is a consolidation of all of DIFF’s activities in the area of talent development and comprises:

• Interchange
• The DIFF Young Journalist Award
• Student’s Day

At its heart, The Exchange is based on the principal that long term international collaborations are built on mutual understanding and to achieve this goal there must be a forum for “exchange” – exchanging ideas, skills, knowledge and expertise.

The Exchange is the place for young and “would-be” filmmakers as well as film professionals to be inspired by internationally renowned directors, producers and actors invited to DIFF and to participate in master classes, case studies and panel sessions. It’s the place to develop business know-how, creative skills and techniques and extend regional and international networks.

Interchange

The Dubai International Film Festival, TorinoFilmLab and the European Audiovisual Entrepreneurs (EAVE) have launched a new Middle East – European training initiative. Supported by the European Union’s MEDIA programme, Interchange will consist of two intensive 4 and 5 day workshops (April and December 2010) and two online sessions in order to keep the project development in a constructive flow. The first workshop in Torino (Italy) is dedicated only to writers, the second one in Dubai to both writers and producers. The workshops will address all the subjects connected to in-depth project development (script development, co-production strategies, budget and financing, marketing and production, pitching); provide wide-ranging networking opportunities with key players from both Arab and EU film industries; offer first-hand experience knowledge and awareness on both markets through project presentation at international co-production market.

Eligibility: Teams of writer/director + producer from Europe, the Gulf countries and selected countries in the Middle East (Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Palestinian Territories, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Yemen). The applicant producers should have a demonstrable track record of producing in their own country and perhaps internationally (feature films, documentaries, music videos, advertising). European applicants must be able to demonstrate a clear relationship to or involvement with the countries indicated above and proposed projects should come from or be related to them. For more information and to apply for the Interchange workshops, please click here.

DIFF Young Journalist Award (DIFF YJA)

To highlight the important role film journalism plays within the film industry, in 2008, the Industry Office set-up the DIFF Young Journalist Award. The programme is open to UAE residents currently enrolled in either journalism, PR, film studies or mass media communications courses at the tertiary level. In 2009, the festival and the MBC Group teamed up to produce a programme which consisted of a series of open workshops as well as a mentoring programme for 10 selected students from 5 universities. The open sessions looked at topics like covering a film festival and film industry event, reviewing films and how digital platforms are changing the way journalists write about films and the film business.

The second aspect of the programme which incorporated the competition section, gave a small group of students the opportunity to participate as an editorial team within the context of a film festival. During DIFF, the 10 students attended the open workshops and then under the guidance of mentors were given assignments to carry-out for publication in the DIFF Daily. The mentoring participants covered festival events and screenings and operated as a news team working towards deadlines. They worked in groups as well as individually and part of the programme included one-to-one feedback and coaching sessions from the mentors.

The mentors for the 2009 DIFF YJA were:

Scott Macaulay – Filmmaker Magazine and Producer
Colin Brown – Formerly at Screen International and Freelance Film Consultant

Student’s Day

As part of the DIFF’s ongoing commitment to exposing the younger generation to potential careers within the film industry, the Industry Office hosts an open day for secondary school and university students. The Industry Office organizes panel discussions and other events on the day so that students get an opportunity to learn and interact with international film professionals. At DIFF 2009, the students attended a panel session of filmmakers whose first feature-length films made it into the official festival selection. In addition, they were invited to a screening of ‘Amreeka’ which was followed by a Q&A with the filmmaker and cast and then they attended the ‘Variety: Conversation with Gerard Butler’.