The producers of the three winning projects will be awarded registration for the prestigious Producers Network at the Cannes Film Festival in 2009.

• Directors must be of Arab nationality or origin - Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Palestinian Territories, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen
• Directors must have previous directing experience – short films or features
• The project must have a producer. The producer can be of any nationality.
• The project must be either fiction or documentary feature length films intended for theatrical distribution
• The project must be at an advanced stage of development i.e. ready to be presented and discussed with potential partners. A full draft script and a financial plan will be required as part of the selection process
• All materials must be submitted in English

Selection Process:

Following the deadline an international team of experts will evaluate the submissions and select a total of 15 feature film projects. The final selection will be completed by the end of October and selected filmmakers will be contacted by a DFC representative.

1. A completed on-line application form
2. Synopsis of 1- 2 pages
3. Script for fiction features/full treatment for documentary features
4. Director’s movitation/visual concept
5. Director’s biography
6. Producer’s biography
7. Company profile/s
8. Budget outline
9. Finance plan
10. 5 copies of a DVD containing sample/s of the director’s previous work

Incomplete applications will not be considered.

Project entry is in two steps:

1. Fill out the on-line application form and attach requested documents by August 4, 2008. on-line application form is available on http://registration.dubaifilmfest.com/entryform/dfc/
2. Send all the additional materials in hard copy including the 5 DVDs by courier to arrive no later than 11th August to:

Contact Name:
Eric D souza
Dubai International Film Festival
Dubai Media City
Bldg 2 (CNN)
First Floor
PO Box 53777
Dubai, UAE
Contact telephone number +971 4 367 6720

Please mention “without commercial value, for cultural purposes only” and mark “no value” or not more than “10 US$”.

All shipping costs are the responsibility of the applicant.

Submitted materials cannot be returned.

For any enquiries please contact: Jane Williams at dubaifilmconnection@tecom.ae

Fifteen feature and documentary projects from Arab filmmakers from around the world were selected and presented to an invited guest list of 80 international industry professionals including:

Films Distribution – France, Fortissimo Films – Hong Kong/Netherlands, Rhombus Media Inc. – Canada, Cinetic Media,– USA, The World Cinema Fund – Germany, ART – Saudi Arabia, Showtime Arabia – UAE, Arte Cinema - France, Channel Four - UK, CNC – France, BBC Films – UK, Al Jazeera – Qatar, SBS – Australia, MBC – UAE, Hubert Bals Fund- Netherlands, Memento Films – France, Rotana – Saudi Arabia

The Dubai Film Connection focuses on bridging cultures by bringing international and Arab film professionals together to collaborate on the realisation of 15 selected projects. Building on the success of 2007, the DFC will take place again during the 2008 edition of the Dubai International Film Festival.

The event includes:

• Three day schedule of one-to-one meetings between the 15 selected director/producer teams and key industry professionals from the fields of production, sales, distribution, funding and broadcasting with a view to assisting in the realisation of the project
• Individualised meeting agendas prepared in advance of the event for all participants
• Programme of networking events and industry panels
• Project Dossier detailing the selected projects available on the festival website and circulated to all industry professionals in advance of the Project Market
• Team of industry experts available for consultation and support to enable all participants to have a productive experience
• Viewing library containing previous films of directors selected for DFC

Attendance is by invitation only. If you would like to be considered for the guest list then please send a company profile and filmography to Jane Williams, Head of the Industry Office, dubaifilmconnection@tecom.ae

The workshops were supported by DIFF, and sessions were held in Mumbai, Dubai and Cairo by adolescent filmmakers. The resulting videos can be seen on the DIFF website (www.dubaifilmfest.com) on March 30, 2008.

The Cairo session, generously hosted by the Goethe Institute, took place 20-24 February, and drew 18 participants aged 12 to 19 from in and around Cairo to learn basic camera skills and create stories based on the theme “Daily Life.”

The participants were asked to develop ideas about things they see everyday, dreams and goals them have for themselves, and aspects of their lives. Alberto de Michele and Jennifer Petterson, two artists from Amsterdam who represent the One Minutes Foundation, taught the participants about story development and production skills, and helped the participants shoot and edit their one minute story.

Shivani Pandya, DIFF’s Managing Director, said: “the oneminutesjr workshops were an extension of our mandate to develop and nurture filmmaking talent across the region, and to reaffirm our social commitment. We were very pleased with the way the workshops were conducted, and we urge those who are interested in cinema as a platform for cross-cultural understanding to view the remarkable videos online.”

The final 18 films were shown at a screening at the Goethe Institute attended by parents, friends and the community, including members of the Egyptian Radio and Television Union.

Karen Cirillo, Executive Producer, Children’s Broadcasting Initiatives, UNICEF, commented on the OneMinutesJr. initiative: “Partnering with DIFF was an excellent opportunity for us to continue our expansion throughout the world. DIFF’s aim to expand the filmmaking community throughout the region dovetails with ours, which is to position film as the ideal instrument for young people to express themselves and to learn about each other through a universal visual language.”

DIFF has partnered with UNICEF in past festival editions; in 2006, the film Invisible Children, produced by the World Health Organization and UNICEF, was screened as part of a fundraiser, where all proceeds were donated to UNICEF.

DIFF 2008 will take place from December 11 to 18, 2008.

Further details will be forthcoming throughout the year, but organizers have already announced that the festival will add a programming segment devoted exclusively to animation, and that the Muhr Awards will be expanded to the Muhr Asia/Africa Competition, which will run alongside the successful Muhr Awards for Excellence in Arab Cinema.

DIFF Chairman Abdulhamid Juma commented on the fifth edition: “Although the festival is almost 10 months away, our work begins immediately to bring Dubai the fifth edition of the biggest event on the emirate’s cultural calendar. We have received such strong support from the Dubai community as well as from Government Departments, Sponsors, Schools and Volunteers. We look forward to seeing you in December.”

DIFF brings together the foremost cinema figures and fans from the Arab world and beyond, and with each year it adds more high-level events to its repertoire. The fourth edition saw the inaugural Cinema Against AIDS Dubai charity auction raise USD 3 Million for the fight against HIV/AIDS. It also introduced Rhythm and Reels, a new concept of enjoying cinema through the pairing of a new and daring musical film with a live musical performance for three evenings under the stars at the Dubai Media City Amphitheatre.

DIFF is one of the most anticipated annual cultural events in Dubai bringing the best in International and Arab cinema to film lovers in the region. The fifth edition of DIFF promises to continue premiering films of excellence and also host innovative events celebrating the magic of cinema.

Dubai, December 16, 2007: At the close of the successful fourth edition of the Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF), the organizers announced that the Muhr Awards for Excellence in Arab Cinema will be expanded for 2008 to include a new Asia/Africa Competition. The festival will also add an Animation programming segment to focus on that popular cinematic form.

The Muhr Asia/Africa Competition will feature cash prizes for the best Feature, Documentary and Short films, as well as the awards introduced this year for Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Script, Best Editor, Best Composer and Best Cinematography. Cash prizes will be equal for the Arab and Asia/Africa competitions.

Masoud Amralla al Ali, the festival’s Artistic Director and Coordinator General of Competition, stated: “DIFF is in a perfect position to showcase cinema from Asia and Africa, being a crossroads between Asia, Africa, Europe, and points beyond. We feel that this award embodies the cosmopolitan nature of our festival, as well as Dubai’s incredible diversity.

“Furthermore, some of the film communities within the remit of the new competition often operate under extreme duress. Particularly in developing countries, artists need help and recognition to continue their craft.”

In addition, there will be a special Animation segment among the Out of Competition offerings.

Simon Field, DIFF’s Artistic Director of International Programming, stated: “We included Animation as a special category first, because it is a special sub-genre that is evolving rapidly with new technology. This programme will offer viewers the chance to sample the newest trends in international animation as well as to sense the diversity in this unique art form.

“We want to showcase animation from around the region and to encourage production in that sector. To that end, we will feature the animation films made by winners of the Ibda’a Media Student Awards to demonstrate our support for that important initiative.”

The fourth successful run of DIFF draws to a close today.

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December 15, 2007: At an industry event held at the Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF), officials of the Red Sea Institute of Cinematic Arts (RSICA) officially announced that the new post-graduate facility will accept applications for September courses from February 17, 2008.

The Institute, located in Aqaba, Jordan, is a fully-accredited graduate school offering a Master of Fine Arts in Cinematic Arts. It will combine career development and business skills with advanced education in cinema, television and a wide range of screen-based media.

Initiated by His Majesty King Abdullah of Jordan, the school is a partnership with the prestigious University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts, engineered by the Royal Film Institute of Jordan.

The two-year MFA program will provide the burgeoning regional film industry with highly trained professionals in all aspects of pre-production, production and post-production. Admission is open to holders of Bachelor’s Degrees in any subject demonstrating their creative potential through a portfolio (not limited to film or media work) and interview.

The RSICA degree will include practical and theoretical components, and the first students will graduate in 2010.

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Dubai, December 15, 2007: The Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) is by no means over for 2007. There is still one more day of the best in international cinema, including the screenings of the winning feature and documentary films for the Muhr Awards for Excellence in Arab Cinema.

The awards screenings offer a chance to see the strongest new Arab cinema. The Bronze, Silver and Gold Muhr Documentary finalists will screen at 13:00, 15:30, and 17:45 respectively in Cinestar Mall of the Emirates theatre 2. The Muhr Awards features will be the last films to screen at the festival: the Silver and Bronze winners will screen at 19:45 at Cinestar, while the Gold feature will screen at the same time at the Souk Madinat Jumeirah theatre.

In the early afternoon, Night Shadows explores 24 hours in the life of five socially-outcast people in Geneva who defy that city’s picture-postcard image; the film screens at 12:15 at Cinestar Theatre 1. Am Ende Kommen Touristen (And Along Come Tourists) screens at Cinestar 7 at 12:30. The film presents the story of a sensitive young German man who avoids his military service by volunteering to be the caregiver for a former Auschwitz inmate who refuses to leave the camp where he was once imprisoned.

Also at 12:30, viewers can catch Naalu Pennungal (Four Women), by Adoor Gopalakrishnan, at the Souk Madinat Jumeirah Theatre. The film depicts the subjugation of Indian women of the southern region of Kerala.  At 15:30 at the same venue, Before the Rains portrays the dilemma of a married British colonialist in 1930’s India who is caught having an affair with his housemaid.

From Bangladesh, Golam Rabbany Biplob’s Swopnodanay (On the Wings of Dreams) depicts a poor villager whose life turns upside down when he finds a wad of cash; the film screens at 15:15 at Cinestar 1. At the same time in Cinestar 7, Intimate Enemies shows the clash between an idealistic young lieutenant and a cynical sergeant in the occupying French army during Algeria’s War of Independence.

The final non-competition feature in the festival will be veteran genre director Johnnie To’s super stylish action thriller Exiled, to show at 18:15 at Cinestar 7. The film follows two Hong Kong hit men on a new assignment: to take out a renegade member trying to turn over a new leaf with his wife and baby. Two former associates vow to thwart them at any cost.

DIFF Box Offices are located at the Souk Madinat Jumeirah, the lobby of the CNN building at Dubai Media City, Cinestar at Mall of the Emirates, and the Grand Cineplex. Tickets can also be purchased online through the festival’s website at www.dubaifilmfest.com, or via the DIFF phone sales line on 04 367-6701.

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