Filmmakers can enter 5th Dubai Film Connection by Aug. 22, submit scripts in
Arabic, French or English
Dubai, UAE; August 10, 2011: The Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF), held under the
patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and
Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, has extended its submission deadline for the fifth
cycle of Dubai Film Connection, DIFF’s co-production market, until August 22, 2011.
For the first time, Dubai Film Connection will also accept scripts in Arabic and French in addition
to English – opening its doors to a wider pool of filmmakers from the Middle East region and
around the world.
The twin changes are the Festival’s response to growing feedback and requests from Arab and
Arab-origin filmmakers keen to participate in the Middle East’s most successful co-production
market. The Dubai Film Connection has already received more than 100 entries prior to its
original August 1 deadline.
Launched in 2007, the Dubai Film Connection selects 15 regional documentary and feature film
projects in development annually, offering more than US$100,000 in funding. In addition, the
co-production market also provides emerging filmmakers with invaluable industry connections,
including matchmaking with specialists in sales, distribution, and funding. Since its inception, it
has showcased 64 projects from the Middle East, of which 18 films have been completed and
debuted to international acclaim and an additional 10 are in production.Shivani Pandya, Managing Director, Dubai International Film Festival, said: “In just five years,
the Dubai Film Connection has built a strong portfolio of Middle Eastern cinema that has
gone on to significant regional and international success. We consider the growing filmmaker
interest in our co-production market to be very positive, and have done as much as we can to
accommodate their requests.”
The Dubai Film Connection awards include a €6,000 prize from ARTE France; US$10,000 Film
Clinic award for a debut feature film; three DIFF awards of US$25,000; US$15,000 Screen
Institute Beirut DIFF Documentary Award; and five registrations for producers from the Arab
world to the prestigious Producers Network at Cannes 2012.
The Dubai Film Connection's completed films include: Amreeka (Cherien Dabis, USA/Kuwait);
The Avenue of the Wounded Palm Trees (Abdellatif Ben Ammar, Tunisia/Algeria); Beit Sha'ar/
Nomad's Home (Iman Kamel, Egypt/Germany/Kuwait/UAE); City of Life (Ali Mostafa, UAE);
Death for Sale (Faouzi Bensaidi, Morocco, France, Belgium); Everyday is a Holiday (Dima El Horr,
Lebanon/France); The Fifth String (Selma Bargach, Morocco); Fix Me (Raed Andoni, Palestine/
Switzerland); Man Without a Cell Phone (Sameh Zoabi, Palestine/Germany); Messages From the
Sea (Saoud Abdel Sayed, Morocco); The One Man Village (Simon El Habre, Lebanon/Germany);
Port of Memory (Kamal Aljafari, Palestine/Germany); Son of Babylon (Mohamed Al Daradji, Iraq,
UK); Tangled up in Blue (Haider Rashid, Iraq/UK/Saudi Arabia/Italy); This is my Picture When
I Was Dead (Mahmoud Al Massad, Jordan/Netherlands); We Were Communists (Maher Abi
Samra, Lebanon/ UAE/France); Zelal (Marianne Khoury, Mustapha Hasnaoui, Egypt/France/
Morocco/UAE); Zindeeq (Michel Khleifi, Palestine).
DIFF is currently also receiving entries for its Muhr Awards for Emirati, Arab, and AsiaAfrica
films, as well as for the official out-of-competition segment at its eighth edition to be held from
Dec. 7 to 14, 2011. The deadline for submissions is August 31, 2011.
DIFF is held in association with Dubai Studio City. Dubai Duty Free, Dubai International
Financial Centre, Dubai Pearl, Emirates Airline and Madinat Jumeirah, the home of the Dubai
International Film Festival, are the principal sponsors of DIFF. The Festival is supported by the
Dubai Culture & Arts Authority.
For more and updated information about DIFF, please visit www.dubaifilmfest.com or join DIFF
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