Festival's 2015 edition to offer 8 days of inspiring films, industry workshops and other cinematic events from December 9 – 16, 2015
Dubai, February 8, 2015 – Back for its 12th year, the Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) has announced that its 2015 edition will take place from December 9 – 16, 2015 at Madinat Jumeirah, the home of DIFF. The festival's 11th edition, which took place in December 2014, saw filmmakers, actors and industry professionals from across the globe descend on Dubai for eight thrilling days of cinema.
Abdulhamid Juma, Chairman, DIFF, said: “Firmly etched into the UAE's calendar since its inception in 2004, DIFF has become an event that brings the community together to enjoy the best films from around the world, share knowledge and celebrate up-and-coming talent. Arab cinema has made great strides over the past decade, with more and more films reaching audiences both at home and abroad, and we are proud to say that DIFF has been a crucial part of this growth. As we look towards our 12th year, we are more excited than ever to share these incredible achievements with audiences from the UAE and beyond.”
A total of 118 features, film shorts and documentaries including 55 world and international premieres from 48 countries in 34 languages were enjoyed by over 50,000 festival goers over the duration of the festival.
Serving as a testament to the excellence of DIFF's programming, DIFF's 11th edition film line-up has received 33 Oscar nominations for the upcoming 87th Academy Awards and has won 4 Golden Globes, 2 Screen Actor Guild Awards and 8 Critics Choice Awards. In 2014, DIFF showcased some of the most acclaimed films of the year including ‘The Theory of Everything', ‘Birdman' and ‘The Imitation Game' which are all in the running for Best Motion Picture of the Year.
The Dubai Film Market (DFM), DIFF's industry arm was attended by over 2,500 industry representatives and film professionals from 81 countries. Addressing one of the key issues the GCC film industry faces today, the Dubai Distribution Programme was launched at the DFM's 2014 edition. The initiative was created through an agreement with leading Middle East distributors, who each committed to acquire at least one Arab title from the DIFF line-up and release it theatrically across the region.
Through this initiative, Dubai-based distributor VOX, which operates cinemas in the UAE, Oman and Lebanon, has picked up Waleed Al Shehhi's debut feature Dolphins for release in the Gulf. Baghdad-based Iraqi Cinemas has acquired Amir Ramses's Cairo Time and Gulf Films is in final negotiations to take on Abood Kandaishan by up and coming Emirati director Fadel Almheiri. In addition many independent acquisitions took places during the festival.
Enjaaz, the Dubai Film Market's post-production and production support programme which provides vital financial support to film projects led by Arab film-makers and production funding to film projects helmed by Gulf film-makers supported 17 films in the programme at DIFF's 11th edition.
The Forum, an invigorating series of panel discussions, master classes, case studies, workshops and networking sessions saw an increase in 40% in attendance figures. PwC Middle East used the Forum platform to launch the Middle East and Africa insights of PwC's 15th annual edition of Global Entertainment & Media Outlook 2014-2018.
The winners of the hotly-contested Muhr Awards, which have helped create some of the globe's most unique films since 2006, were announced at the iconic Burj Al Arab.
DIFF's Muhr Feature competition jury was headed up by Lee Daniels, the multi-talented producer and director of Oscar-winning ‘Precious' and ‘The Butler'. He was joined by Dutch cinematographer and film director Leonard Retel Helmrich, acclaimed Algerian director Malik Bensmail, Oscar nominated actress Virginia Madsen and Lebanese director and actress Nadine Labaki.
The Muhr Shorts and Emirati competition was headed up by renowned film critic and author Mohammed Rouda and was joined by Palestinian director Cherien Dabis and Emirati screenwriter Mohammed Hassan Ahmed.
Emirati filmmaker Saeed Salmeen Al Murry won the inaugural Ministry of Interior Award for Best Societal Screenplay, taking home $100,000 for his work ‘Going to Heaven'. Aisha Alzaabi won Best Film in the Muhr Emirati category for ‘The Other Dimension', while Best Film in the Muhr Shorts category went to Hinde Boujemaa for ‘…and Romeo Married Juliette'. Best Non-Fiction Film in the Muhr Feature category went to Nujoom Al Ghanem for ‘Nearby Sky'; and Best Fiction Film was won by Khadija AL Salami for ‘I am Nojoom Aged 10 and Divorced'. The winners received their prizes from His Highness Sheikh Mansour Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
Golden Globe Winner and IWC Schaffhausen brand ambassador Emily Blunt presented the IWC Filmmaker Award to Abdullah Boushahri for his film “The Water” during the festivial. For the third consecutive year, IWC collaborated with DIFF to recognize one talented filmmaker from the region with the esteemed award.
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