Gulf Film Festival receives over 1300 submissions from 77 countries

Gulf Film Festival (GFF), the annual event celebrating Gulf cinema, held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Majid Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Dubai Culture & Arts Authority, has received over 1300 submissions from 77 countries for consideration for both the Festival’s In-Competition and Out of Competition categories.

Submissions have been received from across the Middle East & North Africa, as well as from further afield including India, China, USA, South America and Europe, among others. The Festival, conceived as a platform for showcasing talent from the GCC, received entries from Afghanistan, Ghana, Macedonia and Vietnam as well.

GFF Festival Director Masoud Amralla Al Ali said that the large number of submissions from across the globe highlights the emergence of the Gulf region not only as inspiration for films but also as one that promotes independent filmmaking.

“Globally, the film industry derives powerful content for filmmaking from the Arab world. The GCC region has now broken the mould and led by its domestic but world-class film-making competencies creates movies that have the potential to change public opinion and encourage debate. The Gulf Film Festival showcases the best of both cinema making – movies about the region and movies made in the Gulf.”

He added: “The Gulf Film Festival provides the platform for local talent and thus contribute to further strengthening the industry. The Festival paves the way for these filmmakers to regional and international success.”

GFF will present three prizes in the categories of feature, shorts and documentary in the Official Competition, and short and documentary in the Students Competition. There will be a Special Jury Prize in both categories, and a separate Script Competition open to UAE scriptwriters.

The first and second place winners of feature films will be awarded AED 50,000 and AED 35,000 respectively. The first, second, and third place winners of documentaries will be awarded AED 25,000, AED 20,000, and AED 15,000 respectively. Winners of the short films categories will be awarded AED 25,000, AED 20,000, and AED 15,000 respectively. Documentary films and shorts films will also be awarded special jury prizes of AED 20,000.

Gulf Film Festival will present awards worth AED 485,000 to professionals and student filmmakers. The festival is supported by Dubai Culture & Arts Authority and is held in association with Dubai Studio City.

The second edition of the festival, screened 169 films from 32 countries, and featured 47 world premieres and 18 international premieres. More details on the festival are available online at www.gulffilmfest.com.