10 Your Film Festival finalists visit Dubai for cultural experience

 The world’s top 10 up and coming filmmakers touched down in Dubai this week as part of Your Film Festival – a global search for the world’s best storytellers. YouTube and Emirates, in partnership with La Biennale di Venezia (the Venice Film Festival) and Scott Free Productions, are the driving force behind this event which has become the world’s largest online film festival.

The final 10 films, selected from over 15,000 worldwide entries, include local Middle Eastern representatives from Lebanon and Egypt, highlighting the region’s talent for filmmaking. Flying with Emirates from across the airline’s international network, on their way to the Venice Film Festival, the finalists today held a private screening of their inspiring films.

“Bringing these finalist’s to Dubai as part of the Your Film Festival competition is an excellent way to highlight the city’s unique assets to some of the world’s up and coming filmmakers. As a leading global airline Emirates is always looking for opportunities that allow us to connect people through innovative ideas. Bringing together a truly global mix of finalists has allowed us to be a part of this exciting cultural movement,” said Christopher Galanto, Emirates Senior Vice President Advertising.

“We are proud that two of the top ten global finalists hail from MENA – this region is rich with content creators,” added Ari Kesisoglu, Managing Director of Google in MENA.

During their three-day stay in Dubai the finalists will visit some of the city’s most prominent cultural sites and modern marvels.

“Dubai boasts an incredible city skyline, backed by vast expanses of desert that make the city a virtual haven for filmmakers. Highlighting this unique location to some of the world’s up and coming filmmakers will help to reinforce the emirates flourishing reputation as an epicentre for filmmaking in the Middle East,” added Galanto.

The ten finalists were voted on by the worldwide YouTube community after Scott Free narrowed down more than 15,000 submissions across the globe to 50 semi-finalists. The 10 finalists will travel from Dubai through to the prestigious Venice Film Festival to screen their submission film and compete for the $500,000 grand prize. The grand prize winner will be chosen from a distinguished jury that includes directors Sir Ridley Scott and acclaimed actor Michael Fassbender.  The $500,000 provided to the winner will be used to create original online content with Scott Free Productions and Fassbender acting as executive producers.

Emirates, who is defining the future of air travel with innovative products like its A380 On Board Lounges and On Board Shower Spas and its award winning in-flight entertainment system ice, is  a proud partner with YouTube’s Your Film Festival. A renowned sponsor of sports activities around the globe, Emirates has broadened its scope to include the cultural connecting medium of film.

All ten films will be screened in a special selection as part of the Venice Film Festival.  The grand prize winner will be chosen from a prestigious jury led by Sir Ridley Scott and acclaimed actor Michael Fassbender.

• The ten finalist films can be viewed here:
• 88:88, Joey Ciccoline (USA)
• Bat Eyes, Damien Power (Australia)
• Cine Rincao, Fernando Grostein Andrade & Fernanda Fernandes (Brazil)
• The Drought, Kevin Slack (USA)
• El General, Diego Pino Zamora (Bolivia)
• The Guilt, David Victori Blaya (Spain)
• North Atlantic, Bernardo Nascimento (United Kingdom)
• Super.Full., Niam Itani (Lebanon)
• Scruples, Adrian Powers (Australia)
• This Time, Ramy EL-Gabry (Egypt)

For more information, please visit youtube.com/yourfilmfestival