Abu Dhabi, UAE — May 10, 2010
Abu Dhabi Film Festival takes Emirates Film Competition under its wing The Abu Dhabi Film Festival announced today that it has integrated the longrunning Emirates Film Competition (EFC) into its program as a section under the new banner Emirates Competition in order to strengthen support for local filmmakers. Ali Al-Jabri, who was the secretary general of the EFC since 2001 and will now take over as director of the Emirates Competition, said: "To become part of the Abu Dhabi Film Festival is very exciting for us. It will give our filmmakers the opportunity to present their work to the members of international film community who gather here each October. And that indicates a tangible strengthening of the Festival's commitment to Emirati and Gulf filmmakers.” Ali Al-Jabri is an established Emirati stage and screen actor who has dedicated himself to promoting regional film culture for many years. He has worked with theater directors such as Jawad Al-Assadi, Ouni Karroumi and Naji Al-Hai, and performed in the well-received Emirati feature film The Circle (2009) by Nawaf AlJanahi. He has also directed several short films, including Solo, which recently won a jury special mention at the Gulf Film Festival. As the director of the Emirates Competition, Al Jabri will continue to champion local and regional cinema by curating a program of outstanding recent works to be shown at the Abu Dhabi Film Festival each October. The revamped Emirates Competition is one of several Abu Dhabi Film Festival initiatives aimed at providing filmmakers from Gulf and the entire Arab world with greater exposure through an international platform for regional film culture. Other recent initiatives launched by the festival include the Afaq Jadida competition for new directors and Sanad, the festival's development and post-production fund for filmmakers from the Arab world. "We intend to build on the pioneering spirit of the original competition, which has been supporting the work of Emirati and Gulf filmmakers for nearly a decade. By becoming part of the Abu Dhabi Film Festival, the competition’s participants will be able to make the most of the festival’s considerable array of educational and networking opportunities, and will be able to add their voices to what we hope will be a lively ongoing conversation around cinema in the region,” said Peter Scarlet, the Abu Dhabi Film Festival’s executive director. What you need to know about the Emirates Competition The Emirates Competition is open to submissions of short films by filmmakers from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman and Qatar, as well as shorts with a strong focus on the region’s culture or history. All shorts that meet the festival’s general requirements for submission will also be considered for
selection in the international Shorts Competition. All feature-length films from the countries eligible for the Emirates Competition will be considered for selection in the festival’s various international sections for features. More information will be available soon at www.abudhabifilmfestival.ae.
ABOUT THE FESTIVAL The Abu Dhabi Film Festival (formerly the Middle East International Film Festival) was established in 2007, with the aim of helping to create a vibrant film culture throughout the region. The event, presented each October by the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (ADACH) - recently described by Newsweek as the leading cultural organization in the Arab world - under the patronage of H.E. Sheikh Sultan Bin Tahnoon Al Nahyan, is committed to curating exceptional programs to engage and educate the local community, inspire filmmakers and nurture the growth of the regional film industry. As the only festival in the region where works by Arab filmmakers are represented equally in competition with those by major talents of world cinema, the festival offers Abu Dhabi’s diverse and enthusiastic audiences a means of engaging with their own and others’ cultures through the art of cinema. At the same time, a strong focus on the bold new voices of Arab cinema connects with Abu Dhabi’s role as a burgeoning cultural capital in the region and marks the festival as a place for the world to discover and gauge the pulse of recent Arab film. The Abu Dhabi Film Festival Press Office is at your disposal for any inquiries and further information. Email press@meiff.com or call +971 50 614 6653 to find out more.