The Dubai International Film Festival Chairman, Abdulhamid Juma, announced at the Festival de Cannes that they will be partnering with the Film Society of Lincoln Center in New York to showcase Arab cinema in a special DIFF Focus on August 24-30, 2012. Based in New York, the Film Society of Lincoln Center is the world's largest presenter of performing arts offering some 5,000 programs, initiatives and events annually. The lineup for the DIFF Focus will include 10 feature films and a...

  Last night December 7th, 2011 saw the opening of the 8th Dubai International Film Festival. This was pure madness at the Madinat Arena theater when Tom Cruise came to walk the red carpet for the DIFF opening feature- MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: GHOST PROTOCOL (2011). This was one of the most anticipated events in cinema for all of 2011. The megablockbuster hit was partly shot in Dubai and therefore made a proud open for the festival. The premier was followed by an exclusive beach party ...

8th Dubai International Film Festival runs December 7 to 14,• 46 world premieres, 25 international premieres and 78 Middle East premieres • Award-winning films and A-list talent from the Americas, Europe, Asia Africa and the Arab world • 89 films vie for prestigious Muhr Awards with total prize money of over US$600,000 The eighth Dubai International Film Festival, held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President & Prime Minister and Ruler o...

It would seem that Peter Weir's latest film, 'The Way Back' (2010) is making its own journey and 'Way Back' from Weir's homeland in Australia to Dubai where it premiered in the Middle East last month and now to its North American premier at the Palm Springs International Film Festival 2011. It's certainly making its way across the globe. While it has received mixed reviews and an undecided audience opinion, it seems to be fighting its way beyond negative popular opinion in its ubiq...

Dont forget to check out all my entries on the Dubai International Film Festival page! truly a favorite!   news from the DIFF 2011!   http://www.fest21.com/en/blog/dubai_international_film_festival   VM   ...

          Colourful closing ceremony of DIFF telecast live exclusively on Abu Dhabi Emarat Channel Highlights of the finale of DIFF 2010 include the Festival’s honouring of its 2010 Lifetime Achievement Honourees; and the presentation of the 2010 Muhr Arab, Muhr Asia Africa and Muhr Emirati Awards. The live telecast also covered the red carpet ceremony attended by international celebrities and stars from the Arab world and the UAE. ...

Red carpet gala of ‘The Way Back’ (Dec. 15) at the Dubai International Film Festival Celebrities who attended were Colin Farrell (In Bruges, Phone Booth, Minority Report) Ed Harris (Apollo 13, A Beautiful Mind, Appaloosa), Jim Sturgess (Heartless, 21, The Other Boleyn Girl), Saoirse Ronan (Atonement, City of Ember, The Lovely Bones), Mark Strong, Dragoş Bucur, and Gustaf Skarsgård. The film is an Exclusive Media Group, National Geographic Entertainment and Imagenation...

Industry buyers at DIFF will have one of the strongest repertoires of films to choose from including 103 films screened at DIFF, 43 films from the Gulf Film Festival, and 78 Filmmart-recommended films. The line-up includes 23 world premieres, 6 international Premieres, 37 Middle East premieres, and 21 GCC premieres. Ziad Yaghi, Director, Dubai Filmmart, said the trading and distribution platform has grown considerably over the past years by successfully accomplishing distribution deals fo...

The award introduced in 2009, is aimed at encouraging and promoting films that address human rights issues. At DIFF 2010, 10 films will vie for the honours. Judging the submissions for the HRFN award is Kebour Genna of the Addis International Film Festival; Taco Ruighaver, Director, the Movies that Matter Festival in Amsterdam, Netherlands; and Syrian filmmaker Sawsan Darwaza, whose films depict the harsh realities of life in strife-torn areas of the Middle East yet with a powerful messag...

Screening on Wednesday, Dec. 15 at 10 pm at Cinestar 9, Mall of the Emirates (MoE), is director Shuchen Tan’s ‘Baghdad Film School.’ The film is about Iraqi born filmmakers Maysoon Pachachi and Kasim Abid who developed the challenging idea to open up the first independent film school in Iraq. With a car loaded with video equipment, they undertook their dangerous journey from Amman to Baghdad and in March 2004 they opened up the doors of their school. Their mission was to give a voice to ...

The Dubai International Film Festival today named American film icon and international social and political activist Sean Penn as its Western honouree for 2010. Penn, whose career spans nearly three decades, more than 45 films and notable successes as producer, director, actor and screenwriter, will accept the DIFF Lifetime Achievement Award at the Festival’s opening ceremony on December 12, 2010. Announcing the award at the curtain-raiser press conference for DIFF 2010, Festival Chairman Abdu...

   The Toronto International Film Festival has become one of the prime meeting places for film professionals from all over the map. So, not only are films seen, bought and sold, but the Festival is also an important place to make important new announcements about upcoming productions and initiatives. Therefore, it was completely appropriate that the Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF), the largest and most ambitious film event in the Middle East, use the Toronto setting to m...

The seventh edition of the Dubai International Film Festival, the definitive film festival of the Arab world, Asia and Africa, will be held from December 12 to 19, 2010.   The latest edition of the film festival is being planned to showcase an even diverse selection of movies from around the world across a dozen themed segments including Arabian Nights, Gulf Voices, Cinema of the World, Cinema for Children, Cinema of AsiaAfrica, Lifetime Achievement and Cinema from India. ...

As noted in our February 4th write up, setting up the first regional film market is part of a comprehensive strategy by the Emirate of Dubai to create a sophisticated media infrastructure. It includes dating Dubai media city for electronic and print media with 1300 mostly foreign companies; Dubai Internet City; the International Media Production Zone; Dubai Studio City housing the biggest and technologically most advanced studio facility in the Middle East; and the five year old Dubai Internatio...

Thefifth Dubai International Film Festival held in December 2008 introduced animportant new component, the Dubai Film Market.  To date Dubai has been among theEmirates the fastest growing tourist and business destination and has investedbillions of dollars into establishing a state of the art communications andmedia infrastructure. This includes a film sector for which the Dubai FilmFestival and the Dubai Film Market are essential ingredients, not to speak ofthe imminent opening in Dubai of th...

Dubai Film MarketThe fifth Dubai International Film Festival held in December 2008 introduced an important new component, the Dubai Film Market. To date Dubai has been among the Emirates the fastest growing tourist and business destination and has invested billions of dollars into establishing a state of the art communications and media infrastructure. This includes a film sector for which the Dubai Film Festival and the Dubai Film Market are essential ingredients, not to speak of the immin...

Held from December 11th-18th in Dubai’s luxurious Madinat Jemeirah’s conference center embedded in an upscale tourist resort with screening in other venues, the Dubai film festival is racing to be number one in the region. Catering to about 750 official participants who attended as guests and numerous other professionals, the program featured 181 films from 66 countries. More than 20 well attended industry events and panels were held ranging from marketing and distribution issues to cas...