Dubai, 8 May 05 (WAM) -- Dubai Media City has announced that the secondDubai International Film Festival will be held from December 11-17, 2005.
The date of the week-long festival was decided after a series ofhigh-level discussions with the organizers of the Cairo, Marrakech andDamascus film festivals.
This follows intensive coordination efforts to enhance synergies betweenmajor festivals from the Arab world. The last round of these consultationswere held in Cairo where the DIFF delegation chaired by Abdulhamid Juma,Chief Executive Officer of Dubai Media City, met senior Cairo officialsled by Cherif El Shoubashy, Head of the Cairo International Film Festival.
The discussions focused on the most appropriate dates for four of theArab world?s leading film festivals to ensure they do not clash.
The new dates of these four Arab festivals are as follows: 1- Marrakech International Film Festival: November 11-19, 2005 2- Damascus International Film Festival: November 20-27, 2005 3- Cairo International Film Festival: November 29 ?December 9, 20054- Dubai International Film Festival: December 11-17, 2005.
Abdulhamid Juma, CEO of Dubai Media City said that Dubai Media Cityis eager to promote greater interaction and cooperation between Arab filmfestivals so that the voice of Arab cinema is heard in the internationalfilm industry.
?We are keen to contribute to the success of the Arab world?s filmfestivals because one of our objectives is to enhance regional collaborationin cultural fields,? he said.
Neil Stephenson, Festival Director, commented: ?I am grateful to M?litaToscan du Plantier, the Director of the Marrakech Film Festival and alsoto Mohamad Al-Ahmad and Rafat Charkas, the Director and General Secretaryrespectively of the Damascus Film Festival, for their kind cooperationand helpfulness in coming to this agreement on festival dates. These twoindividuals, along with El Shoubashy, were instrumental in making thisagreement possible and it is good for everyone?.
Festival organizers indicated that they hoped to build on the foundationthat was laid with the inaugural Dubai International Film Festival in2004. Dubai?s maiden festival enjoyed many successes including excellentpublic participation, a line-up of high quality films and a warmly receivedtheme of cultural bridge-building.
Stephenson said that the 2005 programme and other festival detailswould be announced in the coming months, but he indicated that one ofhis priorities was to increase the highly successful Arab programmingof the festival and to introduce some special educational events to bestaged during the fest with the specific aim of supporting aspiring youngUAE filmmakers.
The inaugural Dubai International Film Festival was held between December6 and 11, 2004, and featured 76 films including features, retrospectivesand short films. More than 13,000 people from around the UAE and the worldattended the screenings during the six-day event, with ticket sales crossingthe 18,000 mark on the fifth day.
Many distinguished cineastes and celebrities from East and West attended,and more than 300 international visitors flew in to attend the Festival.
The event also made headlines around the world, with several hundred membersof the global, regional and local press corps covering the Festival.
