Dubai, December 17, 2006: The Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) announced a successful exchange between domestic, regional and international film industries with its first annual Industry Office, an umbrella term used to describe a number of initiatives that paired key industry figures with regional filmmakers, brokering new relationships with funding bodies, producers and distributors.

The Intensive Workshop for UAE Filmmakers, connected with the Festival's Emerging Emiratis programming segment, concluded on the second day of the festival, with round table discussions conducted by industry experts Ido Abraham and Esther Bannenberg. The level of energy and strong, original concepts made an impression on international guests from some of the foremost industry organizations in the world, including Wouter Barendrecht (Fortissimo Films), Georges Goldenstern (Cinefondacion), Naoko Tsukeda (Pony Canyon), Laird Adamson (HDNet), and Iain Canning (Becker).

Jane Williams, Industry Office Manager, stated, "the strongest conclusion coming out of the workshop was the need to establish a pool of creative producers in the region. The filmmaking talent is definitely there, and the infrastructure built here within the next few years will be state-of-the-art. After this year's discussions, we have next year's goals in mind. The Industry Office will be an annual event designed to implement initiatives that delegates have identified as most pressing."

The Lebanese Project Presentation initiative, designed to maintain the dynamism of the Lebanese film industry in the wake of this summer's devastation, offered five filmmakers the opportunity to pitch their projects to a group of international experts. Major industry figures heading these sessions included Geoff Gilmore of Sundance, Jerome Paillar of the Cannes film festival, Vincenzo Bugno from the World Cinema Fund, and prominent French producer Claudie Ossard.

During the newly introduced networking forums, exchange was in full swing between filmmakers, producers, distributors, sales companies, exhibitors and international festivals; this activity resulted in at least one distribution deal confirmed thus far, the release of Rachid Bouchareb's Indigenes into the Middle East market. More details will be available in the coming weeks.

Abdulhamid Juma, Chairman of DIFF, stated, "we are pleased that the Industry Office events directly resulted in a distribution deal for an Arab film this is precisely the kind of activity our festival aims to promote and stimulate. We look forward to learning about more activities that took place over the next weeks. In the coming years, Dubai will become a hub for all stages of cinema production. We are truly growing in step with the infrastructure to support feature projects, and are paving the way for talented filmmakers to make the GCC film market flourish."

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Press Release 2006