Advanced Media Trading returned with CINECommunity, an exciting iteration of its biannual digital cinema community event with a renewed emphasis on collaboration, knowledge sharing, and creative interdependence. CINECommunity served as a meeting point for emerging talents and established creatives, visionaries and industry experts who are interested in discovering the latest advancements in digital cinema while engaging with a community and fostering collaborations.

CINECommunity took place from January 15 to 17, 2026 at Advanced Media’s Dubai headquarters in collaboration with the Courtyard Art & Community Centre and in partnership with Analogue The Room in honor of the UAE Year of Community and in recognition of the vibrant, thriving and emerging community of creatives across the MENA region. Advanced Media hosted 11 workshops and welcomed up to 300 guests every day from across the region in their headquarters. The workshops were conducted by Sarah Winters, Zeina Khalil, Nena Ostrogovic, Dariush Zandi, Fouad Aoun, Michal Krecek, Mohammed Kamal, Jiri Novak, Nikita Petsa, and Wiehan Kruger. For the first time, half of the workshops were led by experienced female instructors.

Ahead of the event, Advanced Media hosted a cine breakfast at East West Atelier in the Courtyard. Nestled in Dubai’s Al Quoz district, the Courtyard is a pioneering cultural space conceived and built by designer, architect, and photographer Dariush Zandi between 1992 and 1998. Dariush Zandi and his wife Shaghayegh Arabi greeted the instructors and leading industry professionals by sharing personal stories and anecdotes about the beloved cultural landmark. Meanwhile, Advanced Media’s showroom was being converted to evoke the same visual and emotional sentiment that embodies the colors, nature and community of the Courtyard. The new conceptualized space served as a practical set for instructors who had curated every workshop around hands-on interactions and exercises with equipment.

Advanced Media inaugurated CINECommunity with “the No-Budget Cinematography Workshop” led by Dubai-based award-winning cinematographer Fouad Aoun. The practical cinematography workshop focused on achieving cinematic results using minimal lighting equipment in both indoor and outdoor environments, especially when working with RED Digital Cinema cameras. Fouad is a veteran creative who had previously collaborated with Advanced Media during CINESeason, the Arabic edition of cine in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Sarah Winters, Los Angeles–based cinematographer with ten years of production experience, specializing in character-driven indies, lifestyle branded content, comedies, and documentaries, continued the workshops as the first female cinematographer to lead three curated workshops for Advanced Media. “A Narrative DP's Guide to RED Cameras” offered the audience a narrative, DP-focused introduction to RED’s evolution — from the RED ONE to today’s DSMC3 lineup. Winters also led “Cinematic Lighting After Sundown” and “Light for Every Face: Skin Tone & Commercial Aesthetics” that allowed the attendees to split into groups and learn how commercial lighting techniques naturally intersect with inclusive skin-tone strategy.

Zeina Khalil, Cairo based Director of Photography with a background in visual arts, continued series of female-led workshops, bringing a multidisciplinary approach to her cinematography and blending an artistic eye with a strong technical foundation. Zeina conducted a workshop that explored how the Sony FX6 enables cinematographers to move fluidly between cinematic image making and high-speed adaptive music video production – without compromising visual intent. Finally, Nena Ostrogovic, Abu Dhabi based part-time Sustainable Production Advisor and Talent Manager with experience in feature and short films and commercials and over 25 years in corporate project and quality management, introduced the importance of green practices in film sets, bringing global green production examples and practical local activities, making sure that everyone walked out with a practical to do list to maintain a sustainable approach.

Noted amongst these workshops were also “Making VFX Work: A Complete Guide From Pre-Production to Final Delivery” instructed by Michal Krecek and “DI - Film Laboratory for the Digital Age” instructed by Jiří Novák. These two workshops were exclusively curated by the team from Magic Lab. Magic Lab is a picture post-production and VFX studio operating internationally, with its headquarters in Prague, Czech Republic. They are recognized for delivering full scale VFX, complex CGI, FX and hyper-realistic matte paintings.

As always, even though the event was brand agnostic, there were representation from well-known brands such as Sony, DJI, RED, Zeiss, Atomos and exceptional products would be highlighted. “During CINECommunity, we try to bring industry experts and film enthusiasts together and provide a space that encourages networking and dialogue. We introduce audiences to the latest advancements and technical capabilities in cinema equipment and offer them the opportunity to gain more knowledge and hands-on experience from internationally renowned experts. I hope that this exchange of expertise and knowledge allows them to realise that equipment is merely a tool. Yes, it is very important to know and use the right tools, but creativity and understanding cinema are far more important,” remarked Kaveh Farnam, co-cofounder and chairperson of Advanced Media.

Advanced Media will bring back the biannual digital cinema community event in 2028.