Panel Discussion at Knowledge Village open to public - students encouraged to attend

Dubai, December 7, 2004

A high-profile panel of prestigious actors, directors and producers will speak at a special Dubai International Film Festival event tomorrow (Wednesday, December 8) at the Knowledge Village auditorium, Festival organizers announced yesterday.

The panel, featuring renowned directors Subhash Ghai from India, Daoud Abdel Sayed from Egypt, Mark Achbar from Canada and Sabiha Sumar from Pakistan,  will speak, among other things, about their experiences in filmmaking and about how film can be used as a tool in promoting intercultural dialogue and building cultural bridges.

The theme of building cultural bridges is central to the Dubai International Film Festival. In his remarks at the official unveiling of the DIFF program, Festival Chairman HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of the Department of Civil Aviation and Chairman of the Emirates Group, said film is an ideal tool for trying to enhance cross-cultural understanding around the world.

"This is the very purpose and theme of Dubai's first film Festival, which seeks to build a new international cultural bridge at a time in world history when the need for bridge-building is ever more necessary and important," Sheikh Ahmed said. "I hope that this Festival can make a contribution, however small, towards promoting peace and understanding on the international stage."

Each of the professionals on the panel brings substantial experience to the table: Ghai, who made his directorial debut in 1976, is recognized as leading Indian cinema to overseas markets while simultaneously creating blockbusters at home; Sayed is equally renowned in the Arab world for his talents as a writer and director at home in Egypt and abroad; Mark Achbar, part of the emerging breed of critical thinkers pointing out social inequities and the perils of globalization and big business, has struck a chord at home in Canada and around the world with his eye-opening exposes of politics and economics; and Pakistani director Sabiha Suman has received critical acclaim for her first feature Silent Waters, showing at the Festival.

The panel discussion, which begins at 10 am on Wednesday, is free and open to the public. Students are particularly encouraged to attend.

More than 75 films will be shown across the six Festival venues for the six days of the Festival. Crowning the first five days will be the gala screenings - Le Grand Voyage, Bollywood/Hollywood, Finding Neverland, The Grudge and Red Dust - selected from the key segments of the Festival.

Four DIFF box offices are currently open for business: at the CNN Building Lobby in Dubai Media City from 11 am to 8 pm; at the Madinat Theatre in the Souk at Madinat Jumeirah from 11 am to 10.30 pm; at the Mercato mall from 10 am to 10.30 pm, and at the Madinat Arena from 6 pm to 8 pm on Wednesday, and from 11 am to 8 pm on Thursday and Friday. An additional box office will open at the Jumeirah Beach Hotel Auditorium today, and remain open from 11 am to 10.30 pm.

Prices range from Dh. 10 for the four open-air "Screen on the Green" films (Lawrence of Arabia, Gagamboy (Spiderman), Mr. India and Five Children And It) at the Dubai Media City amphitheater to Dh. 20 for regular screenings at DIFF main venues and Dh. 50 for the red-carpet gala screenings at the Madinat Arena, Madinat Jumeirah Arabian Resort-Dubai. Two special offers - student discounts and a Five-Flick deal that offers a set of five regular screening tickets for the price of four - have also been created to make the Festival accessible to all UAE residents and visitors.

Telephone bookings and orders can be made with the Box Office on (04) 367 6701 / (04) 367 6707 for advance bookings and directions to box office venues.

The Dubai International Film Festival will be held between December 6 and 11, 2004, and will feature approximately 75 films including features, retrospectives and short films. The Festival is divided into 10 distinct programs, each focusing on a particular Festival theme. DIFF is presented by Dubai Media City and its presenting sponsors are Dubai Duty Free, Emirates, Madinat Jumeirah Arabian Resort-Dubai, and Nakheel.  DIFF Gold Sponsors are DOM International, The Kanoo Group and National Bank of Dubai, and Silver Sponsors are Arabian Radio Network, Atlas Telecom, Dubai Radio Network, E-Vision and Motivate Publishing.

Media Note: A special Web site has been created exclusively for members of the press at www.dubaifilmfest.com/press.html. The site contains an archive of press releases and clippings in Arabic and English, in addition to high-resolution images available for download. Stills downloaded from the site are for promotional purposes only and any usage must include a credit as being courtesy of the rights holder.

-Ends- 

About Dubai Media City
Strategically located in Dubai at the crossroads of the Middle East, Africa and South Asia, Dubai Media City is rapidly emerging as the region's media hub.  The City provides an advanced infrastructure and supportive environment for media-related businesses to operate globally out of Dubai.  Dubai Media City is the place where every kind of media business, specifically - Publishing & Printing, Music, Film, New Media, Leisure & Entertainment, Broadcasting, Media & Marketing Services, and Information Agencies will thrive. The facility offers an environment that allows companies and individuals to operate with collective synergy and freedom. 

Since its official opening in January 2001, Dubai Media City has grown tremendously to become a thriving media community of over 850 companies and more than 75 freelance media professionals. Several global media giants and promising entrepreneurial ventures have joined the Dubai Media City community. Three quarters of the media community represents regional and international media companies.   Dubai Media City - Freedom to Create

For further information, please contact:
Deepa Asnani
Dubai Media City
Tel: +9714 391 4548
Fax: +9714 391 4589
Email: deepa.asnani@dubaimediacity.ae
www.dubaifilmfest.com

Or

Mare Elston
ASDA'A Public Relations
Dubai, UAE
Tel: +971-4-3344550
Fax: +971-4-3344556
M: +971-50-6521236
E-mail: M.Elston@asdaa.com

© Press Release 2004