Second annual Gulf Film Festival dates announced

Further details will be forthcoming throughout the year, but organizers have also announced that the festival is already accepting submissions and will continue to do so until the deadline of 15th of January, 2009.

Organized by Dubai Culture and Arts Authority, GFF seeks to provide a boost to Arab cinema and encourage regional cinematic talent, while acting as a vital platform for showcasing indigenous works to an international audience and sharing industry updates.

Masoud Amralla Al Ali, GFF Festival Director, said:

"Building on the success of the inaugural event, we are glad to announce the dates for the second Gulf Film Festival. Preliminary arrangements are already underway to ensure the second edition too remains a true manifestation of the unique talents in the GCC film industry."

Screening a total of 146 films from 25 countries, the opening edition of the Gulf Film Festival provided rich insights into the fast growing regional film industry, and featured a competition for films from the Gulf region, as well as a script contest for short UAE films.

The event attracted a significant global audience, including a galaxy of cinema stars from the GCC such as Saad Al Faraj, Mohammed Al Mansour and Zahra Arafat from Kuwait, Abdulla Abdullmalik, Shaima Sabt, Fatima Abdul Rahim, Haifa Hussain and Anwar Ahmed from Bahrain, Abdul Aziz Jassim from Qatar and Saleh Za'al from Oman.

UAE talents included Ali Al Abdool, recipient of the honoree award, Dr. Habib Ghulum, Maryam Sultan, Samira Ahmad and Jaber Nagmossh Bilal Abdulla, Moza Al Mazrouhi amongst many others.

Abdulhamid Juma, Chairman of GFF, added: "The success of the inaugural festival has placed the UAE film industry in the limelight. This is strongly demonstrated through the selection of GFF films at several international festivals including the Horcynus Festival (Italy) and the Nabeul Cinema Nights (Tunisia), along with the prestigious appointment of GFF Festival Director Masoud Amralla as a jury member at both the 2008 Durban International Film Festival (South Africa) and the Oran International Film Festival (Algeria)."

The influence of GFF could also be seen through the top honors selection of two short films at the 8th edition of the Arab Film Festival Rotterdam which were featured earlier at the inaugural Gulf Film Festival 2008.

The annual Gulf Film Festival marks the celebration of excellence in Arab cinema, while providing an opportunity for the international film community to discover and experience the essence of the regional film industry.

The Festival also seeks to create a forum for Arab filmmakers to forge alliances with major studios worldwide.