MEIFF 2008 unveils events' facts and figures

Mohamed Khalaf Al Mazrouei, MEIFF's Vice Chairman and ADACH's Director General, said:

"The event proved to be very successful in its second edition. It positioned itself among the most important industry events in the region, and this has been amply proved by the amount of visitors and the amount of interest shown in it."

MEIFF 2008's ten days of cinema screenings and events concluded with 152 movies and 186 screenings being shown in five Abu Dhabi venues. A total of 76 feature films and 34 short films from over 35 countries competed for the MEIFF 2008 Black Pearl Awards.

During the festival, four books were launched at the MEIFF 'Book Conferences' whilst panels for the Research Circle discussed specially-prepared papers on "The Film Industry in the Arab World", looking at the industry across the whole of the Arab world. In addition there were three panel discussions highlighting 'Environmental Filmmaking', the 'Palestinian Cause in Cinema' and 'Muslims' image in TV and in the Cinema' which were highly attended by interested media and key people in the industry. The MOST panel and Environmental panel proved to be much more successful than expected highlighting a need for more discussion and action on these topics in the region.

The event also staged an exhibition for the late, celebrated, Arabic film Director Youssef Chahine who passed away last July. As a result the exhibition will now travel to Tunisia and Egypt.

Audience interest in this year's event registered a noticeable increase on last year with 15,000 people purchasing over 50,000 tickets with sales of all-screening passes topping the 220 mark.

The Festival also generated extraordinary interest from local, regional and international media with 480 registered press from 22 countries - made up of 358 Non-Arabic language press and 122 Arabic language press. In terms of guests, MEIFF received a total of 443 industry guests at MEIFF.

"We are extremely proud of the success we have generated this year," said Nashwa Al Ruwaini, Director of MEIFF. "It is no surprise, however, because we have worked so hard to accomplish our goals, believing that if there is a will there is a way, we recruited the best professionals from the region and from beyond in order to assure a world class festival."

"I would like to extend our sincere appreciation to everyone who contributed to this success including sponsors, supporters, media, and - of course - our staff. Everyone, regardless of their role has strived to make it happen. However we have to remember that this success adds to our responsibilities to work even harder for next year's edition," she concluded.