Second annual Gulf Film Festival extends submission deadline

The GFF will be held from April 9-15, 2009, and is organized by the Dubai Culture and Arts Authority.

Dedicated to the best in cinema from the Gulf countries, (the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Kingdom of Bahrain, Sultanate of Oman, Qatar, Republic of Iraq and Republic of Yemen), the GFF will also screen select international films.

Masoud Amralla Al Ali, GFF Festival Director, said:

"The Festival provides filmmakers with an opportunity to receive recognition for outstanding work, and encourage production of films in the region. There is a nascent pan-Arab cinema, and the quality and scope of the films we received for our inaugural edition proved that. We are eager to see the entries for 2009, and proud that our initiative is in its second year."

In order to participate and compete, all films must be directed by a Gulf national, or have a story centered around the Gulf region and/or Gulf history or culture. The film should not have been screened in the UAE before, except the Dubai International Film Festival and Ibda'a Awards, and not televised or streamed online, and must have been produced after January 1, 2008. The submitted work must not be a television programme or an episode of a series.

Beside the Official Competition segment, GFF will showcase feature and short films from around the world.

The cash prizes for the Official Competition Feature category are Dhs50,000 and Dhs35,000 for first and second prize with a special jury prize of Dhs20,000 for feature or documentary. First, second and third prizes in the Documentary and Shorts sections stand to win Dhs25,000, Dhs20,000 and Dhs15,000, and the Special Jury Prize is a purse of Dhs20,000. An additional prize of Dhs15,000 will be given to the winner of the Best Script award in the Short Films category.

Film students from eligible countries can submit Documentaries and Short films only to the Students' Competition Awards; the top three awards for each category carries cash prizes of Dhs20,000, Dhs15,000, and Dhs10,000. Special Jury Prize in the Students' Competition is Dhs15,000.

The GFF will also stimulate filmmaking in the UAE by offering a Script Competition for Emirati short films. Entrants must be UAE nationals, and all funds from the award must go toward production. Deadline for script submissions is February 28, 2009, and the Arabic language entries must be the original work of a sole author or collaboration between two writers. Production must take place in the UAE. The competition has three awards with cash in total of Dhs120,000. The winning scripts must be produced and submitted to the third edition of the GFF before February 1, 2010.

Screening a total of 146 films from 25 countries, the opening edition of the Gulf Film Festival last year 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 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.