Dubai International Film Festival, New York’s Lincoln Center for Performing Arts announce Arab cinema partnership

The Dubai International Film Festival Chairman, Abdulhamid Juma, announced today at the Cannes Film Festival that DIFF will be partnering with the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York to showcase Arab cinema in a special DIFF Focus from August 24 to 30, 2012. 

Based in New York, the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts is the world's largest presenter of performing arts offering some 5,000 programs, initiatives and events annually. The lineup for the DIFF Focus will include 10 feature films and a short film program, as well as Q&A sessions with the directors, and panel discussions organized by the Independent Filmmaker Project and New York Women in Films. 

Among the films selected are Habibi Rasak Kharban, a Gaza love story directed by Susan Youssef and supported by Enjaaz, the post-production fund of the Dubai International Film Festival, which made its world premiere at the 68^thVenice Film Festival, as well as Emirati director Ali Mostafa’s City of Life, which opened the third Gulf Film Festival. 

The films selected have been supported by the Dubai International Film Festival through the Dubai Film Market, which is a continued effort by the Festival to boost production and international co-productions in the region. Through the annual Dubai Film Connection, Enjaaz and Dubai Film Forum iniatives, the Festival offers Arab filmmakers extended co-production, post-production, trade & distribution support, as well as industry discussions. 

In addition, in 2011, some 170 shorts, documentaries and features, selected from over 1,700 entries from 106 countries, also competed for more than 36 Muhr Emirati, Muhr Arab and Muhr AsiaAfrica Awards receiving over US$600,000 in prize money in addition to invaluable industry connections. 

Shivani Pandya, Managing Director of the Dubai International Film Festival said: “We are delighted to present some of the best films from the Arab region, which we hope will give a flavour of the vibrancy and relevance of Middle Eastern cinema. We look forward to working with the Lincoln Center and hope this will be a long and prosperous partnership.” 

The ninth edition of DIFF will be held from Dec. 9 to 16, 2012, in association with Dubai Studio City. Dubai Duty Free, Dubai Pearl, Emirates Airline and Madinat Jumeirah, the home of the Dubai International Film Festival, are the principal sponsors of DIFF. The Festival is supported by the Dubai Culture & Arts Authority.