Dubai filmmakers made 47 films in 48 hours for the 48-Hour Film Project (48HFP) this year. The films were submitted on November 9 and the first screening of the selected films took place on the following weekend at AM Studio in Al Quoz, Dubai. Mo Rida, Middle East Producer for 48HFP said: This was the […]
Dubai filmmakers made 47 films in 48 hours for the 48-Hour Film Project (48HFP) this year.
The films were submitted on November 9 and the first screening of the selected films took place on the following weekend at AM Studio in Al Quoz, Dubai.
Mo Rida, Middle East Producer for 48HFP said: This was the biggest 48HFP by far. Our judges Shahin Yazdani, Nizar Sfier, Mashid Zamani have narrowed the 42 on time films to the top 12 films.
Narrowing down the number of films to the final 12 was not easy as many entries this year surpassed our expectations. They were spectacular but we could not fit them all into the final screening, added Rida.
The final screenings will take place on November 22 at The Fridge in Al Quoz.
The films then go to the international event called “Filmmapalooza” that brings together the winners from 126 cities around the world. The event takes place in New Orleans, USA in March 2014.
Rida explained, Our first place team will represent Dubai to compete for the “Best 48 Hour Film” of the world title and will be in the running for the top 15 films that will be screened at the Cannes short film corner.
Last year the film that won the Dubai leg of the competition (The Pillow Case by Gorilla Film crew) made it to Cannes.
According to the producers and judges the quality of films is getting better progressively with each instalment of the competition.
Some of the filmmakers entering the contest have been through this experience before and are better equipped to manage time and complete their films on time. There was a noticeable improvement in the technical quality of the submissions especially in terms of cameras and handling them.
Commenting on the contribution that such initiatives make in the development of the craft of filmmaking in the region, Rida said, We are producing hundreds of films a year as part of the 48-Hour project across Beirut, Cairo and Dubai and there is a noticeable improvement in all aspects of filmmaking right from scripting to direction to technical finesse.
Within this project filmmakers are given an opportunity to experiment with genres they wouldn’t normally consider. They work on a genre assigned to them in a given timeframe. The constraint of time enforces discipline, which is critical in filmmaking.
