Curtain rises on DIFF’s decennial edition

The curtain opens on the landmark tenth edition of the Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) tomorrow night, celebrating a decade of bringing the best of cinema and prominent film personalities from the region and around the world together to the UAE every December.

This year’s Red Carpet Opening Gala will kick off with a screening of the acclaimed Omar, by Palestinian Director Hany Abu-Assad. The most high-profile film from the region this year, Omar will be Palestine’s Oscar entry for the Foreign Language Film. Accompanying the film in its UAE premiere will be Academy Award-nominated and Golden Globe winning Palestinian Director Hany Abu Assad alongside the films cast members Adam Bakri, Eyad Hourani and Waleed Zuaiter.

DIFF will deliver eight days of glamourous galas, appearances by the region’s top film personalities, question and answer sessions where film fans will be able to interact with their cinema idols, and a dedicated industry forum where workshops, seminars and commercial deals will take place.

The line-up of films for 2013 is the most diverse in the festival’s ten years, said DIFF Chairman Abdulhamid Juma. “At our tenth edition, we see the fruits of our labours over the past decade: we have seen the variety and calibre of the films in our Arab and AsiaAfrica Muhr competitions grow exponentially year on year, showing that our awards programme is nurturing a spirit of innovation and healthy competition among filmmakers from emerging markets. DIFF’s reputation as a prime launching pad for new films is now well established, and our industry programmes make the Dubai Film Market an epicentre for the business side of cinema each year.”

“We look forward to extending a warm UAE welcome to visitors from around the world starting tomorrow at the Madinat Jumeirah, and look forward to another ten years supported by our wonderful UAE cinema community.”

Celebrities expected on the red carpet tomorrow night include: Academy Award-winning actress and Head of the Jury for the IWC Filmmaker Award Cate Blanchett, Martin Sheen, Michael B Jordan, Jaaved Jaffrey, Jim Sheridan, Eugene Domingo, Murat Yildirim, Burcin Terziogluand, Metem Cumbul, Yuya Yagira, Justin Chadwick, Micheal Pena, Scott Cooper, and Sanjay Suri.

At the opening ceremony to be attended by high-level dignitaries, DIFF will present its prestigious Lifetime Achievement Awards to veteran Egyptian film critic Samir Farid, who has championed Arab cinema for nearly 50 years, and Multiple Emmy and Golden Globe Award winner Martin Sheen, one of America’s most celebrated and greatest actors of his generation.

The opening red carpet and ceremony of the festival, held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President & Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, at Madinat Jumeirah will be telecast live on Youtube.