Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) has announced the first line-up for the titles competing in its Muhr Short Competition. The winning short film in the competition will qualify for consideration for the 2016 Academy Awards. Iraqi filmmaker Sahim Omar Kalifa returns to DIFF following the huge success of his multi-award winning film Baghdad Messi with […]
Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) has announced the first line-up for the titles competing in its Muhr Short Competition. The winning short film in the competition will qualify for consideration for the 2016 Academy Awards.
Iraqi filmmaker Sahim Omar Kalifa returns to DIFF following the huge success of his multi-award winning film Baghdad Messi with his latest highly acclaimed short The Bad Hunter also supported by DIFFÂ’s post production programme Enjaaz. The film follows a failed young hunter named Bahoz who lives in rural Kurdistan who one day on a hunt witnesses a horrific act that will change his life forever.
Palestinian director Rami Yasin’s family drama In Overtime competed at the 71st Venice Film Festival’s Orizzonti international competition earlier this year. The acclaimed short was written by Yasin, who also stars alongside Makram Khouri, and is produced by award-winning producers Ossama Bawardi and Annemarie Jacir. The short unfolds as “the match of love” between a son and his father plays out “In Overtime”, revealing “deep-rooted secrets and the power they have on us.
Elie Kamal from Beirut presents the world premiere of his short film Revoltango, his directing debut was in 2010 with his short “2 ½” received the FIPRESCI  International Prize of the Critics Award at the 7th edition of the DIFF. His latest film follows an anxious couple in the midst of facing apparent political turmoil trying to safeguard their little family and peace of mind with a tango dance.
In Award winning Egyptian filmmaker Ahmed KhaledÂ’s short film White Sugar, a World Premiere, we explore dreams and reality through a man who is trapped in a dream world and who has become unable to differentiate between reality and artifice.
The Night of the Blind Moon, also a World Premiere from Tunisian director Khadija Fatma Lemkecher follows three teenage girls who go on on a quest searching for their charming prince: will it hold happiness, or a more dramatic fate?
In Jordanian director Yassmina KarajahÂ’s film Light, a Lebanese man devastated by the death of his newborn son is challenged by his motherÂ’s request that he performs a religious pre-burial ritual on the body of his son. He struggles to fulfill her wishes.
No Exit, another World Premiere by Mohanad Yaqubi, appears to be set on a London Underground platform, the time and place in which this enigmatic filmÂ’s protagonists seem trapped is actually far from certain.
The Aftermath of the Inauguration of the Public Toilet at Kilometer 375, the acclaimed short film from Egyptian filmmaker Omar El Zohairy was selected for the Cinéfondation Competition at Cannes Film Festival this year. The short inspired by Anton Chekhov’s hilarious short story The Death of a Government Clerk is about an administrative officer driven to his end through fear – but has been given a contemporary and Egyptian interpretation.
DIFF Artistic Director Masoud Amralla Al Ali commented: “Short films are a unique, experimental and courageous art form, telling powerful stories in under an hour. Many established filmmakers have cut their teeth by directing short films before going into feature-length productions, which often require significantly higher financial and time investment. As a result, nurturing short-form filmmaking is essential to developing the film industry in the region, which is central to DIFF’s mandate.”
“Reflecting our efforts in this space, DIFF has recently qualified as a festival in which short films that win in competition qualify for consideration for the Academy Awards, the first film festival from the Arab world to be able to do so. The winning short films from last year’s festival can quality for the Academy’s 2015 competition, while the film that claims the top prize this year will be considered in 2016,” he added.
DIFF’s Programmer Salah Sermini explains: “Festival guests take advantage of the Muhr Short Film programming segment each year to sample the breadth of vision and technique used by filmmakers in the region. This programme represents the growth of indigenous film production, and offers exciting viewpoints on regional life and issues, particularly facing young people. In a rapidly growing field, these are definitely the directors to watch for the future.”
