The Dubai International Film Festival will annually present two Arab films to the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) in Los Angeles for Golden Globe Award consideration.
The Dubai International Film Festival will annually present two Arab films to the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) in Los Angeles for Golden Globe Award consideration.
The inaugural event hosted on November 14th, 2016 will see Mohamed Diab present his courageous and technically powerful thriller Clash and Assad Fouladkar present his daring and entertaining comedy Halal Love to the members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA).
Egyptian director and writer, Mohamed Diabs Clash is his second directorial project and opened the Un Certain Regard at the 69th annual Cannes Film Festival earlier this year and has been selected as Egypts entry to the 2017 Oscars. Clash is the much-anticipated follow up to his directorial debut the commercially successful and multi-award winning Cairo 678 which he also wrote.
The second showcase is Lebanese director and writer Assad Fouladkars Halal Love which is his second feature film, his first feature film When Maryam Spoke out won major awards around the world and was Lebanons official entry to the Academy Awards. The treatment of Halal Love was selected by Open Doors of the Locarno Film Festival and following the world premiere at DIFFs 12th edition was in competition at Sundance Film Festival, Edinburgh International Film Festival and Rotterdam International Film Festival.
This initiative is an example of DIFFs aim to support and promote the success of Arab film at an international level.
Abdulhamid Juma, DIFF Chairman said: We are very excited to be in a position to showcase prominent cinematic works from the region on an annual basis to the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and we are grateful for their continued support of Arab cinema. The Golden Globes are one of the greatest iconic awards honouring film excellence and this kind of recognition is key to raising the profile of Arab cinema on the world stage. Mohamed Diab and Assad Fouladkar are great examples of outstanding Arab talent who have both made hugely compelling features and who truly deserve the acclaim they have been receiving.
Palestinian Hany Abu-Assads Paradise Now won Best Foreign Language Film in 2006, the first time an Arab film has won a Golden Globe.
