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(Clockwise from left) Emirati director Nayla Al Khaja, Saudi director Haifa Al Mansour, Bahraini filmmaker Mohammad Rashid Buali and Omani filmmaker Muzna Al Musafer. Image Credit: Supplied

The Dubai International Film Festival (Diff) has revealed a shortlist of Gulf filmmakers vying for the sixth IWC Filmmaker Award that offers up a cash prize of $100,000 (Dh367,193)

Partnering with Swiss watch manufacturer IWC Schaffhausen, the nominees for the 2017 IWC Filmmaker Award include: Emirati director and screenwriter Nayla Al Khaja, for Animal; Bahraini filmmaker Mohammad Rashid Buali, for Kombars; Saudi director Haifaa Al Mansour, for her feature Miss Camel; and Omani filmmaker Muzna Al Musafer, for The Crown of Olives.

The four shortlisted directors will present their projects at Diff, where a jury headed by Academy Award–winning actress Cate Blanchett will determine the potential of each film project and select the winner.

Joining Blanchett will be IWC CEO Christoph Grainger-Herr, Diff Chairman Abdul Hamid Juma, Tunisian actress Hend Sabri and Diff Artistic Director Masoud Amralla Al Ali.

The award will be presented to the winning filmmaker at a gala event in Dubai on December 7.

The four shortlisted Gulf projects

Animal by Nayla Al Khaja: The Emirati director, screenwriter and producer narrates a tale of a tumultuous home environment and its toll on a child. Set in Al Matina, an old neighbourhood of Dubai, a household is ruled by a cruel patriarch. To escape their reality, two siblings shape a parallel world fuelled by creativity, pranks and imagination.

Kombars by Mohammad Rashid Buali: Bahraini filmmaker and recipient of a Biennale di Venezia Golden Lion, Buali’s film follows Bader, a widower in his 40s who works as an office boy and spends his spare time taking on acting jobs. Suddenly, finding himself the owner of a lingerie shop and learning he is about to lose his government housing benefit, Badar has a month to find a wife.

Miss Camel by Haifaa Al Mansour: Saudi Arabia’s first female filmmaker tells the story of Hayla, a Saudi teen who will do anything to escape her arranged marriage and fulfil her goal of attending art school outside of Saudi Arabia. However, life takes a turn when she learns she can talk to animals.

The Crown of Olives by Muzna Al Musafer: The Enjaaz-supported Omani filmmaker spins a story about Reem, who arrives in Muscat from the olive fields of Morocco. Working in a brothel as a dancer, a chance encounter with Marwa, a henna painter at her beauty salon, sees the two strike up a friendship. However, things turn on their head when Marwa notices Reem is getting the attention that she yearns for.

Diff runs from December 6 to 13.