Canadian child actor Jacob Tremblay, best known for his role in Room, will be one of the guests at the Sharjah International Children’s Film Festival (SICFF), to be held from October 8 to 13.
Tremblay, 11, us best known for his role as Jack Newsome in the 2015 drama, which earned him numerous awards and plaudits, including the Critics’ Choice Movie Award for Best Young Performer and the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role. He was also nominated for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role.
He will be joined at the event by Emirati director Ali Mustafa as well as Ayman Jamal, the founder of Barajoun Entertainment, which produced the CG-animated film Bilal.
The personalities will join 70 other filmmakers at the six-day event, which will see more than 100 films being screened.
“We could not have asked for three more inspiring movie luminaries to open the fifth edition of the Sharjah International Children’s Film Festival. Jacob Tremblay is already a young star and has the perfect appeal for youth in the region who are keen on getting onto the silver screen themselves. Ali Mustafa, for his turn, directed and produced City of Life when he was in his twenties, while Ayman Jamal founded his own CGI studio and brought out the region’s first animated film whilst also at a young age. All three demonstrate just what youthful passion and ability can achieve,” said Shaikha Jawaher bint Abdullah Al Qasimi, director of organisers Funn and the director of SICFF.
