UAE | General
Bridging cultures with a meeting of minds
At a time when religious and cultural prejudices are increasing across the world and violence is pursued in the name of ideology, the concept of "Bridging Culture, Meeting Minds" could not be more important.
- By Wafa Issa, Staff Reporter
- Published: 23:34 May 3, 2009
- Image Credit: Gulf News Archive
- Abdul Hamid Juma, Deputy Director General of Dubai Technology and Media Free Zone Authority.
Dubai: At a time when religious and cultural prejudices are increasing across the world and violence is pursued in the name of ideology, the concept of "Bridging Culture, Meeting Minds" could not be more important.
With this in mind, film industry professionals believe that the medium of film can be used to initiate dialogue and highlight issues such as poverty and ignorance, through its ability to speak directly to people.
The third Dubai International Film Festival will be held from December 10-17.
Since its launch in 2004, the organisers of the Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) have been committed to these aims.
"It is important to bridge cultures especially at this historic time," said one of the main organisers of the festival, Abdul Hamid Juma, Deputy Director General of Dubai Technology and Media Free Zone Authority (Tecom).
"It is our task to increase understanding and to spread awareness of Arab culture and way of life. Therefore, the third DIFF aims to foster a strong Arab filmmaking culture through the encouragement and support of young creative talent."
This year, DIFF is launching the inaugural Muhr Awards, honouring excellence in Arab cinema with Dh1.2 million to be awarded to feature films, documentaries, short film, best script for a short film by a UAE filmmaker and the most promising UAE filmmaker.
Kim Bigelow, assistant professor of mass communication at the American University of Sharjah (AUS), said that 'filmmaking is about telling a story and if you tell it well you will be able to communicate it well.'
"What Arabs need to do is to tell their everyday stories in their own way and by doing so they will automatically communicate with the other and will be able to convey the Arab point of view and the world will embrace it," he said.
Challenges
Every year, there are some 76 films produced in the Arab world, however, according to Juma the industry continues to face challenges largely relating to financial and marketing problems and lack of experience.
"In many cases there is a well written script, but financial problems that Arab filmmakers are having may bring down the quality of the film," Juma said.
Bigelow pointed towards the lack of institutions and mechanisms that cultivate film production, particularly in the UAE, as another problem.
However, the organisers of DIFF believe that the festival will be able to play a role in the development of film production in the Arab world.
"The tasks we are undertaking are based on a strategy and are not just randomly taken. DIFF will continue to play a leading role in cooperation with other festivals in the region to improve filmmaking in the Arab world," Juma said.
He added that festival organisers are hoping to develop DIFF into one of the world's leading festivals, but conceded that it would not be an easy task considering that on any given day there are several film festivals taking place around the world.
"Another of our aims is business oriented, where we hope that Dubai will attract more filmmakers. We are already laying the platform through initiatives such as the Dubai Studio City."
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