Remembering DIFFerent days

Bollywood, Hollywood and Arab stars — Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) 2006 had it all. For eight days, Dubai was filled with the brightest lights in international show business making it the most diverse meeting of cinema minds in the region.

And now that the dust has settled, it's time to take stock of what made this year's DIFF the best yet.

Behind the glitz and glamour, the festival's buzzing hive of departments was presided over by one man — its chairman Abdulhamid Juma.

Heading an organisation that employs more than 350 people on short-term contracts, Juma brings together a strong mix of skills from the local community and professionals with invaluable experience from more than 20 other festivals worldwide.

With a management philosophy based on communication, Juma regularly gathered department heads together to share information, news and potential problems in the weeks leading up to the festival. And, in the heat of last-minute preparations, the day before the festival he called all staff and volunteers into the Madinat Theatre and got them dancing, shouting, and making noise — whatever it took to get the stress out of their system and to start the week on a positive note.

Juma, a firm believer in team building, says: "It is very important for everyone to understand what everyone else is doing. You don't just do your own job, you are part of a team and we all pull together."

Networking

The Madinat Arena served as the nerve centre of the festival, housing more than 100 paid employees at attendant desks, laptops, internet connections, and phones, under the watchful eye of office manager Keane Grimsrud.

Filmmakers and industry heads could be found at the Industry Lounge while the new Industry Office held courses, networking events and workshops, with a focus on local filmmakers.

Jane Williams, Industry Office manager, said: "We put the emphasis on an exchange of information, so the local filmmakers could inform the guests about what the conditions of filming are here and what ambition they might have."

The initiative was a success with a number of potential deals being made to distribute and produce films in the region.

Meanwhile, a swarm of volunteers in brightly-coloured DIFF shirts were managed by Bob McCarthy, who oversaw a team of over 600 — up from 350 in 2005 — speaking 32 languages, who could be seen everywhere, manning ticket lines, assisting at box offices, and providing information for hundreds of festival goers.

Invitations

Jane Ivey was the woman in charge of looking after the hundreds of films that were submitted and passing them on to programmers. As well as working out the festival schedule, her team extended invitations to over 600 guests, including filmmakers, actors, and industry media.

Guest relations, under Jana Ptackova, made all the travel arrangements for filmmakers who attended. On arrival, they were then turned over to Sanette Coetzee's hospitality team, who met guests at the airport, smoothed over accommodation issues and arranged transport.

Box office manager Tasleem Somji was responsible for the operation and management of all DIFF ticketing locations, tracking their ticket allotments and inventory, and balancing cash.

She managed more than 60 ticket sellers, supervisors and call centre reps, and reported an 85 per cent increase in revenue over last year.

At screenings, 66 theatre operations staff worked from 9am until the end of the last screenings around 1am.

Highest-grossing event

Among the DIFF staff working throughout the year, programmers are tasked with scouting around for films at other major festivals. Hannah Fisher, who programmes the festival's core segment, Operation Cultural Bridge, created the panels and secured film stars including Shah Rukh Khan, whose tribute was the highest-grossing event this year.

New this year was the Muhr Awards for Excellence in Arab Cinema competition. Masoud Amrallah Al Ali, artistic director for Arabic Programming and coordinator general of the competition, together with consultant Mohammed Rouda, sorted through hundreds of applications to narrow down the jurors' choices.

Taking an active interest in all departments is Shivani Pandya, the festival's managing director. During the year, she travels around the world to raise DIFF's profile, and at the festival she is around at all hours, overseeing operations, greeting dignitaries and handling any crises large and small.

Positive feedback

Now that it is over for another year, Pandya is pleased with how DIFF 2006 turned out. She said: "This was the most ambitious year yet and I've received some overwhelmingly positive feedback. Given that our attendance increased by 40 per cent this year, I am pleased with the organisation and planning on the part of our team."

She added that DIFF would not be possible without the people of Dubai and their active interest in culture and film.

"After only three years, this festival is something that Dubai can really be proud of," she said.

"We strive to improve with every edition. We aim to create the foundation for a community of film connoisseurs here in the years to come."

Vital statistics

Staff used 1,500 Dh40 phone cards — 1,100 of which were consumed during the week of the festival.

There were 4 WiFi zones and 110 internet connections.
Invitations were sent to more than 600 guests, including filmmakers, actors, and industry media.

The festival booked more than 4,000 hotel room nights and 600 international flights.
DIFF enjoyed an 85 per cent increase in revenue compared to last year.

Media moments

For eager members of the media, DIFF had a designated Press and Publicity Office under Karen Finnegan, who has worked at London and Cannes film festivals. As well as being responsible for press screenings, conferences, releases, and information, the team coordinated media opportunities for visiting filmmakers, in conjunction with local public relations agency JiWin.

On the red carpet, JiWin managed countless television crews and photographers, organising guests for them to speak to and allocating coveted one-on-one interviews.

In addition, JiWin and Los Angeles-based DDA oversaw media arrangements for international guests like Laurence Fishburne, Richard Gere, and Joy Bryant.