Ibda'a awards to open up promising career avenues

The second Ibda'a Media Student Awards will open a huge window of career and networking opportunities to talented media students.

Award winners could see their careers take a big turn when they win internships with the biggest global names in their field of specialisation.

The high visibility of the awards also opens up promising career avenues and prime networking opportunities with international media professionals for all final-round nominees.

Leading multinationals in the global media industry have offered prestigious internships to the winners of the Ibda'a Awards.

Sponsors of Ibda'a prizes include CNN, Disney Channel - Middle East, FilmWorks, Gulf News, Jumbo Electronics, Saatchi and Saatchi, Team/Young and Rubicam and Virgin Megastore.

The experience of Jan-Hendrik Beetge, the South African winner in the Film category last year, is testimony to the huge prospects that Ibda'a could open up.

"Beetge has gone on to win several nominations and awards for his film Triomfeer and Ibda'a can be credited as the first festival to recognise this film," said Garth Holmes, Dean of the South African Film and Drama School.

With his film - a poignant and powerful work that reinforces the ideas, importance and universal nature of reconciliation across all cultures - Beetge has been recognised as one of the most exciting young film-maker to emerge out of South Africa last year.

The Ibda'a Awards provide exciting and rewarding opportunities for media students on the threshold of their professional careers to demonstrate their creative excellence.

Winning a nomination to the final round of the Ibda'a Awards alone gives participants the opportunity to showcase their work to key decision-makers in the regional and international media industry.

All nominees will be flown to Dubai by Dubai Media City ahead of the gala awards ceremony for an exhibition of their work, which will be attended by media professionals from across the world. Being able to display their work will give these students a chance to interact with global media executives.

Media schools in India, who are participating this year, see it as a wonderful opportunity to compete with other international schools. For local UAE media students, Ibda'a represents a chance to be recognised for world-class excellence.

"There are several students in our media courses who exhibit world class skills and talent," said Howard Reed, Director of Dubai Women's College.

"Ibda'a gives them a chance to have their talents recognised by a global audience. For us faculty members, the Awards are a wonderful opportunity to benchmark the professional capabilities of our students with media students from around the world."

Last year, Amena Saif Ali, a student of Dubai Women's College, won the award in the journalism. Her feature titled 'How can working mothers successfully take up challenges?' earned her a summer internship at CNN's London Bureau.

"Ibda'a has emerged as the most celebrated platform for showcasing young media talent in the region," said Abdulhamid Juma, Chief Executive Officer of Dubai Media City.

"The response to the second edition of the Awards has been huge, which reflects the enthusiasm for creative excellence that exists among media students in the region. It is the ideas and spirit seen in these entries that will shape the future of the region's media industry."

The first Ibda'a Awards were launched by Dubai Media City in June last year under the patronage of General Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Dubai Crown Prince and UAE Defence Minister, with the mission of discovering, showcasing and fostering student media talent in the region.

Named after the Arabic word for creativity, the Ibda'a Awards seek to unearth young talent for the benefit of the media industry, which needs a constant supply of quality skills.

Dubai Media City, this year, conducted a massive promotional campaign in various media markets in the region.