Ten Arab filmmakers off to Venice Film Festival

Dubai: The Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) announced that 10 works by Arab filmmakers, endorsed by DIFF, will participate in the Venice Film Market at the 69th Venice Film Festival (VFF) running until September 8.

The line-up of ground-breaking talent attending from the region will have the opportunity to showcase their work to international audiences at one of the most sought after slots in the film industry calendar, said organisers

The Venice Film Market, a new business platform for cinema professionals attending the VFF, will provide unique exposure and visibility to participating films.

The market offers Arab films an invaluable opportunity to gain exposure at one of the world’s most established festivals and network at one of the most important markets in Europe. The inclusion of DIFF films in the Digital Video Library (DVL) also increases their commercial potential.

In addition, films funded by DIFF’s post-production support programme, Enjaaz, have been shortlisted to compete In-Competition at the Festival - “WADJDA” developed and directed by pioneering Saudi filmmaker Haifaa Mansour and “YEMA” a fiction feature directed Djamila Sahraoui.

Shivani Pandya, managing director of the Dubai International Film Festival commented: “We are delighted to announce our collaboration with the Venice Film Festival (VFF) and the Venice Film Market. One of DIFF’s core aims is to foster opportunities for regional filmmakers and help them achieve commercial success and our partnership with VFF enables us to realise this vision.”

— Sarah Dabbar is an intern with Gulf News