A still of 'Emily' which will be screened during the inaugural Meta Film Fest in Dubai
A still of 'Emily' which will be screened during the inaugural Meta Film Fest in Dubai Image Credit: Supplied

The inaugural three-day Meta Film Fest, to be held in Dubai from October 27th to 29th, will screen 70 films from 25 countries.

The movies will be screened at the Vox Cinemas at the Nakheel Mall in Palm Jumeirah, Dubai.

“Meta Film Fest is a platform to showcase quality local, regional and international films, as well as a catalyst for a larger film industry based out of our home ground in Dubai,” said Leila Masinaei, Festival Director and Managing Partner of Great Minds Event Management.

She has put together 9 world premieres, 43 Middle East premieres and 12 UAE premieres of films in various genres.

A still of 'Hard Shell Soft Shell' which will be screened during the inaugural Meta Film Fest in Dubai
A still of 'Hard Shell Soft Shell' which will be screened during the inaugural Meta Film Fest in Dubai Image Credit: Supplied

On top of the festival’s list is ‘District Terminal’, an Iranian dystopian film, which has received three nominations at the Berlin International Film Festival and “Best Film” nomination at the Festival du nouveau cinema and Sao Paulo International Film Festival.

The Iranian crime thriller ‘Holy Spider’, which received a 15-minute standing ovation at this year’s Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for Palme d’Or and MORE awards, will also be screened.

‘Emily’, a film depiction of the life of English writer Emily Bronte, has also been nominated at the Toronto International Film Festival and Sitges – Catalonian International Film Festival, and will be screened at this fest.

French feature film ‘Hard Shell, Soft Shell (Fragile)’ has received four nominations, including “Best International Feature Fiction” in the Beirut International Women Film Festival and “Best Feature Film” at Buzz IFF.

The three-day global festival will also see stars and talents from the Arab World, Hollywood, Bollywood and Nollywood, celebrity meet and greets, a Film Fund launch, an awards ceremony, afterparties, content markets and much more.

META Film Fest was first announced in May this year, welcoming submissions from film makers across the UAE, Middle East and the world. It is expected to play an enabling role in revamping the regional film industry.

The 56 shortlisted films, which will be screened during these three days, will then be judged by a jury of 7 to receive one of the 10 prestigious awards at the events Awards Ceremony on 29th October 2022. The Jury is headed by Nujoom Al Ghanem, an award-winning Emirati director, poet and artist. Supporting her is the Oscar-winning Spanish producer, Andrés Vicente Gómez and award-winning Iranian producer Kaveh Farnam with winning films from multiple international festivals including Berlinale. The other jurors are Iranian actress and director Pegah Ahangarani, award winning Turkish actress Neslihan Yeldan, Marta Svecova Lamperova and Elon D. Johnson. Tickets for META Film Fest screenings is on sale now at voxcinemas.com.