Editor

The 2008 edition of the Dubai International Film Festival features 12 programmes that will showcase cinema of all genres from all over the world.

Selected films will be placed in the appropriate programme by DIFF management in consultation with the filmmaker. While DIFF welcomes international submissions, it should be noted that the non-Arab section of the festival is limited to only 60 films and presently does not include short films.

The Cultural Bridge
The Cultural Bridge programme is one of the most important sections of DIFF. The new millennium has seen a significant increase in conflict and misunderstanding between the Islamic and broader Western worlds.

The Cultural Bridge section features a selection of features and documentaries from around the world, telling stories or describing events that serve to break down the walls of inter-racial prejudice and intolerance, thereby helping stimulate dialogue and building cross-cultural bridges.

To this end, the programme will be complemented by a high-profile panel discussion exploring cinema’s role in building these bridges and exploring the festival’s motto and overall ambition of: ‘Bridging Cultures. Meeting Minds’.

Arabian Nights
The Arabian Nights programme is an out of competition section showcasing a collection of features, short films and documentaries. The selection of feature films by the world’s best Arab and Non-Arab filmmakers is testimony to the talent and creativity within contemporary Arab cinema.

A Celebration of Indian Cinema
A Celebration of Indian Cinema is a new focus within the international programme and is designed to reflect the strong links between Dubai and India, a country which has a long tradition of popular and great cinema. The section will not only feature the latest attractions from one of the world’s most prolific producers of entertainment and will also showcase a broad range of the finest works from the independent cinema movement within India.

The Cinema of the World
The Cinema of the World programme will feature a selection of the most important and original new films from North and South America, Australasia and Europe.

The Cinema of AsiaAfrica
The Cinema of AsiaAfrica section will offer a broad spectrum of important and recent films emerging from both Asia and Africa. Also includes extremely rich, diverse and challenging films. This section will include countries from Afghanistan, Angola. Bangladesh, Benin, Bhutan, Botswana, Brunei, Burkina Fasp, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, People’s Republic of China, Republic of China (Taiwan), Congo - Kinshasa, Democratic Republic Congo (Zaire), Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Guinea, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ivory Coast, Japan, Kazakhtan, Kenya, North Korea, South Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lesotho, Liberia, Macau, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Mauritius, Mongolia, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philipines, Reunion, Rwanada, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Swaziland, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Tibet, Togo, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Zambia, Zanzibar, Zimbabwe.

Emirati Voices

The Emirati Voices programme is an important component of DIFF and features out of competition Arab cinema by UAE filmmakers. The films are selected from the growing talent pool of emerging young UAE national filmmakers. The programme aims to serve as a platform for promising new Emirati filmmakers to share their work with the international film community attending DIFF.

Children’s Cinema
The Children’s Cinema section presents a selection of films appealing to children of all nationalities. Going beyond Hollywood, the selected works are from around the world and representative of different cultural backgrounds, but share a common factor in their universal appeal of entertaining children.

Animation
This section will present feature length animation films from around the world showcasing a variety of animation.

In Focus
Recognising thecontinuing global importance of world cinema.

Rythm & Reels
Celebrating music in film - on screen and live on stage - this new, three-night component of the programme presents musical films and complementary live concerts.

Screen on the Green
Crowd-pleasing movies from the Festival’s out-of-competition programme, screened under the stars.

Lifetime Achievement
Celebrates the work of three honorees, representing three areas of the globe: the Middle-East, Asia and the West.

In its continuous effort of “Bridging Cultures, Meeting Minds”, DIFF is launching the Dubai Film Market during its 5th edition. The Dubai Film Market is committed to raising the visibility of world cinema - with an emphasis on Arab, Asian and African filmmakers - and stimulating regional and international film production and trade.

The primary objective for the Dubai Film Market is to bring together film professionals of various backgrounds from all over the world. By establishing Dubai as the media content market of the region the Dubai Film Market can support and stimulate the growth of filmmaking in the region.

The Dubai Film Market will also broaden the exposure of the films presented at DIFF. DIFF selected content will be made available at the market’s Cinetech and will be awarded with a ‘DIFF Premium Content Label’.

Cinetech

The Dubai Film Market will introduce a revolutionary process in acquiring audio-visual content through Cinetech, a digitized film library that will include feature films, documentaries, short films and TV content.

In addition to the Market Lounge for free trade content, Cinetech will help participants screen through more than 200 titles. Cinetech will introduce three labels to assist buyers and other industry professionals in browsing through all available content. These labels will be categorized as: a) DIFF Premium Content, b) Market Recommended Content and c) Rising GCC Filmmakers Content.

It will also assist industry professionals in making their selections by giving them the opportunity to contact or interact with sales agents or rights holders.