Dubai International Film Festival

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Dubai International Film Festival - IWC
The actress Olga Kurylenko presented the fifth IWC Filmmaker Award to Abdullah Hassan Ahmed from the United Arab Emirates for his project “Sunrise” during the IWC “For The Love of Cinema” gala event in Dubai.

The Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) is the leading film festival in the Middle East and Africa. Since its inception in 2004, the festival has served as an influential platform for Arab filmmakers and talent at an international level by spearheading cinema in the region.

Now in its fifth year, the annual IWC Filmmaker Award honours one talented filmmaker from the region with a grant of USD 100,000 and an IWC Portugieser Automatic timepiece for their feature film project. This year, the film ventures were evaluated by a jury headed by American actor Ali Suliman. Other jury members included IWC Schaffhausen CEO Georges Kern, DIFF Chairman Abdul Hamid Juma, and DIFF Artistic Director Masoud Amralla Al Ali.

The Emirati director Abdullah Hassan Ahmed returns to the Dubai International Film Festival this year after being awarded the Best Script prize at DIFF 2006. “Sunrise” tells the story of a worried father who receives tragic news about his son, who is fighting in a distant war. With a pregnant wife to take care of, he is unsure how to deliver the news without causing too much anguish. The two other projects shortlisted for the Filmmaker Award are “Salem” by Arabic director Nujoom Alghanem and “The Search for the Star Pearl” by Qatari director Hafiz Ali Ali.

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