This year the 4th edition of the Dubai International Film Festival is proud to launch the Dubai Film Connection (DFC) from December 12 - 16, 2007, a feature film co-production market. The new initiative is part of the Festival’s ongoing commitment to raise the visibility of Arab filmmakers and support and stimulate the growth of film production in the Arab world.
The Dubai Film Connection will concentrate on bridging cultures by bringing international film professionals in contact with the Arab filmmaking community. It will actively encourage collaborations in order to facilitate the realization of feature film projects in both the fiction and documentary format.
The Dubai Film Connection will feature the works of 10 Arab filmmakers with feature film projects in an advanced stage of development. The works will have been selected by an international team of experts.
As part of the program the selected Arab filmmakers will be invited to attend a number of networking opportunities facilitating meetings and discussions of projects with industry professionals from the regional and international film industries. Invited film industry professionals will include film financiers, film funds, distributors, sales agents and television broadcasters.
An international jury will select and award grants of $15,000 to the best three projects and the producers of these projects will be invited to attend the Producers Network at the Cannes Film Festival in 2008.
The Dubai Film Connection Project Dossier will list and provide details of all the selected projects and be available to DFC delegates on arrival. Invited industry professionals will be able to schedule appointments with selected filmmakers, following which a personalized meeting agenda will be supplied.
Alongside the 30 minute one-to-one meetings all DFC participants will be able to meet daily over informal lunches and early evening social gatherings and also participate in the full schedule of Industry Office Events.
