The Abu Dhabi Film Festival Kicks Off

Thursday marked the start of the Abu Dhabi Film Festival (ADFF), a 10-day event, powered by twofour54, that focuses on Arab Cinema and the plethora of emerging movie-makers not just in the Middle East, but around the world. The festival, which is held every October, will be screening more than 20 films from around the world, and the best Arab films the industry has to offer, including THEEB from Jordan, EL OTT, an Egyptian-UAE collaboration, and the SILVERED WATER, which received the Grierison Award for Best Documentary at the BFI London Film festival. In all, there will be seven world premieres of Arab films, as well as countless international titles and short films.

“At ADFF, we provide a platform for Arab films to compete alongside international films – a reason why the main competition segments evaluate Arab films and international productions on the same criteria. This focus comes out of our commitment of bringing the best of world cinema to the UAE while projecting the best of Arab cinema to the world,” said Ali Al Jabri, Director of ADFF.

The number of great quality Arab filmmakers is on the rise, and many movies showing at the festival, would not have been made without proper funding. Movies like THE WANTED 18, THE VALLEY, MOTHER OF THE UNBORN and RETURN TO HOMS, were all funded by the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture (AFAC), a fund established in 2007 dedicated to supporting individuals and organizations in the fields of cinema, performing arts, literature, music and visual arts. You can check out AFAC on their website, or by following them on Facebook and Twitter.

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