The Dubai Film Connection (DFC), the co-production market of Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF), is inviting applications of works in progress from directors in the Arab world.

Talented filmmakers from the global Arab community stand to gain more than $110,000 in funding and invaluable connections to key industry influencers.

The DFC will present six awards during the sixth DIFF, to be held from December 9 to 16 in Dubai.

These include a Euro 6,000 prize ($8,400) prize from ARTE France, the $10,000 Bahrain Film Production Company DIFF Development Award, the $25,000 Desert Door DIFF Work in Progress Award, and three $25,000 DIFF prizes.

The winners of the three DIFF awards also receive entry into the prestigious Producers Network at the Cannes Film Festival.

DFC will also match the short-listed director/producer teams with industry professionals specialising in film production, sales, distribution and funding to further develop their projects.

DIFF managing director Shivani Pandya said the DFC delivers on the festival’s core mandate to bridge cultures through cinema and to showcase the best of Arab cinema.

“The Dubai Film Connection provides a platform for the world’s most promising Arab talent to collaborate with international film professionals to realize their vision,” Pandya said.

“There is no doubt that DFC is a successful project market, not only because of the volume of quality applications we receive every year but primarily because of the outstanding projects that emerge from the rigorous selection process,” he added.

“Arab filmmaking has never been more distinguished and recognized internationally and we are happy to be an instrument in this achievement.”

Launched in 2007, the DFC aims to raise the visibility of Arab filmmakers and stimulate the growth of film production originating from the Arab world.

In two years, the Middle East’s first fiction and documentary film development initiative to raise the visibility of Arab filmmakers and stimulate more production from the region has achieved significant success.

From the 33 film projects selected in the 2007 and 2008 editions, 17 are in various stages of production and five are completed. Several have gone on to critical acclaim at the renowned Sundance, Berlin and Cannes festivals.

In previous editions, DFC showcase projects included feature debuts and new projects from established filmmakers from the Maghreb, Levant, North Africa and the Gulf.

‘Amreeka,’ a DFC project by Palestinian-American Cherien Dabis, made its world premiere at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival and earlier this year received the prestigious FIPRESCI prize at the Cannes Film Festival.

Lebanese filmmaker Simon El Habre’s directorial debut, ‘The One Man Village,’ which received a 2007 DFC grant and a DIFF Muhr Arabic jury prize, went on to win awards at documentary festivals in Canada, Monaco and Rotterdam.

Interested filmmakers with feature-length fiction or documentary projects in development or works in progress can apply for the Dubai Film Connection online until August 15 at dubaifilmfest.com. – TradeArabia News Service