The Gulf Film Festival (GFF), the annual event celebrating Gulf cinema and an initiative under the Dubai Culture & Arts Authority (Dubai Culture), is offering awards worth Dh485,000 ( $132,041) to honour talented Gulf filmmakers.

The festival is giving critical funding and support to the region's film talent, said the organisers of the film festival, which runs from April 8 to 14. Nearly half a million dirhams will be offered to professional filmmakers and emerging young talent of Gulf nationality at the third edition of GFF, they added.

GFF is now accepting entries into its two main competitions for 2010: the Film Competition and Script Competition. The last date for submission of entries is February 15, 2010, the organisers said.

The official competition is open for films from the Gulf region – UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman and Qatar – as well as Yemen and Iraq. The student competition is for works made or produced by students during their academic study, or as part of a college project.

The 'Script Competition' is exclusively for Emirati short film entries from UAE nationals. To nurture the local industry, all prize money goes towards producing the three winning scripts in the UAE, the organisers added.

The GFF is an accomplishment of the vision of Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, to further strengthen local and regional talent in culture and arts, and provide a strong infrastructure for growth.

It is being under the patronage of Sheikh Majid bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, chairman of the Dubai Culture.

GFF chairman and Dubai Culture board member Abdulhamid Juma said: “The GFF is one of the key initiatives of the Authority that provides film makers from the Gulf a vibrant platform for growth allowing the Gulf film industry to thrive towards international recognition.'

GFF festival director Masoud Amralla Al Ali said: “In just two years, the event has created a groundswell of interest in filmmaking in the region, especially among the youth. This is an exciting foundation on which to build, and we’re anticipating even more entries than last year into the various categories of the 2010 event.”

“Gulf films and filmmakers need their own platform in order to grow and realize their full potential. The Gulf Film Festival has answered this call with impressive results,” he added.

The 2010 Film Competition has two categories: the Official Competition for professional filmmakers and a contest for students.

Entries in the Official Competition are invited in three categories: Feature Films, Short Films, and Documentaries. Students compete in short films and documentaries only.

This year, the entries into all the GFF competitions will be accepted online (www.gulffilmfest.com), said Al Ali.

In total, prize money worth Dh485,000 will be awarded to the winning films at GFF. In the Feature Films category of the Official Competition, first prize is Dh50,000 and second receives Dh35,000.

In the Documentaries category, first prize is Dh25,000, second earns Dh20,000, and third place is awarded Dh15,000. A special jury prize of Dh20,000 will go to either the winning feature film or documentary.

A special jury prize of Dh20,000 is also awarded to the winning short film in the Official Competition. In addition, the best short film receives Dh25,000, the runner up gets Dh20,000, third wins Dh15,000, and the best script also receives Dh15,000.

In the Documentary Films category of the Student Competition, first, second and third place are awarded Dh20,000, Dh15,000, and Dh10,000 respectively.

There are also three prize categories in the Short Films section for students, with the same allocation of prize money. A special jury prize of Dh15,000 goes to the best documentary or short.

UAE nationals entering this year’s Script Competition are competing for a total of Dh120,000 in prize money. First place wins Dh50,000, second Dh40,000, and Dh30,000 is awarded for third place.-TradeArabia News Service