The Swiss luxury watch manufacturer IWC Schaffhausen and the Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) today announced that IWC Friend of the Brand and Academy Award winner Cate Blanchett will head the IWC Filmmakers Award jury for the second year. IWC and the DIFF also announced the shortlisted projects in the line-up for the USD 100,000 prize […]
The Swiss luxury watch manufacturer IWC Schaffhausen and the Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) today announced that IWC Friend of the Brand and Academy Award winner Cate Blanchett will head the IWC Filmmakers Award jury for the second year. IWC and the DIFF also announced the shortlisted projects in the line-up for the USD 100,000 prize for the second IWC Filmmaker Award taking place on 7 December 2013 during the 10th edition of DIFF. The shortlisted projects are: Faiza Ambahs A Reverence for Spiders, Hussain Alriffaeis Siege written by Bahraini author Ameen Saleh, Waleed Al Shehhis Dolphins written by UAE author Ahmed Salmeen, and Zeyad Alhusainis How I Got There.
The four projects in development will be assessed by a jury of international film industry experts, headed by Academy Award winner Cate Blanchett, who will consider the scripts and the overall potential of the projects. Speaking of the link between storytelling and IWC, Georges Kern, CEO of IWC Schaffhausen, says: Storytelling is timeless, and stories are our most valuable legacy. With the IWC Filmmaker Award, we recognize storytellers and prize the most exciting voices in Gulf cinema, which is still an untapped resource for rich and unique stories. Cinema upholds and nourishes the fertile legacy of the regions culture and allows audiences from around the world to delve into a world different from their own.
It is an honour to embark on our second year with the award and contribute to local storytelling. Maysoon Pachachi, who won the IWC Filmmaker Award 2012 for Nothing Doing in Baghdad, last year received the prize from IWC Friend of the Brand and head of the jury, Cate Blanchett, during the Filmmakers Dinner.
DIFF Chairman, Abdulhamid Juma, said: This year we received three times as many entries for the award as in 2012, which speaks for the numerous filmmakers in the region who are ready to take on a feature project and have already done considerable work in terms of putting together a team and financing. The award recognizes their vision and gives them a boost with seed money that will attract further investment. We look forward to congratulating the winning director and welcoming him or her back to DIFF with the finished project in future editions.
The winner of the award will be announced during the 2013 festival at a gala dinner which is scheduled to take place on 7 December 2013.
