Running alongside the Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF), Dubai Film Forum – the hub for talent development, funding, industry panel discussions, forums and workshops – will dedicate December 13 to the art and business of documentary filmmaking. Jane Williams, Director of Film Forum and Dubai Film Connection, said: While documentary films are often overlooked by […]
Running alongside the Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF), Dubai Film Forum – the hub for talent development, funding, industry panel discussions, forums and workshops – will dedicate December 13 to the art and business of documentary filmmaking.
Jane Williams, Director of Film Forum and Dubai Film Connection, said: While documentary films are often overlooked by the general public in favour of their more ‘glamorous’ fiction film counterparts, significantly more documentary films are produced in the region, and broadcasters rely on non-fiction material for a large share of their content.
Moreover, documentaries are an art form in their own right, and an essential way of introducing viewers to concepts, ways of life and regions they would not otherwise encounter. The focus on documentaries in this year’s programming underscores their importance to the regional film industry and is meant to facilitate regional documentarians’ exposure to industry trends, different techniques of storytelling, and international funders.
‘Documentary Day’ will commence with a panel entitled Telling Stories in Short, the two filmmakers of the omnibus Muhr Arab Documentary Family Albums will discuss the challenges of working in the short film form. Representatives from Focus Forward – a new series of 30 three-minute stories about visionaries directed by the world’s most celebrated documentary filmmakers and Dogwoof – the leading UK film distributor for social issue films and documentaries will lead the discussion on new trends for distributing short form content online.
At the panel A Guide for Funding Documentary Film in the Arab World and Beyond, a distinguished panel of fund representatives will outline ways in which producers of Arab documentaries can access funds to develop and produce their projects. The day concludes with a networking session where Dubai Film Market delegates will be able to meet with international documentary funders and commissioners.
The Dubai Film Forum is an integral part of the Dubai Film Market, DIFF’s comprehensive script-to-screen initiative, which also includes the Dubai Film Connection, the Festivals successful co-production market; Enjaaz, the Festivals dedicated post-production support programme; and the Dubai Filmmart, a global content trade and distribution platform.
