Dubai – 05 December 2016:
The Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) is proud to announce the esteemed
panel of renowned film industry professionals that will make up the Jury for
the prestigious Muhr Awards at the Festival’s 13th edition. Boasting
a line-up brimming with award-winning international and regional directors and
actors, the Muhr Awards Jury will be tasked with recognising the best talent
from the Arab and wider world throughout the competition, which will run across
the Festival from 7 – 14 December 2016.
Since its inception in 2006, the annual Muhr
Awards have recognised more than 280 cinematic works and distributed 270 awards
through its four categories; Muhr Emirati, Muhr Feature, Muhr Short and Muhr
Gulf Short.
DIFF’s Artistic Director, Masoud Amralla Al
Ali, commented: “The Muhr Awards have always feature an incredibly formidable
line-up of work and so it is only fitting that the Jury is filled with some of
the most experienced and talented individuals in the industry. Some of them are
themselves Muhr alumni who understand the dedication and talent needed to make
a truly great film. We work hard to ensure the Muhr Awards provide a platform
for the best talent from around the region to showcase their work, and this
year is no exception as we bring another quality slate of work to DIFF
audiences.”
Heading up DIFF’s Muhr Emirati Competition
Jury is renowned Egyptian filmmaker Yousry Nasrallah. He returns to the
Festival as President of the jury as well as a filmmaker with his latest work,
‘Brooks, Meadows and Lovely Faces’, which was featured at Locarno Film Festival
and will be showcased as part of DIFF’s Arabian Nights programme. Nasrallah’s
film works include ‘Mercedes’ (1993), ‘On Boys, Girls and the Veil’ (1995) and
‘Sheherezad, Tell Me a Story’ (2010), and have premiered at leading
international film festivals such as Cannes, Locarno, Venice and Berlin.
He will be joined by award winning Algerian
and French producer and director, Salem Brahimi. Known for his
hard-hitting stories of hardship, Brahimi is a Muhr alumnus, taking home the
Special Jury Prize in Muhr Feature for his film ‘Let Them Come’ at DIFF 2015.
Emirati poet, writer, journalist, and
broadcaster Adel Khozam completes the Muhr Emirati jury. Known for his
breath-taking portrayal of Emirati heritage and culture, he has published three
poetry collections, a history of Emirati visual art and has also written music
for theatre and the cinema.
Acclaimed artist, screenwriter and director Ulrike
Ottinger takes the role of President on the Muhr Feature jury. With a
career spanning four decades, Ottinger has set a mark in the non-fiction field
with award-winning epics such as ‘China. The Arts – The People’ (1986) and
‘Exile Shanghai’ (1997). Ottinger returns to the Festival for 2016 after
showcasing her films ‘The Korean Wedding Chest’ and ‘Under Snow’ in the Cinema
of the World programme in 2009 and 2011, respectively.
Palestinian film and stage legend Saleh
Bakri will join her, returning to the 2016 edition after moving audiences
in the previous Festival with the psychological thriller ‘Zinzana’. Known
for his multifaceted portrayals of humanity, Bakri starred as the eponymous
protagonist in Italian thriller ‘Salvo’, which won the Critics' Week Grand
Prize at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival.
Oscar-nominated Iranian-American actress Shohreh
Aghdashloo, who makes her debut at the Festival as part of the Muhr jury.
Across her decade-spanning and talented career, Aghdashloo has made waves and
turned critics’ heads with her work, including starring opposite Jennifer
Connelly and Ben Kingsley in ‘House of Sand and Fog’ (2003).
Joining Aghdashloo is multi-cultural filmmaker
Ann Marie Fleming. The Eurasian Canadian filmmaker born in Japan
is celebrated for her award-winning, genre-hopping films spanning almost 30
years and tackling themes of family, history and memory. Her latest debut is
the animated feature ‘Window Horses: The Poetic Persian Epiphany of Rosie
Ming’, starring Sandra Oh and fellow jury member, Shohreh Aghdashloo.
Concluding the Muhr Feature jury is acclaimed
Egyptian producer and director Marianne Khoury, known for the
compelling and challenging films September 11, Closed Doors and Zelal which won
the FIPRESCI at DIFF in 2010.
The Muhr Short and Gulf Short Competition Jury
will be headed up by famed Ukranian documentary filmmaker Sergiy Loznytsya.
He has directed documentaries since 1996 and won several awards at festivals
including Cannes, London, Oberhausen, Paris, Madrid and Toronto. His feature
debut ‘MY JOY’ (2010) was in the main competition at Cannes and he has returned
regularly to the Dubai International Film Festival, most recently with his
non-fiction ‘MAIDAN’ (2014).
He will be joined by the Academy Award and
Palme d’Or nominated writer and director, Basil Khalil. Khalil returns
to DIFF after winning Best Muhr Short in 2015 for his trage-comedy ‘Ave Maria’.
Completing the Muhr Short and Gulf Short
Competition Jury is Mona Khazindar, the first woman and first Saudi ever
to be appointed director general of the Institut du Monde Arabe. A prominent
figure in Saudi Arabia’s art scene, Khazindar is also vice president and
founding member of the Al Mansouria Foundation for Culture and Creativity, the
non-profit cultural foundation which aims to promote contemporary Arab art.
The Muhr Awards competition will run throughout the
duration of the Dubai International Film Festival, from December 7 – 14 2016.
Cinemagoers can buy tickets from the DIFF box office, now open www.dubaifilmfest.com and at the box
office at VOX Cinemas Mall of the Emirates. Tickets are also available from the
Madinat Arena and Madinat Theatre at Souk Madinat Jumeirah.
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