The line-up of more than 70 films from 25 different nations has been revealed for the first Meta Film Fest, which will debut in Dubai later this month.
The inaugural screening of the international festival, which will feature movies from the Middle East and Africa, will take place from October 27 to October 29 at Vox Cinemas at Nakheel Mall on the Palm Jumeirah.
The three-day festival, which is run by Great Minds Event Management, will feature dozens of premieres, including nine international ones. Additionally, there will be 43 first-time screenings in the Middle East, including 12 in the United Arab Emirates.
The Emily Bronte biopic, which has received nominations for awards in Toronto and Sitges, and the French feature film Hard Shell, Soft Shell, which has received nominations for Best Feature Film at the Buzau International Film Festival and Best Feature Film at the Beirut International Women Film Festival, round out the lineup.
Despite its local roots, the festival’s selection has a distinctively global bent, which, according to Masinaei, represents the diversity of UAE viewers. More than 200 different ethnicities call Dubai home. For so many people around the world, it serves as their second home.
56 films from all around the world have been chosen for the festival’s shortlist by a committee of critics and industry insiders. A jury of seven will present 10 prizes on October 29.
The jury, which is presided over by Emirati director Nujoom Al Ghanem, is also made up of Elon D. Johnson, head of development at Tyler Perry Studios, Oscar-winning Spanish producer Andres Vicente Gomez, Iranian producer Kaveh Farnam, Iranian actress and director Pegah Ahangarani, Turkish actress Neslihan Yeldan, Iranian actress and director Pegah Ahangarani, and others.
Masinaei argues that film festivals are an essential component of any cultural environment, and Meta intends to contribute to this. Movies and cinema are the most easily translatable kinds of art, according to her, and “art and culture embodies all forms of art.”
The Meta Film Fest will take place at Vox Cinemas at the Nakheel Mall on the Palm Jumeirah in Dubai from October 27 to 29.