DIFF forms partnership with Tribeca Film Institute®

The Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) has formed a partnership with Tribeca Film Institute (TFI) which will see one developing project from this year’s Dubai Film Connection (DFC), the co-production market at DIFF, selected to attend the 2017 TFI Network, an industry market hosted each year during the prestigious Tribeca Film Festival, presented by AT&T which runs 19 – 30 April 2017.

The winning project from DFC will attend TFI Network at the Tribeca Film Festival and will have the opportunity to connect with the many industry executives, financiers, producers and marketers that attend each year and can potentially support their developing project. The attending DFC project will be eligible for market awards at TFI Network, and its team will receive full filmmaker access to Network and the Tribeca Film Festival itself.

Part of DIFF’s Dubai Film Market, the DFC launched in 2007 to raise the visibility of Arab filmmakers and stimulate the growth of film production originating from the Arab world. Since its inception, it has showcased more than 120 fiction and non-fiction film projects in development to regional and international decision makers, and has gained a reputation for selecting the best projects from the Arab world each year. The co-production market introduces Arab filmmakers to regional and international investors and organizations over three days of intensive meetings during DIFF and beyond, thanks to strategic partnerships with other international industry organizations including TFI.

Molly O’ Keefe, Director, Scripted Programs at TFI, is a member of the Dubai Film Connection jury this year and will select which promising project will be sent to TFI Network. She commented: “I have truly enjoyed my experience as a juror for the DFC and the opportunity to meet so many talented filmmakers here has been inspiring. This partnership is a fantastic way for TFI to help connect filmmakers to a broader industry, expand their network, and it showcases TFI’s year-round work to spotlight and empower storytellers from all backgrounds and from all over the world. We are proud this year to highlight HAIFA STREET for its uniqueness in voice and themes and we look forward to bringing its director, Mohanad Hayal and producer Hala Alsalman, to TFI Network for a series of curated meetings tailor-made to support its evolution.”

Shivani Pandya, DIFF’s Managing Director, added: “DIFF’s partnership with Tribeca Film Institute provides another crucial international platform for talented regional filmmakers to showcase their projects from the Arab world. At the heart of DIFF is a commitment to shining the spotlight on the Arab film industry, and an opportunity for a developing project from the region to attend Tribeca Film Institute Network and access the esteemed North American film market will do just that. We have seen an incredibly high standard of projects entered in to the Dubai Film Connection this year and I know the decision to be made by TFI will be a difficult one.”

Like DIFF’s DFC, TFI Network is a filmmaker and industry market hosted each year during the Tribeca Film Festival by TFI. TFI Network participants include the beneficiaries of many of TFI’s funding programmes. TFI also selects several additional projects to participate in TFI Network, chosen both through partnerships like that forged with DIFF, and the application pool. Attending projects are in all stages of development, production or post-production. These filmmakers also receive year-round mentorship and professional guidance by the TFI Artist Programs department.