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[10 MAY 2016]
Students win big at the 3rd edition of the Children's International Film Festival
Over AED 100,000/- worth of prizes won!
Dubai, UAE: Children's International Film Festival (CIFF) 2016 announced the winners of its wildly popular filmmaking competition at their glamourous red-carpet Awards Ceremony on Saturday, 7 May 2016. A total of thirty two (32) awards were announced that included over AED 100,000/- worth of prizes.
In the International Films section, "Boy and The World" won the Audience Choice Award for Best Feature and "The Present" won the Audience Choice Award for Best Short-film.
"Love Is Home" produced by The Winchester School, Jebel Ali bagged the most coveted Best Film award in Group B, while "Fight The Fear" produced by Our Own English High School, Al Ain won the same award in Group A. "The Stolen Ring" produced by Al Yassat Private School, Abu Dhabi and "Road To Glory" produced by Dubai College, Dubai won the 1st & 2nd Runner-up Awards respectively in Group B. "Happily Ever After" produced by Our Own English High School, Sharjah (Boys Branch) and "The Paints" produced by GEMS Wellington International School, Dubai won the 1st & 2nd Runner-up Awards respectively in Group A.
Ms. Mehnaz Nisar from GEMS Our Own English High School, Dubai won the Best Director award in Group B for her work in the film "Catastrophe" and Ms. Marah Joudeh from Dubai International School, Dubai won the same award in Group A for her work in the film "L.I.F.E". All other awards are as tabulated below:
Ms. Sreelekshmi Subhas from Our Own English High School, Sharjah (Girls Branch) for her work in the film "Gift".
Ms. Francesca from Raffles World Academy for her work in the film "Reality".
Mr. Jacob Nicholas Alcala from The Winchester School, Jebel Ali for his work in the film "Love Is Home".
Ms. Marah Joudeh from Dubai International School, Dubai for her work in the film "L.I.F.E".
Ms. Haneen Hesham Abdalla Fathalla and Ms. Razan Hussam Alloh from Al Yassat Private School, Abu Dhabi for their work in the film "The Stolen Ring".
Mr. Asiya Shahama from Our Own English High School, Al Ain for his work in the film "Fight The Fear".
Ms. Varsha Sriram from GEMS Our Own English High School, Dubai for her work in the film "Catastrophe"
Ms. Marah Joudeh from Dubai International School, Dubai for her work in the film "L.I.F.E".
"Road to Glory" produced by Dubai College
"Perfidy" produced by Delhi Private School, Sharjah
The film posters of "Masquerade" produced by GEMS Our Own Indian School, Al Qouz, "Ardour" produced by Our Own English High School, Sharjah (Girls Branch), "Fatebook" produced by The Emirates National School, Sharjah, "Delirious" produced by Our Own High School, Dubai and "Dilation of Time" produced by Our Own English High School, Sharjah (Boys Branch) won the Nikon Poster Contest. The awards included a set of Nikon D750 & Nikkor 50mm lens, worth AED 10,000/- each, for all the five (5) schools while the photographer of the winning picture won a Nikon D3300 and every crew member received a goody bag.
Under the Dubai Customs' Category, "Together for Better Protection" produced by Jumeirah College won the Best Film award that includes a cash prize of AED 30,000/- to be shared equally amongst all cast & crew members of the film. Mr. Chinmayan from Our Own High School, Dubai won the Best Director award, which includes a cash prize of AED 5,000/-, for his work in the film "Ouroboros". Ms. Sachika Prabhudesai from GEMS Our Own English High School, Dubai won the Best Actor award, which includes a cash prize of AED 5,000/-, for her work in the film "The Cycle". Mr. Sebastian Sanchez won the Best Storywriter award, which includes a cash prize of AED 5,000/-, for his work in the film "Protect Intellectual Property". "Fraudrug", an animation film produced by Our Own English High School, Sharjah (Boys Branch) won the Best Animation award that includes a cash prize of AED 5,000/-.
[20 APRIL 2016]
The 3rd edition of the Children's International Film Festival inspires the young generation again in Dubai this week
Bringing movies made by children, for children
Dubai, UAE: Under the patronage of His Excellency Sheikh Nahayan Mabarak Al Nahayan, Minister of Culture & Knowledge Development of the UAE, the 3rd edition of The Children's International Film Festival (CIFF) 2016 has been officially announced today. With Dubai Film and TV Commission (DFTC) as the Strategic Partner, Dubai Customs as the Principal Partner, CIFF2016, is powered by Nikon, and is presented in association with VOX Cinemas.
This year, CIFF2016 will take place at VOX Cinemas across the UAE from 28th April, 2016 to 7th May, 2016. The 10-day long festival will feature 117 age- appropriate films. Over 1,156 short, feature & documentary films from 66 countries in 55 languages have been submitted by international filmmak- ers, compared to 410 films submitted last year. The significant increases in submissions reflect a huge growth of 64% which highlights the great success of the festival. 56 of these international films will be screened in the festival.
"We are pleased to present the 3rd edition of Children's International Film Festival. This is yet another special edition with 117 films from 66 countries in 55 languages, including 61 films 'Made in UAE' by students. The film selection includes, Boy & The World; an Oscar 2016 nominated film, My Friend Raffi; an award winning German film amongst several others. Kids and their families are all set to have lots of fun, film & popcorn!" said Mr. Deepak Jain, Founder & Director of CIFF.
More than 160 local short-films have been produced in a span of five (5) months by UAE School stu- dents aged 12 to 17 years. Of these, 134 films were submitted to CIFF2016. And of these, 61 short- films will be screened in the cinemas during the festival.
He added: "We are very proud to announce that like last year, films ‘Made in UAE' by students were screened at several film festivals across the world and two of these won International Awards in Aus- tralia. The Good Side Of Bad; a film by Jumeirah English Speaking School, Dubai won the Best Cam- era Operation by a Child and Mindbender; a film by Kings' School – Al Barsha, Dubai won the Best Editing by a Child, at KidzFlicks, Sydney.", she added.
To top off the exciting news, the three winning "Made in UAE" by student films from CIFF2016 will enter seven (7) other Children's Film Festivals held in Paris (France), Seattle (USA), Bologna (Italy), Valencia (Spain), Plasencia (Spain), Nairobi (Kenya), Sydney (Australia) and gain recognition at Inter- national level. Additionally, 35 awards will be given out at the festival – an increase over 26 from last year.
Commenting, Mr. Jamal Al Sharif, Chairman of Dubai Film and TV Commission (DFTC) and Managing Director of Dubai Studio City (DSC) said;
"Our partnership with CIFF2016 for the third consecutive year is an excellent opportunity for us to support the young and upcoming talent in the UAE. The overwhelming response we received this year is a pure testament to Dubai's growth into a thriving film and production hub. DFTC is committed to supporting the growth of media and production ecosystem here in Dubai, and we welcome and encourage the creation of initiatives and platforms to support the next generation, and foster innovation and creativity."
"VOX Cinemas is delighted to support the Children's International Film Festival again this year, to showcase quality content dedicated to our littlest customers and their families in the UAE. We are proud to be able to partner with CIFF to bring films from across the world to our screens, creating great moments for these talented filmmakers through promoting and encouraging their work and also for our younger audiences who will be able to enjoy the exciting range of films in our cinemas." said Ms. Ashleigh Potts, Corporate Sales and Marketing Manager, Majid Al Futtaim Cinemas - VOX Cinemas.
Commenting, Mr. Tarek Abdel Rahman, Regional Head of Customer Service - Nikon Middle East & Africa, said:
"Photography & Videography today is not just synonymous with professionals; everyone around us is taking pictures and capturing moments. We believe that it is a great activity, which cultivates talent and creativity, and can be taken up as a hobby from a very young age. A platform like CIFF enables our youth to tap into their imagination and weave extraordinary stories for the world to see."
He added: "We are committed to nurturing local talent by providing mentorship and coaching at every level and it gives us immense joy to be able to start with children as young as these. Participating with CIFF gives us all at Nikon School a tremendous sense of fulfillment, which is probably the reason we keep coming back each year" added Tarek Abdelrahman.
The main objective behind CIFF2016 is to encourage and nurture young filmmaking talent in the UAE and to enhance film, media and ICT literacy in emerging talents. To achieve this, the CIFF team conducted over 15 complimentary filmmaking workshops for 800 students across the UAE to educate and tickle the interests of these young filmmakers. As a result, more than 25,000 children with an estimate of 5000+ families in 5 Emirates (Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Ajman, Ras Al Khaimah & Fujairah) are expected to be a part of this year's edition.