Oscar winner on Dubai film festival jury

Oscar winning actress Cate Blanchett will join the jury to select the winner for the IWC Schaffhausen Filmmaker Award in December during the Dubai International Film Festival, it was announced on Tuesday.

The jury will choose from four shortlisted projects including Nothing Doing in Baghdad by Maysoon Pachachi, The Sleeping Tree by Mohammed Rashed Buali, Girls in the Know by Abdullah Al Kaabi and From A to B by Ali F Mostafa.

These feature-length fiction film projects were selected from hundreds of established and upcoming directors from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and Bahrain.

The IWC Schaffhausen Filmmaker Award was launched earlier this year with a cash cash prize of $100,000 offering the financial means to help the winning filmmaker transfer their vision to the screen.

Joining Cate Blanchett on the jury will be Georges Kern, CEO of IWC Schaffhausen, Abdulhamid Juma, chairman of DIFF, Masoud Amralla Al Ali, artistic director of DIFF and Olivier Père, general director of Paris-based Arte France Cinema.

The winner will be announced during the 9th edition of DIFF at a star-studded exclusive gala event at The One and Only, Royal Mirage.

Abdulhamid Juma, chairman of DIFF said: “We have been overwhelmed with the quality of submissions from a dynamic group of filmmakers who have recognised this incredible opportunity made possible by IWC to help achieve them achieve the ultimate - bringing their script to screen. 

"The GCC continues to be a region rich with filmmaking potential, and the talented filmmakers we have selected this year embody it.”