By IANS/WAM,
Abu Dhabi: Debut feature films made by young directors from Arab countries will now be able to get the prestigious Black Pearl Award at the Middle East International Film Festival to be held in Abu Dhabi October 14-23.
Middle East International Film Festival (MEIFF) 2010 announced Monday an additional category to honour fiction and non-fiction feature films by first- and second-time directors.
The new “Afaq Jadida” (New Horizons) category will focus on the work of new talents from the Arab world.
Winners will get the Black Pearl Awards worth $100,000 under the sub-categories of Best New Narrative Film, Best New Narrative Film from Arab World, Best New Documentary and Best New Documentary from Arab World.
Earlier, the Best New Director prize which carried $50,000, were given to films within the festival’s existing Narrative and Documentary sections.
“Given the growing vibrancy of young filmmakers in the region and the great interest shown by the international industry community, we simply wanted to make the MEIFF even more a driving force in terms of opportunity, recognition and networking for new talent in both fiction and non-fiction films,” said Eissa Saif Rashed Al-Mazrouei, Project Director of MEIFF.
MEIFF Executive Director Peter Scarlet said the new category will encourage the the young filmmakers to make films with universal appeal.
The MEIFF-2010 will also present two competitive sections for short films and a separate competition to honour the works of filmmakers from the UAE.
Submissions under various categories for fourth edition of MEIFF are open till July 1.