Desert Door Productions is proud to announce its continuous support of the Dubai International Film Festival

Desert Door Productions is proud to announce its continuous support of the Dubai International Film Festival with the onset of its second year of the Desert Door and DIFF Work-In -progress award.

This year, the US $25,000 Desert Door DIFF Work in Progress Award to encourage Arab filmmaking, goes to a Palestine-UK co-production” Zindeeq”, a Narrative film directed by Michel Khleifi and produced by Omar Al Qattan. Zindeeq tells the story of an exiled Palestinian film-maker, documenting memories of the 1948 ‘Nakba’, finds himself having to return home to face his own fears and identity.

Every Day is Holiday, a film directed by Dima Al Hurr and Produced by Sabine Hamdan, which won the Desert Door & DIFF work- in- progress award at the Dubai International Film Festival December 2008 saw its world premiere in the Toronto International Film Festival, in Canada this past September.  Every Day is a Holiday describes the lives of three women who clash when they take the same bus for a day’s journey inland to a Beirut men’s prison. Together, the women face a terrifying catastrophe along the way. The film was screened as part of the Discovery segment at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival, where El-Horr was described as a major new voice in the cinema of the Middle East, and Every Day is a Holiday as ‘a striking debut with a strong perspective, smart formal choices and real heart’. The film was received with great enthusiasm by the festival spectators and went on to screen at numerous festivals including Roma Cinema Festival. It is screening at DIFF 2009 – on the 14th & 16th of December, at the Mall of the Emirates -so don’t miss it!
For those of you unfamiliar with the award, the Desert Door & DIFF work in progress award is worth $25,000, and can still be won by 3 more films in the next 3years.  Mohammed Kateeb, GM & MD of Desert Door Productions, foresaw the importance of such an award to both encourage hard -working, talented, Arab filmmakers and to establish Desert Door Productions as a leader in producing top quality, creative and award- winning Arab films.
Witnessing the success of ‘Every Day is a Holiday’, he had those words to say, “It’s great to see our DIFF award has succeeded in helping what we believed to be a good film to achieve completion and be premiered in a prestigious festival such TIFF.  This gives us tremendous motivation to continue to support such Arabic films.”
Desert Door Productions is looking forward to some great productions in 2010 and we wish filmmaker Michelle Khalife & his team all the best in the final stages for Zindeeq!