Zayed University Middle East Film Festival honours winners of 10th edition

DUBAI, UAE, (Pakistan Point News - 24th Apr, 2019) The 10th Zayed University middle East Film Festival (ZUMEFF), which saw 76 films representing 14 countries competing for honours, was held on Monday and Tuesday.

ZUMEFF, showing films at the Dubai Youth x Hub, Emirates Towers Boulevard, has evolved in the past decade from a small-scale college festival into an event involving 16 countries, and is contributing to the regional film industry.

This year, the festival saw two new awards, the first being a commemorative celebration marking the 10th anniversary of its launch, and its continuation as the first and only film festival of its kind in the region, and coincides with the celebration of the UAE’s Year of Tolerance.

Noura bint Mohammed Al Kaabi, Minister of Culture and Knowledge Development and President of Zayed University, noted the diversity of ideas and content that the participating films portrayed. She noted that the festival is the result of a bold initiative between two Emirati students from Zayed University, Al-Yazia Al-Falasi and Rima Majid, who began the event in 2010 in hopes of it becoming a graduation project, and honoured them.

Al Kaabi also discussed the aspirations of a number of creative students from Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco and Saudi Arabia who will take their first steps in the film industry, as well as the challenges they faced in completing their films.

On the following night, Prof. Reyadh Al Mehaideb, Vice President of Zayed University, honored the winners of the 10 awards at the festival, praising the authenticity of their experiences, the novelty of their ideas and their diversity, and the vitality of the youth in presenting them to the public.

ZUMEFF X is not only a film festival but also a social experience that inspires and encourages the growth of a creative community. The following is the list of winners: Honourable Mention Cameo Samaher Bantan, Effat University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (Animation) The Coffee Shop... Why? (Documentary: 5 minutes) Nada Atta, American University in Cairo, Egypt Ruins (Narrative: 15 minutes) Valentina Khawand, Saint Joseph University, Lebanon Heart / Cœur (Documentary: 29 minutes) Yasmina Mesbahi, Abdelmalek Essaadi University, Morocco (Tolerance Award) Rose (Narrative: 12 minutes) Ali Khaleel Abbas Mohamed Lari, Zayed University, UAE Best Films I Exist (Animation: 6 minutes) Achraf Ouammou, Abdelmalek Essaadi University, Morocco WAQF (Documentary: 3 minutes) Naif Shaqqaf, Inaya Medical College, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia 180 (Narrative: 15 minutes) Mohamed Reda Kouzi, Abdelmalek Essaadi University, Morocco Le Vieil Homme et La Montagne (Documentary: 22 minutes) Mohamed Rida Gueznai, Abdelmalek Essaadi University, Morocco Best of the Best Carbon (Documentary: 15 minutes) Beshoy Maher Kamel Abadeer, Beni-Suef University, Egypt (Tolerance)