Sharjah's new film festival

Sharjah Film Platform is an annual programme organised by Sharjah Art Foundation, aims to support film production in the United Arab Emirates. Courtesy SAF

Sharjah Art Foundation has announced a new annual film festival, featuring over 100 short and full-length films, which will be screened at various venues across the emirate, including Africa Hall, Mirage City Cinema and Al Hamra Cinema. 

Sharjah Film Platform (SFP), which runs from January 18-26, will promote work by local, regional and international filmmakers. There will also be an extensive programme of talks and workshops, covering subjects such as screenwriting, critical film theory and film criticism.

On the opening day of SFP, a discussion, titled ‘Film Critics Meet-up’, will address the challenges of being an emerging filmmaker in the region and there will be a range of other topics covered.

A jury of film professionals will select winners for the best films in three categories: narrative, documentary and experimental. 

Added to this, a new production grant will be launched at SFP. A sum of Dh30,000 will be awarded to emerging filmmakers, who will then be expected produce a short film within the next 12 months. These films will be screened at SFP 2020.

For more information, visit www.sharjahart.org