March 30, 2016 // BBC Arabic invites film and documentary-makers to submit works to the 3rd BBC Arabic Festival. The work must have been made after January 1, 2015, and reflect on current situations in the Arab world.
Now in its 3rd year, the BBC Arabic Festival has successfully brought live audiences ground-breaking films, with selected films further being shown on BBC Arabic TV which has an international, Arabic speaking audience of 28 million people.
The official selection, along with the winner in each category, will be decided by a panel of judges made up of experts and practitioners in the field of journalism and film. They will seek originality, creativity and technical skill.
BBC Arabic Festival 2017 judge, the United Arab Emirates-based columnist Sultan Saood Al-Qassemi says: "In the era of short tweets and sound bites, a documentary is an important medium to present subjects in a viable and contextualised manner." Pioneering film producer, also a judge on the 2017 panel, Nadine Toukan says, “We want to see films that peak curiosity and urge people to form opinions that matter.”
All directors of the official selection will be invited to come to London and present their film at the festival, which takes place at the BBC’s Radio Theatre in central London in the spring of 2017.
Tarik Kafala, Head of BBC Arabic says: "The BBC Arabic Festival has been a growing success. We are proud to offer a stage to leading and developing film and documentary makers telling challenging, highly personal and detailed stories about the conflicts and dizzying change in the Arab world."
People of all backgrounds are encouraged to submit a fiction or non-fiction piece, covering unique, underreported issues. The festival invites works in four categories: short films, short documentaries, feature documentaries, reportage. Two special awards, ‘BBC Arabic Young Journalist Award’ and the ‘Best Work in Journalism’, will be decided by the BBC Arabic editorial team.
Full entry details, along with submission forms, terms and conditions, are available on the website: BBCArabic.com/festival.