It looks like the Dubai International Film Festival’s shift towards focusing on distribution through the Dubai Film Market is paying dividends already.
Word is that Waleed Al Shehhi's Dolphins, which only had its first public viewing at a gala premiere Friday night, is apparently already through to the advanced negotiation stage of a regional distribution deal with TanweerVox, one of the region's leading distributors, not to mention leading cinema chains through the Vox Cinemas properties.
Earlier this year, DIFF announced news festival would limit funding towards production of new movies and focus instead on making sure existing movies reach audiences.
At the time, Samr Al Marzooqi, Dubai Film Market chief, said: “We’re not looking so much at developing Arabic films any more, but rather filling the gaps regarding distribution, sales, acquisition and TV. For eight years we’ve helped with everything up to distribution then stopped. Now we want to look at what happens when you’ve finished your film.”
cnewbould@thenational.ae
