The UAE film aid programmes include:
Sanad
Founded in 2010, it offers filmmakers from the Arab world with up to US$500,000 (Dh1.8 million) in grants. Movies such as Hala Alabdalla's As If We Were Catching a Cobra as well as Annemarie Jacir's When I Saw You both received Sanad grants and are screening multiple times this week at the Toronto International Film Festival (Tiff).
Dubai Film Connection
Selects about 15 film projects from the Arab world each year. It then provides their director/producer teams with one-on-one meetings alongside movie professionals from production, sales, distribution and funding backgrounds. Damien Ounouri's Fidai took off after going through the programme in 2010.
IWC Schaffhausen Filmmaker Award
Awards a cash reward of $100,000 to help produce a feature-length fiction film and aspiring Arabian Gulf moviemakers have until Saturday to apply with their full script.
Enjaaz
Funds up to $100,000 for each feature film from a filmmaker of Arab origin. It has helped fiction and documentary projects, including Che Guevara Died in Lebanon, and is sponsored by the Dubai International Film Festival.
