Women Directors Dominate the Competition at Abu Dhabi Film Festival

Seventy percent of the works in competition at the 2014 Abu Dhabi Film Festival (October 23 — November 1) will be directed by women. The ADFF will only showcase shorts (along with a Truffaut retrospective), as the briefer format is much more predominant in UAE cinema than features are.

Of the 57 films in competition this year, 37 boast women helmers.

Festival director Ali Al Jabri commented on the lineup, “We have registered an increase in the total number of submissions over the last year. We are particularly delighted with the significant rise in the number of female filmmakers as well as the great diversity of genres within the submissions themselves.”

Belgian-born artist Sarah Al Agroobi’s Super Lochal, a participant in the Dubai 48-Hour Film Project, is among the competition films.

Here are the non-student female directors who will be competing at the festival:

Short Narrative Competition

Abu Mohammed directed by Heba Abu Musaed
UAE 2014 -16 min.

Desire directed by Hala Matar
Bahrain 2014 -15 min.

Hind’s Dream directed by Suzannah Mirghani
Qatar 2014 -9 min.

Kalelis directed by Shahad Al Shehhi
UAE 2014 -7 min.

Super Lochal directed by Sarah Al Agroobi+ Omnia Al Afifi+Mariam Ashour+Majida Al Safadi+Mahiya Sultani+Maram Ashour
UAE 2014 -6 min.

Taboo directed by Aisha Al Hammadi
UAE 2014 -7 min.

Cholo directed by Muzna Al Musafer
Oman 2014 -21 min.

Eye & Mermaid directed by Shahad Ameen
Qatar, KSA 2014 -14 min.

The Neighbour directed by Nayla Al Khaja
UAE 2014 -18 min.