The 11th edition of the Muscat International Film Festival, which will be held from March 3 to 7, is seeing wide global participation.
As the cut off date to submit films is January 31, there has been larger interest from film-makers from countries as far as the US, Tunisia, Iran and Morocco, besides from GCC and Middle East to enter their entries to the fest, according to the organisers, Oman Film Society (OFS).
"We began receiving entries for the Muscat International Film Festival 2024 two months ago, and there has been a great response from local talents as well as international film-makers," said Hamed al Amri, President of the Oman Film Society.
The locally grown MIFF, organised under the slogan 'Renewed Oman' has grown to be a major film festival in the region and far beyond with the participation of jury members and guests from across the world.
The last edition of the MIFF, held in March 2020 under the theme ‘Make your film in Oman’ introduced international film-makers to the most important tourist destinations in the Sultanate of Oman, besides having seminars and workshops on the formalities and procedures involved in obtaining the necessary licence to film in the sultanate.
"This year, MIFF includes several competitions in a number of genres, including the Omani and international short narrative film competition, the Omani and international short documentary film competition, and the festival competition under the title 'The Relationship of the Omani Man with the Land.' What makes the festivals different is that both citizens and expatriates can participate in the festival and we have created separate sections for the same," said Mohammed.
As a run up to the MIFF, the OFS had conducted other regional festivals including A Dakhiliyah Film Fest as well as Cinemana from September 12 to 15 where scores of short films, documentaries and graphic films were previewed.
"What makes the MIFF different from the rest is that we will have a green carpet welcome instead of the traditional red carpet greeting and all the films are shown in open theatres making it an eco-friendly film fest," said Mohammed al Kindi, Chief Coordinator of the event.
He said that there will be seminars and workshops attended by Arab film personalities and moderated by eminent film-makers from the region.
Al Batinah Intl Film Fest, part of Omani regional film festivals, was held from November 12 to 15, in cooperation with the Office of the Governor of Al Batinah South.
"We are focusing on the youth creativity in the field of film industry and to provide an opportunity to benefit from international cinematic experiences, and to learn the cinematic culture and the advancement of Omani cinematic works," Mohammed al Ajmi, Chief Coordinator of the fest.
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