Dubai Film Festival to become a biennial event

The Dubai International Film Festival is transitioning from yearly to biennial with the next festival scheduled to take place in 2019, it was announced late on Wednesday night.

Responding to weeks of speculation, the organisers said, due to a changing industry and a new approach, the festival would now take place every two years.

“The industry is changing fast and so are we,” they said. “The organisers of Diff will be adopting a new approach with the festival taking place every two years, with the 15th edition confirmed for 2019. Final dates and more details to follow. Stay tuned.”

It has also been confirmed the UAE Pavilion, which has strong ties with Diff, will not appear at the Cannes Film Festival this year and the Diff365 programme, which brought independent and world films to Vox Cinemas in Dubai’s Mall of the Emirates, has not been extended for another year.

Sources told The National that one senior member of the new management of Dubai Holding, Diff’s parent company, said in private that the festival was “costing too much”, while others said the festival would close entirely.

It had previously been said that the festival had been guaranteed funding until 2020 after a similar speculation in 2014.

In the same year and in similar circumstances, the Gulf Film Festival organisers said it would return at some point, but that has not happened.

In a later statement, Jamal Al Sharif, the chairman of Dubai Film and TV Commission, said: “The festival will continue its significant contribution to the development of the industry as we look forward to celebrating with the public, film lovers and industry professionals in 2019.

“We will announce the final dates, details and the new programme as soon as they are confirmed.”