The Sharjah International Film Festival for Children and Youth concluded the activities of its eleventh edition, which was held under the patronage of the wife of His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, Her Highness Sheikha Jawaher bint Muhammad Al Qasimi, President of the Supreme Council for Family Affairs in Sharjah.
The closing ceremony was held last night at the Sharjah Research, Technology and Innovation Center in the presence of directors and employees of the film sector, when distinguished and promising filmmakers were crowned with the festival’s awards in the their eight divisions.
The film “Amakor”, directed by Ahmed Al-Khodary, won the award for the best film, and “Mar Mama”, directed by Magdy Al-Omari, won the award for the best Arabic short film.
The film “Hoof Beats”, directed by Fargul Masroorad and Hossein Zeitounejad, won the award for Best International Short Documentary Film, and the film “Seven Waves”, directed by Asma Bseiso, won the award for Best Documentary Film.
The film “Diplodocus”, directed by Wojtek Favsztyk, won the award for the best animated feature film, and the film “Lola and the Acoustic Piano”, directed by Augusto Zanovelo, won the award for the short animated film the best.
The film “Let’s Remember”, directed by Carolina Cruz, won the award for the best film made by students, and the film “Discrimination”, directed by Yiha Kwon, won the award for the best film made children and adolescents.
In her speech at the ceremony, Sheikha Jawaher bint Abdullah Al Qasimi, Director General of the Fan Foundation and Director of the Festival, emphasized in her speech at the ceremony the importance of the event and its role in being developing the artistic taste of future generations and enriching the culture and knowledge of every member of society, which made it an integral part of the great cultural project of Sharjah.
She explained that the festival has turned into a unique model in the Arab cultural scene that celebrates the cinema of children, teenagers and young people and opens doors for talented people so that they can express their artistic and creative ideas. express, noting that the festival’s competition strengthens its value as an incubator for cinematic talent after the films succeed in attracting the attention of jury members and the public thanks to the quality and its diversity in its subjects, its stories, and the artistic and aesthetic levels that reflect reality, which shows the commitment of the filmmakers to present the best work.
Sheikha Jawaher revealed that the festival, in collaboration with its partners, has enabled this year’s winning films to be screened on all major streaming platforms, including ” Apple,” “Amazon,” “Netflix,” “Hulu,” “Roku,” and others, indicate that this step comes within the framework of supporting a house -image and its makers and providing the audience with a unique viewing experience to enjoy a group of independent works of art, he appreciated the great role played by his work teams and volunteers in promoting the activities of the festival.
The 11th edition of the festival, which reflected the richness and vitality of the cultural movement in Sharjah, was a success, as it was able to attract more than 50,000 visitors to watch, over 5 days, 100 films was carefully selected from more than 90. countries, including Zimbabwe, which participated for the first time in the festival, which attracted a group A wide range of cinematic works that represented the Sultanate of Oman, Egypt , France, Iran, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Palestine, South Korea, Spain and Germany.
While the “Green Carpet” stage hosted 3 films that were shown for the first time in the Middle East, with Palestine marked as the first guest of honor for the festival, which showed a group of Palestinian films as well as organizing a series of workshops inspired by Palestinian History and heritage.
At the closing ceremony, Sheikha Jawaher bint Abdullah Al Qasimi honored the members of the judging committees, collaborators, trainers, promising referees, volunteers, supporters, participants and supporters of the festival.
