LFS Associate Maysoon Pachachi, who attended the film school in the 70s, won the prestigious IWC Gulf Film-maker Award at the Dubai International Film Festival. Ali F. Mostafa, a 2005 MA Filmmaking graduate, was also one of the four finalists.
PRESS RELEASE
Dubai, 11 December, 2012 – Luxury Swiss watchmaker IWC Schaffhausen and the Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) presented the prestigious IWC Gulf Filmmaker Award at an exclusive ceremony at the One&Only Royal Mirage last night in the presence of celebrity guests such as Cate Blanchett and Kevin Spacey. Cate Blanchett, President of the IWC Gulf Filmmaker Award jury, presented the Filmmakers Award to Maysoon Pachachi, director of “Nothing Doing in Baghdad”. Singer Bryan Ferry provided the evening’s musical highlights.
The Australian actress presented the IWC Filmmakers Award to Maysoon Pachachi, whose project is “Nothing Doing in Baghdad,” based loosely on a true story, set during one of the Iraqi capital’s most volatile modern-day chapters.
“We believe new voices and viewpoints should be heard and are convinced that talent and stories from the Gulf region deserve an international stage. We are proud to be a partner of the Dubai International Film Festival, and through the IWC Gulf Filmmaker Award we are able to contribute to Arab storytelling in general and to the funding of a new film project for established and upcoming directors here in the Middle East in particular,” Georges Kern, CEO of IWC Schaffhausen, says.
Cate Blanchett and her jury colleagues Georges Kern, CEO of IWC Schaffhausen, Abdulhamid Juma, Chairman of DIFF, Masoud Amralla Al Ali, Artistic Director of DIFF and Olivier Père, General Director of the Paris-based Arte France Cinema, were tasked with selecting the winner from various submissions. Finalists in a highly competitive field comprised London-based documentarian Maysoon Pachachi (“Iranian Journey”, “Bitter Water”); Bahraini writer Mohammed Rashed Bu-Ali; Fujairah-born Abdullah Al Kaabi (“The Philosopher”); and Dubai’s own Ali F. Mostafa (“City of Life”).
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IWC Filmmakers Dinner in Dubai, 10 December 2012 - Winning director with the panel of judges. From left to right: Olivier Pere, President of Arte France Cinema; Cate Blanchett, head of the IWC Award Jury; Maysoon Pachachi, winner of the IWC Filmmaker Award; Georges Kern, CEO IWC and Abdulhamid Juma, DIFF Chairman.