Two Short Films From UAE Selected To Screen To A Global Audience At First Ever Small Screen, Big Film Festival In April

The official shortlist for the first ever Small Screen, Big Film festival has been announced, featuring twelve short films created on smartphones by young people across the GCC. The Festival takes place via the British Council’s YouTube channel between April 24^th – May 4^th 2018, when all 12 shortlisted works can be viewed across the globe. Four standout smartphone filmmakers will be chosen at the end of the festival for a one-to-one mentorship programme with a British filmmaker, courtesy of the London Film School.

A new platform for young and aspiring filmmakers in the Gulf, Small Screen, Big Film is one of eight initiatives under the British Council’s Culture and Sports programme, a three-year initiative aimed at promoting active participation in culture and sports to encourage greater youth engagement, team work, volunteering, female participation and leadership, diversity and inclusion.

The Small Screen, Big Film shortlist was selected by a jury comprised of renowned industry professionals: Emirati filmmaker, Nahla Al Fahad; Emirati Director, Abdulla Al Kaabi; award winning British filmmaker, Asif Kapadia; and praised English actress and writer, Alice Lowe.

Two of the shortlisted films were created by talented young people from UAE

• ‘Layered Memories’ by Ruba Badwan – United Arab Emirates
• ‘Fata Morgana’ by Matthew Tan – United Arab Emirates

Emirati filmmaker and jury Member, Abdulla Al Kaabi commented: “Film is a medium of self-expression and we saw some incredible viewpoints from a hugely diverse group of young people in the Gulf. What’s unique about the Small Screen, Big Film Festival is that all entries are created using smartphones. This not only made it easier for more young filmmakers to share their story, but also challenged their creativity to tell a story in three minutes or less.”

The 12 shortlisted, three-minute smartphone films will be screened online through the British Council’s YouTube platform from April 24^th – May 4^th. Fans of film are encouraged to join the festival and vote for their favourites.

The full list of shortlisted entries are:

• ‘Chained’ by Noor Alsaudi – Bahrain
• ‘A Rose’ by Zahra Husain Shams – Bahrain
• ‘Lost’ by Hassan Abdulla Hasan Ali Ebrahim – Bahrain
• ‘The Black Circle’ by Abdullah Mohsen Abdullah – Bahrain
• ‘Do it’ by Eman Aldweikh – Saudi Arabia
• ‘Fake Life’ by Abdullah Zia – Saudi Arabia
• ‘The Taxi Driver’ by Faisal Musa – Saudi Arabia
• ‘Layered Memories’ by Ruba Badwan – United Arab Emirates
• ‘Fata Morgana’ by Matthew Tan – United Arab Emirates
• ‘Transit’ by Shams Zaman – Qatar
• ‘Bird House’ by Hussain Abbas – Kuwait
• ‘On my way to college’ by Azza Abdul Wahab Al Jamal – Kuwait

Take part in and follow the conversation through the hashtag #keepitshort on @britishcounciluae, on Instagram.