Juries 2017

GCC Short Films Jurors

Ibrahim Al Hassawi

Ibrahim Al Hassawi, actor and producer from KSA, CEO of Noon Art Audio and Visual Production, Public Relations Officer at the Saudi Film Festival, Founding Member of Saudi Theatre Association and Member of the Saudi Arabian Society for Culture and Arts at Al Ahsa.

Marai Al Halyan

Marai Al Halyan, Head of the Cultural Committee at the UAE Theatrical Association and Member of the UAE Journalists Association. He is the author and director of many children’s plays and has won nine awards in mainstream theatre and children’s theatre at a number of local, regional and Arabic festivals

Mohammed Hassan Ahmed

Mohammed Hassan Ahmed, Emirati author and script writer and Technical Advisor at Abu Dhabi Media, is one of the founders of the film industry in UAE. He has won some of the most significant international scriptwriting awards including 32 Best Script Writer and Best Film awards. He won the Best Script Writer Award at the Gulf Film Festival and the GCC Film Festival in Qatar for four consecutive years. He also won international prizes in Italy, USA, Morocco, Iraq and many other international festivals.

Student Films Jurors

Ahmed Al Jassmi

Ahmed Al Jassmi has worked in an array of media, including theatre, radio, TV and films. He is a Member of the Higher Committee at Gulf Theatre Festival and a Member of the Higher Committee at the Sharjah Theatre Days. He has participated in many Arabic festivals and has been a juror at a number of local, regional and Arabic theatre, TV and film festivals.

Sultan Al Neyadi

Sultan Al Neyadi is the Founder of the Dhabian Art Production. He has participated in a host of TV and theatre work, and has written many television series such as ‘Doroub Al Mataya’, ‘Zaman Tanaf’ and ‘Tamasha’.

Dr. Khaled Ameen

Dr. Khaled Ameen is a Kuwaiti artist. He graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Acting and Directing at Kuwait’s Higher Institute of Dramatic Arts and is a member of the teaching staff at the same institute. He is a juror at many theatre and film festivals and conducts a number of art workshops. He has won several accolades in acting and directing at many festivals, such as the Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Muhammed Al Qasimi Award for Best Director at the Gulf Festival in Sharjah.

Int’l Short Films Jurors

Abdullah Al Kaabi

Emirati director Abdullah Al Kaabi started his career as a radio anchor. He gained invaluable experience in the production arena, before moving to Paris in 2009 to pursue a Master's Degree in Filmmaking and a career in cinema from the International Film School

Abdullah Saleh

Abdullah Saleh is an actor, script writer, director and researcher. He contributed to founding the UAE Theatrical Association and Dubai Popular Theatre and Youth Theatre and Arts. He has won a number of theatre awards as a music composer.

Dr. Habib Ghuloom

Dr. Habib Ghuloom is an Emirati actor and director. He graduated with a PhD in Theatrical Literature from the University of Manchester, UK in 1999. He is a Cultural Advisor at the UAE Ministry of Culture and Knowledge Development, Secretary General of the UAE Theatrical Association and Vice Chairman of Youth Theatre and Arts. He is the author of several books and specialist publications and has taken part at a number of forums and festivals as an actor, author, director, critic and juror. He has conducted a number of specialised theatre and art courses and is the Director of Children’s Theatre Festival, University Theatre Festival and Gulf Theatre Festival

Anika Noni Rose

Anika Noni Rose is an American actress and Tony Award winner of Best Actress in a Musical. She plays the lead role in BET’s new series ‘The Quad’ and can be seen in the film ‘Everything, Everything’ currently being shown in cinemas.

Animation Films Jurors

Abdullah Al Sharhan

Abdulla Al Sharhan is a leading Emirati entrepreneur and artist, Founder and President of Ajial Media, and has more than 30 years of practical experience in media, entrepreneurship and innovation. He holds a Master’s degree with Honours in Entrepreneurial Leadership from Hamdan bin Mohammed Smart University, and a BA in Management and Economy from the United Arab Emirates University. He is the author and creator of cartoon series ‘Hamadoun’, and creative director of the new edition of ‘Sesame Street’

Ayman Jamal

Ayman Jamal is the founder and producer of Barajoun Entertainment, one of the MENA region’s leading animation and visual effects studios. His passion for storytelling and animation inspired him to direct and produce his first full animation feature film ‘Bilal’, which has drawn enormous applause and gained recognition and awards worldwide

Mohammed Saeed Harib

Mohammed Saeed Harib is an Emirati film director, best known as the man behind the animated TV series FREEJ. He is the Chairman of Lammtara Art Production and is currently wrapping up his first feature film ‘Rashid & Rajab’, due for release next year. From 2008 to 2012 he was recognised as one of the World’s Most Influential Arabs by Arabian Business magazine

Documentary Films Jurors

Nujoom Alghanem

Nujoom Alghanem is an Emirati poet, artist, scriptwriter and film director, who has won many regional and international awards. She completed her Bachelor’s degree in Video Production at Ohio University in the United States in 1996 and graduated with an MA in Media Production, at the School of Film, Griffith University in Australia in 1999. Her feature-length documentaries won an array of local, regional and international prizes, making her one of the leading documentary filmmakers in the Gulf region

Ola Al Fares

Ola Al Fares is a Jordanian television presenter and programme producer at MBC. She has been in the media for 14 years, and started her media career when she was 17 years old as the youngest presenter in the MBC Group. She has won many awards such as the Young Arab Media Professionals Award in 2009 and Best Jordanian Media Award, also in 2009.

Firdoze Bulbulia

Firdoze Bulbulia is an award-winning media producer and director and Chairperson of the Children and Broadcasting Foundation for Africa. She has served two terms as President of the International Centre of Films for Children and Young People and is co-founder of ABC (Africa’s Best Channel – a children and youth television channel in Nigeria).

Feature Films Jurors

Bassam Al-Thawadi

Bassam Al-Thawadi is a Bahraini filmmaker and film director. He studied filming at the Higher Institute of Cinema at the Academy of Arts and produced and directed the first three feature films in Bahrain. He was honoured at the fifth edition of the Gulf Film Festival, where he was the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his work in Gulf filmmaking, his leading role in the Bahraini film industry and for producing Bahrain's very first feature film, The Barrier, in 1990.

Nayla Al Khaja

Nayla Al Khaja is Chief Executive Officer of D-Seven Motion Pictures, which specialises in producing documentaries, short films and TV commercials. Among her many accolades, she has been ranked among the Top 50 Most Powerful Personalities in Arab Cinema and 100 Most Powerful Arabs Under 40 by Arabian Business magazine

Ali Mostafa

Ali Mostafa is a pioneering Emirati film maker and creative director. He set up his own production company AFM Films in 2014. He was awarded Man of the Year in 2014 by Esquire magazine's ‘Man at His Best Awards’ for helping build the UAE film industry. His latest feature, ‘The Worthy’, produced by Image Nation Abu Dhabi, is the Arab world’s first post-apocalyptic thriller