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Hend Sabry to co-direct short film festival and leading filmmakers and actors from across the region to sit on jury.

TROPFEST Arabia, the Arabic version of the world’s largest short film festival, has announced today its panel of celebrity judges, representing countries across the Middle East and North Africa, for the second edition of TROPFEST Arabia, which will take place on 26th October 2012 on the Abu Dhabi Corniche.

On the judging panel are a number of celebrated filmmakers, producers and directors from across the Middle East, including Emirati animator and Chairman of Lammtara, Mohammed Saeed Harib; Kuwaiti film producer and director, Amer Al Zuhair; Jordanian actress and producer, Seba Mubarak; Syrian actress and filmmaker, Kinda Alloush; Egyptian writer and director, Amr Salama; Lebanese musician and composer, Khaled Mouzanar; and Saudi Arabia’s first female filmmaker, Haifaa Al Mansour.

The jury will see the finalist films selected by TROPFEST founder John Polson and renowned Tunisian actress Hend Sabry, this year’s co-director for the festival, for the first time on the evening of the event and will pick the winning film live.The announcement comes with less than two months remaining for Arab filmmakers to showcase their films in front of a live audience on Abu Dhabi’s Corniche on 26th October 2012.

Commenting on the announcement, Hend Sabry, co-director of this year’s edition, said: “TROPFEST Arabia proved a huge success in its inaugural year with high quality film submissions coming in from across the region and we anticipate an even higher volume of submissions for 2012. I am very pleased that we have managed to create a very strong and diverse jury that will have the arduous task of picking a winner out of the finalist films that John Polsonand I will be selecting.”

Sabry continued,“Our celebrity jury members will be looking for the TROPFEST Signature Item (TSI), which this year is ‘2’. The TSI is designed to test the creativity of local filmmakers and to ensure that their entries are made specifically for TROPFEST Arabia 2012.”

Aspiring filmmakers from across the region can submit their entries to TROPFEST Arabia until 6th September 2012.

To get further details on how to submit a film visit: www.TROPFESTarabia.com

Follow TROPFEST Arabia online at:

http://www.facebook.com/TROPFEST.arabia

Tweets by TropfestArabia

http://www.youtube.com/user/TROPFESTarabi

About TROPFEST Arabia

TROPFEST is the world’s largest short film festival and 2011 marked the first year that TROPFEST was held in the Arab world. TROPFEST Arabia covers the Middle East and North Africa region and is open to Nationals of Algeria, Bahrain, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen. The event is supported by twofour54 Abu Dhabi whose aim is to establish a sustainable Arabic media and entertainment content creation industry.

TROPFEST Arabia’s contributes to the development of the Arab film industry by providing an opportunity for the region’s filmmakers to bring their short films to the community. As well as a public screening in Abu Dhabi in 2012 as part of the second annual TROPFEST Arabia, shortlisted films will be available for viewing online, providing an excellent opportunity to showcase the talent that exists in the region.

TROPFEST Arabia is an expansion of TROPFEST, which is Australia’s most prestigious short film festival and one of its most iconic cultural events. It is also the largest short film festival in the world.

The annual short film competition is open to anyone who wishes to enter – regardless of their background or experience. TROPFEST Arabia films are unique in that they have all been made specifically for TROPFEST Arabia and include the TROPFEST Signature Item (or TSI), which changes each year. The TSI forTROPFEST Arabia 2012 is “2”.

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