Dubai International Film Festival to return in December 2027

TDT | agencies

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The Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) is set to return with a new edition beginning on December 8, 2027, Variety reported.

The announcement was made on Thursday by Mona Ghanem Al Marri, vice chairperson and managing director of the Dubai Media Council, during the Arab Media Summit. She said the revamped festival will focus on Arab cinema and aim to strengthen Dubai's position as a hub for film and television production.

Al Marri described the relaunch as a new chapter for a festival that began in 2004 and grew into a major film event in the Middle East. DIFF was discontinued in 2018, reportedly as government funding was redirected towards streaming.

Meanwhile, Shivani Pandya Malhotra, who managed DIFF and later played a key role in launching Saudi Arabia's Red Sea Film Festival as its managing director, will not be involved in the upcoming relaunch. Malhotra recently stepped down from her position as managing director.

Further details about the new festival's management are yet to be announced.

At its 2017 edition, DIFF showed 140 Arab features, more than a third of which were world premieres, alongside regional premieres of major international films, including Star Wars: The Last Jedi, which served as the closing film.

The festival also hosted delegations from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Golden Globes.