A FILM festival designed to help overcome the political crisis and sectarian tensions in Bahrain has been postponed because of the overwhelming response from budding directors, according to organisers.
The National Unity Film Festival, organised by the Bahrain Youth Society (Al Shabiba), was supposed to start on October 27.
However, it has now been pushed back to January 14 so organisers can go through all of the entries and pick the best ones.
“We received over 100 short films from Bahrain and other Gulf states and the response has been fantastic,” said organiser and society media head Hussain Al Oraibi.
“Because of the sheer volume of the films we received, we needed more time for the selection process and a budget to showcase the best work.
“It was decided to postpone the three-day festival to January 14.”
The event will showcase films that focus on a wide range of subjects including politics and human rights – whether they are comedies or dramas. It will be held at the Alumni Club in Adliya.
The festival aims to bring together budding directors from across the region and promote national unity.
The Alumni Club has agreed to fund the event with a BD14,000 donation.
“Now we have the budget and will organise it on a bigger scale. The organising committee has also decided to even fund a project for one of the selected directors from Bahrain,” added Mr Al Oraibi.
A panel of judges consisting of directors and experts will select the best submissions, which will be screened in the festival.
Films should be no longer than 30 minutes and the last date for submission is November 30.
“Films will be screened for four hours daily, starting at 7pm, and we want young Bahrainis to unite through this festival,” added Mr Al Oraibi.
The festival is being held as part of the Wihda Wahda (Let’s Unite) campaign, which is a national scheme promoting social reconciliation co-ordinated by the Social Development Ministry.
For more information, contact the organisers at their Twitter account @unityff or e-mail bh.unity.ff@gmail.com
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