Sharjah International Children’s Film Festival, SICFF, has successfully concluded its visit to the 70th Cannes Film Festival in the South of France from May 17th to 28th. The organisation attended the event to meet with senior industry figures and to assess the cinematic offerings.
Organised by FUNN, a Sharjah-based government body dedicated to promoting media arts among young people in Sharjah and the UAE, SICFF travelled to Cannes to view children's movie screenings at the festival and to bring big name premieres to the UAE.
Sheikha Jawaher bint Abdullah Al Qasimi, Director of FUNN and SICFF, said, "Each year, the Cannes Film Festival affords SICFF an invaluable opportunity to both showcase its home-grown movie expertise to the industry’s major players and bring major premieres to the UAE for inclusion in its own market. This year’s event had an extra frisson in consideration of it being its 70th anniversary and we were able to capitalise on the buzz to both make our presence known and to find out about everything going on in the industry at a global level. For us, the festival represents more than just a market place for films, it is an important focal point for cultural exchange and building bridges of communication."
The dissemination of culture and the sharing of experiences were also a focal point of SICFF’s participation at Cannes.
Sheikha Jawaher attended the Arab Film Institute film discussion panel in the Jordanian and Moroccan pavilion, while SICFF team members attended the Immersive Summit discussion panel on Virtual Reality, VR, and new technology to find out about CGI and other special effects developments in the industry.
The delegation also hosted a reception at the UAE pavilion to introduce SICFF to around 200 guests, including filmmakers, producers, directors, film distribution agencies and others from the film industry.
A key highlight of SICFF’s attendance at the 70th Cannes Film Festival saw Sheikha Jawaher honoured from Indywood Film Carnival in recognition of her contribution to the global film industry and her pioneering vision to develop an Arab generation that excels in the media arts. The award was presented to her by representatives of organisation following her appointment as a member of its International Expert Committee.
"Through SICFF and FUNN’s creative workshops and activities, FUNN strives to realise its vision of empowering younger generations of the UAE and the Arab region with art and media literacy initiatives that will enable them to share their experiences on a prestigious global platform. During the Cannes Film Festival we were able to meet with a number of producers and production houses and to review cinematic offerings for our own festival. We are looking forward to future collaborations with international film industry leaders at similar events throughout the year," added Sheikha Jawaher.
SICFF hosts film screenings and movie activities for children and young people.

Source: WAM