TwoFour54, the commercial arm of the Media Zone Authority, said that the cancellation of Abu Dhabi Film Festival (ADFF) comes as part of re-evaluation of the company's plans and was not related to any budget constraints.

Paul Baker, executive director of film and television services at twofour54 intaj, said that the company decided to focus its resources on production on the back of increased interest in Abu Dhabi as a film and production destination.

"We are continually re-evaluating what we can do to grow the media sector at the fastest possible pace to achieve the goals that we set out. The film festival served us extremely well in getting to a certain level,” he said in an interview with Gulf News.

Baker added that the presence of the Dubai International Film Festival (Diff) was already supporting the UAE from a festival standpoint.

The Sanad Fund, which came out of ADFF and works on providing financial support to filmmakers, is still present and still offering funds.

"Our primary focus is where we're going, which is developing and growing Abu Dhabi in the production sector,” Baker said.

Despite the cancellation, Twofour54 will continue to work closely with Diff on supporting the country's film industry.
Source: Gulf News