The 11th Dubai International Film Festival was held from December 10th to 17th. Khadija al-Salami’s “I am Nojoom, 10 years old and Divorced” (Yemen, United Arab Emirates and France), won Best Feature Film. Inspired by the true story of Nojood Ali, a 9 year-old forcibly married to a man in his thirties, the film shows how her life became a hell: forced to work all day and raped as a child-bride every night by a man 20 years her senior.
The Best Documentary Award went to Nujoom Al Ghanem’s “Nearby sky” (UAE), while the Jury Prize went to “Roshmia”, a documentary by Jabal (Palestine, UAE, Qatar and Syria).
Yacine Mohamed Benelhadj’s “I’m Dead” (Algeria & UAE) and Yahya Abdullah’s documentary “The Council” (Jordan & UAE) both were awarded Special Mention.
Finally, the Best Short Film Award went to Hind Boujemaa (Tunisia) for “And Romeo Married Juliet”. Rami Yasin’s “In Overtime” (Jordan and Palestine) and Karim Rahbani’s “With Thy Spirit” (Lebanon) both received Special Mention.
Sources: euromedaudiovisuel.net, dubaifestfilm.com
