The Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) is preparing for a return after ten years of inactivity, with a new edition scheduled to launch on December 8, 2027. The revelation was made on Thursday during the Arab Media Summit by Mona Ghanem Al Marri, vice chairperson and managing director of the Dubai Media Council. While local media initially reported the news, it was formally confirmed by Dubai-based sources.
Al Marri outlined that the revamped festival will prioritize Arab cinema and aim to strengthen Dubai’s position as a central hub for film and television production. She characterized the relaunch as a fresh chapter for an event that originated in 2004 and eventually rose to become the premier cinematic gathering in the Middle East. The festival was originally suspended in 2018, a move widely attributed to a decision to redirect government funding toward the Dubai Expo.
Shivani Pandya Malhotra, who previously managed DIFF and played a key role in establishing Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Festival as its managing director before recently stepping down, will not be involved in the upcoming iteration of the Dubai event. Details regarding the new management team and other operational aspects have not yet been disclosed.
The festival’s final run in December 2017 featured a robust lineup of 18 Arab feature films, more than a third of which premiered globally. It also showcased regional debuts of major international releases, headlined by “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” as the closing night film. During that era, DIFF cultivated strong relationships with delegations from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Golden Globes.
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