As the Sharjah Intl. Film Festival for Children and Youth heads into its 13th edition, running Oct. 26-Oct. 31, the festival is placing greater emphasis on helping young filmmakers overcome the challenge of getting their films produced and seen. “Learning how to make a film is one thing, but getting that film produced and seen by an audience is a completely different challenge,” festival director Sheikha Jawaher bint Abdullah Al Qasimi tells Variety. “This is where many talented young filmmakers struggle, particularly when they don’t have access to producers, funding or the right industry contacts.”
To help close that gap, this year’s event includes an Industry Hub and the return of its Film Pitching Session, which launched in 2025. The initiative connects emerging filmmakers with potential funders and industry partners and doubles in size this year, featuring six selected projects compared to three in the inaugural edition. Additionally, a new Festival Ambassadors Program brings former Junior Jurors back to the festival.
“We want to give them opportunities to learn, participate and eventually become part of the industry themselves,” Al Qasimi says. “I want SIFF to be somewhere a child can discover cinema for the first time and, years later, return as a filmmaker with a story of their own.”
This year, SIFF received 1,802 submissions from 72 countries, selecting 71 films from 38 countries for its official program. Brunei, Burkina Faso and Mauritania will be represented for the first time, while a new out-of-competition section adds eight additional titles to the lineup.
Al Qasimi emphasizes that the barrier is rarely a lack of ideas or creativity. “I don’t think there is a shortage of talent or interesting stories in the Arab world,” she stresses. “The challenge is often what happens after they develop those ideas. They may have the skills to make a film, but they don’t necessarily know how to approach a producer, secure financing, navigate the festival circuit or find distribution opportunities.”
“Financing is certainly a challenge,” she adds, “but I believe access to the right people and professional guidance is just as important. A filmmaker might have a wonderful script, but without understanding the business side of cinema, it can be difficult to move forward.”
The Industry Hub addresses this by giving up-and-coming filmmakers opportunities to meet industry professionals, discuss their projects, and understand how to bring them to the screen. The pitching session is open to filmmakers and producers aged 18 and above of any nationality for projects aimed at children or young audiences at any stage of development.
The session does not award a cash prize and is not a competition, focusing instead on building relationships that can lead to financing, production support or future collaborations. “Sometimes, one meeting with the right person can make a real difference to a young filmmaker’s career,” Al Qasimi notes.
SIFF also engages younger participants through its Junior Jurors, aged 12 to 20, who evaluate films in the Child and Youth-Made Film Competition. The Festival Ambassadors Program offers former jurors a way to remain involved and contribute ideas to future programs. “We didn’t want the relationship with our young participants to end once their time on the jury was over,” Al Qasimi explains. “I would love to see some of them eventually return as filmmakers, mentors or industry professionals.”
This long-term approach aligns with Sharjah’s expanding film and media sector, which includes growing production infrastructure at Sharjah Media City, or Shams. “There is considerable potential for collaboration between festivals, production facilities, educational institutions and creative organisations in Sharjah,” Al Qasimi notes.
International exchange is another focus, with Italy serving as the Country of Honor. The program features an Oct. 30 Green Carpet screening of Fabrizio Cattani’s “Forever With You.” Al Qasimi hopes it will foster exchange between emerging Italian and Emirati filmmakers. “I would like SIFF to become a festival that international filmmakers actively seek out, not only to screen their work, but also to discover new voices from the UAE and the wider Arab region.”
Beyond screenings, this year’s edition includes workshops on animation, filmmaking, content creation and the use of artificial intelligence in pre-production, alongside a new Mobile Cinema Bus bringing short films to neighborhoods across Sharjah. “For those who do want to pursue filmmaking,” Al Qasimi says, “we want SIFF to remain part of their journey, from their first experience of cinema to their first professional opportunities.”
