Dubai International Film Festival 2015: Red Carpet, Moviestars & More
The 12th Dubai Intl. Film Festival kicked off yesterday on an intensely emotional note with Lenny Abrahamson’s 
drama “Room,” accompanied by the film’s young star Jacob Tremblay (9 year old) on the red carpet packed with Arab celebs including Egyptian comic Basem Youssef and Palestinian director Hany Abu-Assad, plus Western screen icons Catherine Deneuve, pictured, who is being honored with a lifetime achievement award, and Richard Dreyfuss. On stage also the prolific actor Ezzat El Alaili (with his astonishing career in the history of Arab cinema) and Naseeruddin Shah, the versatile Indian actor (during his career spans a range of genres and languages). Sheikh Mansoor bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum gave the awards to them.
The Chairman of the Dubai Intl. Film Festival (DIFF), Abdulhamid Juma, was part of the initial team of the DIFF that founded in 2004, and has been its chairman since 2006. An influential figure in Arab cinema circles, Juma has shepherded the Dubai event to its current standing as a crucial Arab film industry driver amid to create a bridge between East and West.
Back for its 12th year, the Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) will take place from December 9 – 16, 2015 at 
Madinat Jumeirah, the home of DIFF. The festival will see thousands of cinema-goers, actors, directors, producers, writers and industry experts descend on Dubai to enjoy the world’s best films in one of the world’s premiere locations.
The 12th Dubai International Film Festival will showcase over 120 features, film shorts and documentaries from around the world which will include a plethora of world premieres. Every year DIFF presents new and exciting cinema from the Arab world and beyond, introducing audiences to fresh new talent and original and distinctive filmmaking.
Earlier this year DIFF was been included in Condé Nast Traveler magazine’s list of the world’s top 15 film festivals for the second year running (the list highlights the world’s most travel-worthy cinema events with DIFF being named alongside the most prestigious film festivals in the world including Cannes Film Festival, Venice Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and Berlin International Film Festival).
PHOTOS OF THE OPENING NIGHT: https://www.facebook.com/samira.cooper.5/media_set?set=a.564735413684082.1073741993.100004428852622&type=3