The world could be his

Support funds such as Sanad help film makers showcase their talent around the world

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If red carpet openings and world premières represent the glamorous side of the annual Abu Dhabi Film Festival (ADFF) each autumn, the event’s substance is provided by the associated grants that the festival supports. Sanad, the development and post-production fund of ADFF, helps young Arab filmmakers bring their visions into reality and, more importantly, gives voice to a generation of creative people who might otherwise never be heard.

Mahdi Fleifel, the Dubai-born Palestinian director, is one such beneficiary of Sanad’s largesse. Without the fund’s grant to support post-production work, his documentary film, A World Not Ours, might never have been finished. To date, the film has picked up 12 awards on the international film festival circuit since 2012.

Fleifel has recently launched a crowdfunding campaign to raise the $30,000 (Dh110,000) he requires to screen the film for a week in both Los Angeles and New York and meet the necessary criteria for a tilt at the Academy Awards next year. He deserves that support and that chance, not least because his success is, in a roundabout way, made in the UAE, but also because his charming, poignant film should be brought to the attentions of a much, much wider audience.