The Dubai International Film Festival host Oscars Academy president

The Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) announced Monday that a delegation from The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) will be attending the 13th edition of the festival which runs Dec. 7-14, 2016 at the Madinat Jumeriah, home of DIFF. 
This will be the fourth time the Dubai International Film Festival has partnered with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to deliver a “customized program” of events involving a delegation from the Academy during the festival next month. Back in 2013, the Academy confirmed that the Dubai International Film Festival was eligible to join the ranks of qualifying festivals for the Oscar’s short film competition. 
The first academy led event on Saturday, Dec. 10 at DIFF’s Dubai Film Markets Forum will be In conversation: Cheryl Boone Isaacs. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Cheryl Boone Isaacs will discuss her role at the Academy and how the organization supports a range of initiatives to promote the art and science of the movies. 
DIFF chairman Abdulhamid Juma said: “Developing solid relationship with international entities such as AMPAS is crucial to raising the visibility of Arab cinema on the international stage.” 
Arab cinema in recent years have received Oscar nominations in the Foreign Language Film category for ‘Omar’, from Palestinian director Hany Abu Assad, ‘Theeb’ from British/Jordanian director Naji Abu Nowar and most recently for British/Palestinian director Basil Khalil’s short film ‘Ave Maria’.

Source: Arab News