# Emerging Arab Directors Given a Pathway Toward Filmmaking Careers by Expanded Pitching Platform at Sharjah Film Festival

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/emerging-arab-directors-given-a-pathway-toward-filmmaking-careers-by-expanded-pitching-platform-at-sharjah-film-festival/
- Published: 2026-10-30T14:37:59+00:00
- Updated: 2026-10-30T15:50:13+00:00
- Original publisher: Variety
- Original article: https://variety.com/2026/film/global/sharjah-film-festival-pitching-projects-arab-filmmakers-1236934567/
- Topics: Art, Culture, Entertainment, Film

## Key points

- Sharjah’s film pitching programme has expanded from three projects to six.
- The selected shorts are seeking financing and production partners.
- Projects include stories about trauma, grief and unresolved memories.

## Summary

The Sharjah International Film Festival for Children and Youth has doubled its pitching programme, selecting six short-film projects for its second edition, compared with three at its launch. The platform aims to help emerging Arab filmmakers move from training and screenings towards production by connecting them with potential funders and partners.

The projects come from filmmakers across the Arab world and diaspora and are seeking support from Sharjah and elsewhere. They include Palestinian-American Mike Mo Elsherif’s “The Black Hole”, which is seeking funding ahead of a planned winter 2027 shoot in Kentucky; “Kot Kot Kot”, a UAE production seeking post-production support and aiming for completion by the end of 2026; and Saleh Mohammed’s “The Last Call”, about a phone call that prompts its protagonist to revisit the past.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.