As my brief interview with Cherien Dabis in festival coverage of the Dubai International Film Festival (in our Spring, 2009 edition and which I’ve just posted online) noted, some of the financing for her debut feature Amreeka was found at the DIFF’s Dubai Film Connection, a CineMart-like financing market aimed at films from directors of Arab nationality or origin.

Producers (who can be of any nationality) have until August 15 (that’s one week from now) to submit projects for this year’s edition.

Here’s the official word:

The DFC is open for documentary and feature film projects that are currently in development or works-in-progress where principal photography is completed and the project needs additional financing to finish. The projects must be from directors of Arab nationality or origin (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Palestinian Territories, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, United Arab Emirates, Comoros, Djibouti, Mauritania, Somalia and Sudan) with a producer attached. The producer can be of any nationality.

The prizes include:

The Dubai International Film Festival will present 3 awards of $25,000 to projects selected by an international jury. The producers of the 3 winning projects will be awarded registration for the prestigious Producers Network at the Cannes Film Festival 2009. ARTE will present the “International Relations ARTE Prize” of €6,000 to a filmmaker for exceptional originality, writing style and motivation. The Bahrain Film Production Company will award $10,000 to a project in development and Desert Door Productions awards $25,000 to a film that is a work in progress.

More information about the criteria, submissions deadlines & the online application form are available on http://www.dubaifilmfest.com