Children’s International Film Festival

The Children’s International Film Festival (CIFF) is the first national level children’s film festival in the United Arab Emirates. It was founded in 2014 to encourage emerging talent in filmmaking, as well as to promote meaningful and inspirational films for children and teenagers.

The CIFF is organized by the Film Studio FZ-LLC, also known as The Film Studio or TFS. The company specializes in pre-production, production and post-production of film and television content. The festival is The Film Studio’s non-profit project designed to encourage young filmmaking talent in the UAE and across the globe, to enhance film, media and ICT literacy, to create and develop a children’s film market, and to facilitate positive cultural exchange.

The festival gives talented film students and young filmmakers from the UAE an opportunity to screen their works in front of a large audience and compete for the coveted CIFF Awards. The winners get a unique chance to become part of the country’s best filmmaking team.

The CIFF hosts two film competitions. The National Filmmaking Competition is open only to students from year (grade) 6 through year (grade) 13, studying at licensed schools in the UAE. Films are submitted by schools and not by individual contenders.

Participants compete in two age groups, Group A (grades 9 to 13) and Group B (grades 6 to 8). Films in each group compete for the following awards: Best Film, Best Film 1st Runner-Up, Best Film 2nd Runner-Up, Best Director, Best Editor, Best Cinematographer, Best Storywriter, Best Actor (Child), Audience Choice Award, Best Animation, and Best Documentary. All winners (except for the Audience Award) are chosen by a professional jury.

The International Filmmaking Competition is open to international filmmakers aged 18 or more whose films showcase culturally varied content that is both educational and entertaining for children of varied backgrounds. Shortlisted films compete for the following awards: Audience Choice Award – International Feature Film, Audience Choice Award – International Short Film, Audience Choice Award – International Documentary.

Alongside the Official Selection, which includes both international films and UAE student made films, the festival program features special screenings, workshops, forums, and other film-related events and activities. The CIFF screens films from around 60 countries in 50 languages, offering an incredible journey to the world of high-quality, inspirational children’s and teens’ cinema.