Four projects by Gulf region directors have been announced as nominees for the award, given in partnership by watch manufacturer IWC Schaffhausen and the festival, which brings with it a USD 100,000 prize. They are Faiza Ambah’s A Reverence for Spiders; Hussain Alriffaei’s Siege; Waleed Al Shehhi’s Dolphins and Zeyad Alhusaini’s How I Got There.

The four projects, which are all in development, will be assessed by a jury of international film industry experts, headed by Blanchett. They will consider the strength of the script and the overall potential of the projects. Last year’s winner was Maysoon Pachachi, for Nothing Doing in Baghdad, and this year’s recipient will be announced at a special dinner on December 7.

DIFF Chairman, Abdulhamid Juma, said: “This year we received three times as many entries for the award as in 2012, which speaks for the numerous filmmakers in the region who are ready to take on a feature project and have already done considerable work in terms of putting together a team and financing. The award recognizes their vision and gives them a boost with seed money that will attract further investment. We look forward to congratulating the winning director and welcoming him or her back to DIFF with the finished project in future editions.”