Sharjah Art Foundation invites emerging and established filmmakers based anywhere in the world to submit their films for the fourth edition of Sharjah Film Platform (SFP). The selected films will be screened at the annual film festival, which is scheduled for November 2021, and be considered for an award in the Best Narrative, Best Documentary and Best Experimental Films categories for short and feature films.

Filmmakers interested in participating in the fourth edition of SFP are invited to submit their original film by 10 May 2021. All films, regardless of artistic approach, format, or themes, will be accepted for consideration.

Providing a critical platform for filmmakers, producers, critics and students, SFP was launched by Sharjah Art Foundation in 2018 as a resource to support filmmaking in the UAE and the region. SFP features an extensive film programme that includes short and feature-length films; a public programme of talks and workshops featuring acclaimed filmmakers and experts from around the world; and a professional programme, the SFP Industry Hub, which includes four initiatives that aim to support the work of local and international filmmakers through training courses and production opportunities. SFP furthers the Foundation’s longstanding commitment to film creation, production and programming.

Since its inaugural edition, SFP has screened over 250 films in the narrative, documentary and experimental genres at the Foundation’s open-air Mirage City Cinema, The Flying Saucer and in various venues across the city of Sharjah, as well as online.

Prize-winning films shown at the third edition of SFP, which ran from 14 to 21 November 2020, included The Name of the Flowers (2019), directed by Bahman Tavoosi; Stay Awake, Be Ready (2020), directed by Pham Thien An; Mothers of the Land (2020), directed by Alvaro and Diego Sarmiento; I Have Seen Nothing, I Have Seen All (2019), directed by Yaser Kassab; The Witch’s Cauldron (2019), directed by Branislav Jankic; and Fasten Your Seatbelts While Seated (2020), directed by Samir Radwan.

The SFP3 jury was composed of international filmmakers, producers and critics, including John Akomfrah (filmmaker), Kerem Ayan (Director, Istanbul International Film Festival), Iftikhar Dadi (teacher and researcher), Mounir Fatmi (artist), Eve Gabereau (Founder and CEO, Modern Films Entertainment), Delphine Garde-Mroueh (film programmer), Alice Kahroubi (Cannes Film Corner), Viola Shafik (film theorist) and Apichatpong Weerasethakul (filmmaker).

International applications are accepted. Successful applicants will be notified by email.