A screening at Mirage City Cinema

Screening of Goodbye Julia, 2023. Director: Mohamed Kordofani. Sharjah Film Platform 6, Mirage City Cinema, Al Mureijah Square, Sharjha,2023. Image courtesy of Sharjah Art Foundation Photo: Shanavas Jamaluddin

Overview

Sharjah Art Foundation announced the winners of this year’s Sharjah Film Platform Awards, identifying outstanding films in each of four categories based on genre and length: Documentary Feature, Documentary Short, Fiction Feature and Fiction Short.

This year’s films were selected from more than 100 documentary and fiction nominations, submitted individually by international industry professionals. The 38 films chosen for the competition section were then evaluated by an international jury, who determined the Sharjah Film Platform Award winners.

This year's jury included Clara Helbig (filmmaker and curator), Irit Neidhardt (founder of mec film, producer, curator), Bina Paul (film editor, director, joint president of the Network for the Promotion of Asian & Pacific Cinema), Silke Schmickl (lead curator of moving image, M+, Hong Kong), Yasmina Tawil (film programmer, director of film programming at the Arab Film and Media Institute) and Khalid Ziada (founder of the London Palestine Film Festival).

The sixth edition of Sharjah Film Platform (SFP6) brought together nearly 50 regional and international films highlighting independent cinema, culture and community. Alongside the film screenings, the annual film festival also presented a public programme of talks and panel discussions focused on ideas of solidarity and resistance.

SFP6 award winners:

    Best Documentary Feature Film: Joonam (2023), directed by Sierra Urich
      Best Documentary Short Film: An Asian Ghost Story (2023), directed by: Bo Wang
        Honorable Mention Documentary Short: Bar Saar (2023), directed by Mohammed Jassim
          Best Fiction Feature Film: Miyamatsu To Yamashita (Roleless) (2022), directed by: Masahiko Sato, Yutaro Seki, Kentaro Hirase
            Honorable Mention Fiction Feature: Aata Vel Zaali (It’s Time To Go), directed by: Ananth Mahadevan
              Best Fiction Short Film: One Day When I Was Lost (2023), directed by: Soufiane Adel
                Honorable Mention Fiction Short: Mulika (2022), directed by: Maisha Maene

                Partners and Supporters

                Organised by Sharjah Art Foundation, SFP6 was made possible with the generous support of the Ministry of Culture, Sharjah Media City Free Zone (Shams), Air Arabia and VOX Cinemas.

                About Sharjah Film Platform

                Sharjah Film Platform (SFP) is an annual festival of independent cinema, documentary filmmaking and moving image where audiences can discover new approaches to film and art. The 10-day event—which includes a range of regional and international films, talks by filmmakers and industry professionals, musical concerts and mixers—is centred around Mirage City Cinema, the open-air theatre in Sharjah’s historical quarter.

                Organised by Sharjah Art Foundation, SFP foregrounds recent cinematic achievements by international filmmakers and artists as well as noteworthy classics from around the region and experimental films that challenge the idea of what film practice is today.

                About Sharjah Art Foundation

                Sharjah Art Foundation is an advocate, catalyst and producer of contemporary art within the Emirate of Sharjah and the surrounding region, in dialogue with the international arts community. The Foundation advances an experimental and wide-ranging programmatic model that supports the production and presentation of contemporary art, preserves and celebrates the distinct culture of the region and encourages a shared understanding of the transformational role of art. The Foundation’s core initiatives include the long-running Sharjah Biennial, featuring contemporary artists from around the world; the annual March Meeting, a convening of international arts professionals and artists; grants and residencies for artists, curators and cultural producers; ambitious and experimental commissions and a range of travelling exhibitions and scholarly publications.

                About Sharjah

                Sharjah is the third largest of the seven United Arab Emirates, and the only one bridging the Arabian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. Reflecting the deep commitment to the arts, architectural preservation and cultural education embraced by its ruler, Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Mohammad Al Qasimi, Sharjah is home to more than 20 museums and has long been known as the cultural hub of the United Arab Emirates. It was named UNESCO's Arab Capital of Culture for 1998 and the UNESCO World Book Capital for 2019.

                Media Contact

                Alyazeyah Al Marri
                Sharjah Art Foundation
                alyazeyah@sharjahart.org
                +971(0)65444113