With an unrivalled festival programme line-up, film aficionados from across the region will be descending on the nation’s capital for the second edition of the Middle East International Film Festival (MEIFF), held in Abu Dhabi from 10 to 19 October for the first time, MBC 2 has pledged its support of the festival, which is organized by the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (ADACH). MBC 2 is the major sponsor, with the nation’s airline Etihad returning for its second year – upgrading to silver sponsorship for 2008. “As the leading free-to-air, Pan-Arab, news and entertainment broadcaster, we felt the MEIFF was a natural alignment for our diverse audiences,” said MBC 2 SPOKESPERSON. “We will be giving our regional and international viewers unique ‘access all areas’ coverage to red-carpet and special events throughout MEIFF 2008, along with interviews with directors and programmes developed from insightful panel discussions on the emerging Middle East film market.” With 138 films screened over 10 days of glitz and high glamour, MEIFF has attracted top billing stars such as Jane Fonda, Catherine Deneuve, Susan Sarandon, Antonio Banderas and Adrien Brody to the emirate’s shores. “MEIFF is quickly gaining an international reputation as one of the leading lights in the film festival industry - and as the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, Etihad is an industry leader in its own right,” said ETIHAD SPOKESPERSON. “With its high regional and international profile, MEIFF is the ideal platform for us to continue to raise awareness of our extensive network across Europe, Asia, the Middle East and North America and continue to achieve our goal of building a 21st century airline which redefines global travel and hospitality.” Supporting sponsors of MEIFF 2008 include:- Red Bull, Al Ain Water, Al Boushiya, Artistic Hair Nicolas, Reiss, Aftershock and Mac Cosmetics. Screening venues include Emirates Palace, Grand Cinemas, and Cinestar Cinemas. Programme sponsors are the Abu Dhabi Media Company, Virgin, Sony and Synaxis with What’s On magazine, City 7 TV, Rotana magazine, , Radio 1 and Radio 2 as media sponsors. The USA’s Variety magazine, the premier global source of entertainment and film news is an additional high profile media sponsor. Variety will be presenting two awards during MEIFF 2008 – the Variety Middle East Filmmaker of the Year Award and the Variety Achievement in Film Award. “Although only in our second year, our over-arching goal is for MEIFF to be recognised as the first film festival to embrace film in all its aspects - artistic endeavor, internationalism, finance, commercial (and truly universal) film-making,” said Mohamed Khalaf Al Mazrouei, Vice Chairman of MEIFF and Director General of (ADACH). “It is only with the support of our dedicated sponsors that we will be able to achieve this ambition, and we thank them in advance for their assistance in making MEIFF 2008 a world-class event and placing Abu Dhabi firmly in the spotlight,” said MEIFF’s Director Nashwa Al Ruwaini.

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