Nayla Al Khaja, the UAE’s first female film director, producer and screenwriter, will hold a meet and greet breakfast in Dubai Mall on Wednesday March 21, 2018.
The event will take place from 10am-12pm at the 3rd Avenue Café. Those interested in attending can RSVP to wednesdaytalks@itp.com
Al Khaja, who is chief executive at her production company, Nayla Al Khaja Films (formerly D-Seven), also founded The Scene Club in 2007. It is Dubai’s first independent film club, boasting over 22,000 registered members.
In 2006, she was awarded the Best Emirati Filmmaker award at the Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF), after which she shot three short films: Once (2009), Malal (2010) and The Neighbor (2013).
Malal received the Muhr Emirati Award at DIFF 2010, while The Neighbor was awarded Best Emirati Film at the 2014 Abu Dhabi Film Festival.
In 2016, Al Khaja shot the pilot of her first feature film, Animal, which was nominated for the Muhr Emirati Awards at DIFF 2016. In addition, the short film received the Jury’s Special Prize for Best Short Fiction at the Italian Movie Award in Pompeii, Italy, in September 2017, followed by the Jury Award in the Narrative Film Category at the Ras Al Khaimah Fine Arts Festival in February 2018.
The director was ranked among the 100 most powerful Arabs under 40 by Arabian Business magazine, and awarded the Visionary of the Year Award at the Arabian Business Awards. Shes’s also a well known supporter of women’s empowerment.
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