Sharjah's Children's Film Festival Adds an Industry Hub and Brings Back Its Pitching Session
Sheikha Jawaher bint Abdullah Al Qasimi, director of the Sharjah Intl. Film Festival for Children and Youth, tells Variety that learning how to make a film is one thing, but getting that film produced and seen by an audience is a completely different challenge.
That is the gap the festival's Industry Hub and the return of its Film Pitching Session, launched in 2025, are meant to narrow by connecting emerging filmmakers with potential funders and industry partners.
The festival heads into its 13th edition, running Oct. 26-31, with greater emphasis on trying to close it.
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The diagnosis is the interesting part. The problem is placed after the ideas already exist: talented young filmmakers who can shoot a film but lack access to producers, funding and industry contacts. That is a business problem wearing a creative costume.
Curation is still where a festival's leverage shows: 1,802 submissions from 72 countries, 71 films selected from 38. Introductions are lovely, but the prize a young filmmaker really wants is the slot.
Al Qasimi's stated aim — that participants learn, take part and eventually become part of the industry themselves — makes the hub a slow-burn bet rather than a fix for the next pitching session.