12 short films to compete for Muhr AsiaAfrica Awards at Dubai fest

A gripping selection of 12 short films from Africa, Central Asia and the Far East have been shortlisted for Diff's second annual Muhr AsiaAfrica Awards in the Shorts category.

The competition, designed to stimulate and expose filmmaking from emerging markets, provides audiences with invaluable cultural insights and filmmakers the chance for global outreach and recognition.

Nashen Moodley, Diff Director AsiaAfrica programme, said this year's selection is just as varied as the inaugural competition last year. "The sheer diversity of stories in these shorts makes for compulsive viewing, and the filmmakers have created engaging stories in tight timeframes and, in many cases, on limited budgets."

African films that made it into the final selection from several entries include Waramutseho from Cameroon, directed by Kouemo Yanghu Auguste Bernard, in which two friends discover a bloody secret lies between their two families. Saint Louis Blues, by Dyana Gaye, is a cheerful musical set in a taxi as it passes through the heart of Senegal; and We Too Walked On The Moon from Congo and directed by Balufu Bakupa-Kanyinda, depicts a teacher, doctor and artist experiencing news of the moon landing differently.

Asian films are well represented, with A Letter To Uncle Boonmee, Apichatpong Weerasethakul's masterful short recalling a 1965 battle in North Eastern Thailand; director Sung-hee Jo Don't Step Out Of The House from Korea, focussing on a younger brother and sister who must deal with some hostile unexpected visitors; A Silent Wait, by Nurman Hakim from Indonesia, narrating the yearning for a love that never comes; and director Richard Legaspi's world premiere Hand Painted Feathers from the Philippines, recounting a moving tale of a young boy coping with his father's brutal murder.

Other films include Chinese director Fang Song's Goodbye, involving the bond between an injured girl and the parents of her late close friend, and Little Note by Royston Tan from Singapore, a story about the love between a boy and his mother.

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