Mumbai: The Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) has launched the Dubai Film Market to raise the visibility of world cinema with an emphasis on Arab, Asian and African filmmakers and stimulating regional and international film production and trade.

The Dubai Film Market will facilitate the exchange of rights, services or product ownership. It will also empower buyers and sellers with industry knowledge and simplify the transaction of content trading.

The main highlight of the Dubai Film Market is the introduction of a revolutionary process to acquire audio-visual content, through Cinetech, a digitized film library that will include feature films, documentaries, short films and TV content.

Cinetech will help participants browse and screen through a multitude of film titles. The initial archive will consist of over 200 titles, with the aspiration to grow year on year. Further assisting buyers and other industry professionals in their browsing experience, Cinetech will categorize all available content under different labels. Cinetech will also assist industry professionals in the selection process by giving them the opportunity to contact or interact with sales agents and rights holders.

"Dubai Film Market is a concept that resulted from the absence of an international content market in the region… The Dubai Film Market is a natural progression as it is designed to gradually establish Dubai as the regional centre for discovery and trade of Content that will benefit the rapidly evolving film, media and technology industry at large," said DIFF chairman Abdulhamid Juma.

Hewlett-Packard has also entered into a strategic partnership with the Dubai Film Market. HP Middle East marketing director, personal systems group Patricia Trodd commented, "Technology is expanding the ways in which entertainment is created, managed, distributed and enjoyed around the world… We aim to help the inspiration and creativity of talented regional filmmakers find audiences quickly and efficiently – creating social and economic benefit across the region."

Dubai Film Market director Ziad Yaghi said, "The Dubai Film Market will revolutionize the way content acquisition takes place. Cinetech content will be thoroughly filtered and served to Film Market participants through the most innovative technology. It will also provide people involved in the TV, home video and film industries with a networking platform to discover future trends and trade content on a global level".

Content providers from across the globe are invited to trade during the Dubai Film Market, which is diversified to include all genres of content such as feature films, documentaries, short films and TV content.

Registration to the Dubai Film Market is free and is open to all professional industry participants from around the world including buyers, sales agents, programmers, filmmakers and producers. Market participants are required to obtain a separate accreditation from DIFF. For more information, please visit the Festival website: www.dubaifilmfest.com.

The Dubai Film Market will take place during the Dubai International Film Festival which will run from 11 to 18 December, 2008.