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The Dubai Films and Games Commission’s new Stories of Our Determination competition is open to UAE citizens and residents of all nationalities, including first-time filmmakers, with entries due by 25 October 2026.
The Dubai Films and Games Commission (DFGC) has launched a new national short film competition inviting people across the UAE to create films celebrating the country’s unity, resilience and community spirit.
Titled Stories of Our Determination, the competition is open to UAE citizens and residents of all nationalities, ranging from professional filmmakers and film students to content creators and people making a film for the first time.
Entries are free, films must run no longer than five minutes including credits, and filmmakers can work in fiction, documentary, animation, experimental formats, mobile filmmaking or with artificial intelligence.
The final submission deadline is 25 October 2026.
55 short films will be selected
The initiative has been created to coincide with the UAE’s 55th Eid Al Etihad celebrations.
From the submitted films, organisers plan to select 55 shorts for the official programme.
Selected films will receive a public screening and become part of a permanent national archive.
The competition will conclude with a gala screening and awards ceremony, with an independent jury evaluating shortlisted work. DFGC also says one award will be determined through a public vote.
Anyone living in the UAE can participate
One of the more unusual aspects of the competition is its broad entry criteria.
Participants do not need a film degree, professional production company or previous filmmaking credits.
DFGC specifically invites:
- Professional and emerging filmmakers
- Documentary filmmakers
- Film and media students
- First-time filmmakers
- Animators
- AI creators
- Content creators
- Photographers moving into filmmaking
- Journalists and storytellers
- Screenwriters interested in directing
- Actors moving behind the camera
- Visual artists and designers
Participants can work individually or with a team.
Films can also be produced using anything from a mobile phone to professional cinema equipment or generative AI tools.
Films cannot exceed five minutes
Submitted films must run for five minutes or less, including titles and credits.
They must also be original works created specifically for the competition and cannot have been previously released.
Films can be made in any language. Entries in languages other than Arabic or English must include subtitles in either Arabic or English.
Each film must address one of the competition’s four themes.
Four themes are available
The competition is built around four areas reflecting experiences of life and resilience in the UAE.
Those Who Protected Us
Films can focus on the people who protected communities during difficult circumstances, including members of the Armed Forces, emergency responders, frontline personnel and others providing support.
One Nation, Many Communities
This theme explores the UAE’s multicultural population and stories of people from different nationalities and backgrounds supporting one another.
Life Continued
Filmmakers can examine the everyday moments and people who kept communities, families, workplaces and essential services functioning through periods of uncertainty.
Stronger Toward the Future
The fourth theme looks ahead, focusing on people, families, innovators and communities turning difficult experiences into progress and ambition.
Fiction, documentary, animation and AI films are eligible
The competition deliberately avoids restricting filmmakers to conventional production methods.
Eligible approaches include:
- Fiction
- Documentary
- Animation
- Experimental film
- AI-generated films
- AI-assisted films
- Hybrid films
- Mobile-phone filmmaking
DFGC’s official competition page states that all approaches will ultimately be assessed according to the strength of their storytelling.
Ten awards across five categories
The competition will present 10 awards across five categories:
- Grand Jury Prize
- Best Fiction Film
- Best Documentary Film
- Best Animated Film
- Best AI Film
According to the Dubai Government Media Office, winning student entries will receive prizes amounting to AED10,000, while awards for professional participants will carry prizes valued at AED50,000.
The public announcement does not specify whether those figures apply individually to each winning film or represent the aggregate value across the respective student and professional awards, so filmmakers should consult the final competition rules when submissions formally open.
Three-stage selection process
Entries will go through three stages of evaluation.
The first stage checks eligibility and technical requirements.
A preliminary online selection will then narrow the submissions before an independent jury reviews the remaining films and determines the final selection.
The resulting 55-film programme will represent the UAE’s 55th year of union.
One detail filmmakers should note before applying
There is currently a small timing discrepancy between the official announcement and DFGC’s competition page.
The Dubai Government Media Office states that submissions run until 25 October 2026.
However, at the time of writing, DFGC’s dedicated competition page still says “Submissions open soon” and provides a registration option allowing filmmakers to be notified when entries formally open.
Filmmakers can therefore start developing their projects now and register through the official page while waiting for the submission portal to activate.
Stories of Our Determination: key details
- Competition: Stories of Our Determination
- Organiser: Dubai Films and Games Commission / Dubai Media Council
- Eligibility: UAE citizens and residents of all nationalities
- Experience required: None
- Maximum runtime: Five minutes including titles and credits
- Entry fee: Free
- Eligible formats: Fiction, documentary, animation, experimental, AI-generated, AI-assisted, hybrid and mobile filmmaking
- Number of selected films: 55
- Themes: Four
- Award categories: Five
- Total awards: 10
- Student prizes: AED10,000 according to the Dubai Government Media Office announcement
- Professional prizes: AED50,000 according to the Dubai Government Media Office announcement
- Final deadline: 25 October 2026
- Previous release allowed: No — entries must be original work produced for the competition
For UAE-based filmmakers, the unusually broad eligibility makes this opportunity particularly accessible. Someone shooting their first five-minute film on a phone is eligible to compete alongside established professionals, while dedicated documentary, animation and AI categories give filmmakers several ways into the programme.
With the final deadline set for 25 October, potential entrants now have around six weeks to develop, shoot and complete their short.
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