The Dubai International Film Festival has announcedthat its new Muhr Awards For Excellence In Arab Cinema will carry prize moneyof $325,000 (AED 1.2m).

The Muhr awards, whose name means young horse inArabic, will honour film-makers in feature, documentary and short categories.

The top prize for best feature will come with $50,000(AED 185,000). Deadline for submissions to the new Arabcompetition is Sept 25.

Also, the festival will give three cash prizes to United Arab Emirates screenwriters. Those submissions are due Nov 15.

MasoudAmralla Al Ali, who heads the festival's Arab programming, said: "This competition will assistin the growth and development of the Arab film industry, and provide anenvironment for Arab filmmakers to showcase their work to key members of theinternational industry."

The third Dubai International Film Festival will runDec 10-17.