They will join fellow film-makers and industry experts to judge the Muhr Awards at the upcoming Dubai International Film Festival; 75 films to compete across three sections.

Johnnie To, Asif Kapadia and Hannah McGill will be amongst the jury members for the Muhr Awards, which take place during the 7th Dubai International Film Festival, (12-19 December).

To and Kapadia will sit on the Muhr Asia Africa jury alongside Garin Nugroho, film critic Derek Malcolm, and programmer Jeremy Segay, while filmmakers Anand Patwardhan, Francois Verster, and Jean-Pierre Rehm will judge the Muhr AsiaAfrica Documentaries.

The inaugural Muhr Emirati awards will be judged by film critics Samir Farid and Ibrahim Abdul Karim Al Mulla and writer Ahmed Al-Mulla. It is the first time UAE film-makers have had a category to themselves.

Meanwhile award-winning filmmaker Michel Khleifi will lead the Muhr Arab Features jury, which is also made up of Saudi Arabian author Abdo Khal, actress Maya Sansa, actor Hesham Selim, and producer Bertha Novarro.

Producer Donald Ranvaud and filmmakers Tahani Rached and Hakim Bellabes will evaluate the Muhr Arab Documentaries.

McGill, the former artistic director of the Edinburgh Film Festival, will sit on the Muhr Arab and AsiaAfrica short films jury, alongside director Rakshan Bani-E’temad, and producer Michel Kammoun.

Masoud Amralla Al Ali, Artistic Director of the Dubai International Film Festival, said: “The in-competition Muhr Awards have played an integral role in encouraging filmmakers from the Arab world, Asia, and Africa to step forward and create ground-breaking films through a substantial platform like DIFF.”

“We have drawn the finest film professionals representing various aspects of the industry to evaluate the entries. They will benchmark against international standards highlighting the top notch quality of films that the Muhr honours,” he added.