Two renowned Egyptian filmmakers, director Yousry Nasrallah and producer and director Marianne Khoury, will join the international jury panels of the 13th Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF), scheduled to take place between 7 and 14 December.

Nasrallah will head up DIFF’s Muhr Emirati Competition jury panel, which includes  Algerian and French producer and director, Salem Brahimi and Emirati poet, writer, journalist, and broadcaster Adel Khozam.

The Egyptian director's latest work, ‘Brooks, Meadows and Lovely Faces’, which was recently featured at Locarno Film Festival, will also be showcased as part of DIFF’s Arabian Nights programme.

Nasrallah’s film works include Mercedes (1993), On Boys, Girls and the Veil (1995) and Sheherezad, Tell Me a Story (2010). His work has premiered at leading international film festivals including Cannes, Locarno, Venice and Berlin.

In turn, Khoury will serve as a jury member of the Muhr Features, a highly prestigious segment of the festival.

The Muhr Feature jury panel will be presided over by the acclaimed artist, screenwriter and director Ulrike Ottinger.

The panel will also include Palestinian film and stage artist Saleh Bakri, Oscar-nominated Iranian-American actress Shohreh Aghdashloo and filmmaker Ann Marie Fleming. 

"Boasting a line-up brimming with award-winning international and regional directors and actors, the Muhr Awards Jury will be tasked with recognising the best talent from the Arab and wider world throughout the competition," reads the DIFF's official press release. 

Khoury is known for her films September 11, Closed Doors and Zelal, which won the FIPRESCI at DIFF in 2010. 

A co-manager of Misr International Films (MIF), Khoury is also known as the main dynamo behind the Cairo-based art house cinema Zawya and president of the Egyptian Panorama of the European Film, an annual festival which saw its 9th edition take place last month.

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