2018 Winners & Shortlists

FILM WILL FIND YOU

BrandDUBAI INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
Product/ServiceDIFF 2017
EntrantSCIENCE & SUNSHINE Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
CategoryTypography
Idea Creation SCIENCE & SUNSHINE Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

The Campaign

For DIFF17, we wanted to create a campaign that not only celebrated film, but also connected the festival to our regional audience in a simple and powerful way. We did this by marrying Arabic typography with iconic films to create compelling visuals. Our campaign line "Film will find you" compelled our audience to discover the right film for them from the many films being showcased this year.

Creative Execution

Our poster campaign put the festival at the centre of great cinema by depicting iconic films using calligraphy made up of the festival's name in Arabic. Each poster featured an element from a well known film. We wanted that element to be the only pop of colour on the poster. We then used the Arabic calligraphy to complete the scene and give the coloured element the context of the film it belongs to. The Arabic calligraphy says "Dubai International Film Festival" and is created in the geometric Koufi style.

Indication of how successful the outcome was in the market

The campaign was well received by the general public as well as the wider film industry in the region and around the world. DIFF attendance figures were high and more tickets and ticket packages were sold than in the previous years both online and at the box office. It was the most talked about DIFF campaign with high reach and engagement across all of DIFF's social channels. #FilmWillFindYou was a trending topic on opening night.

Part of the festival's main objectives is to champion film as an industry in the region. Through the festival's various initiatives they have shined a spotlight on Arab films and Arab Filmmakers and continue to fund and facilitate the small but growing regional film industry. This year we wanted to highlight the fact that DIFF is a festival that celebrates films from all over the world, but it is also an Arab film festival. And to do that we wanted our communication to have a distinctly Arabic feel and touch to it. Lead by the typographic poster campaign, we carried the koufi style though all the elements in the wider campaign including branding, film and interior design at the venue.

Credits

Name Company Role
Shahir Zag Science & Sunshine Chief Creative Officer
Ash Chagla Science & Sunshine Executive Creative Director
Mohammed Kotait Science & Sunshine Art Director
Farid Hobeiche Science & Sunshine Business Director
Myriam Ghazal Science & Sunshine Account Manager
Zigor Samaniego n/a Illustrator
Mohammed Al Azzam Dubai International Film Festival Brand Manager