Dubai Media City Honours Ibda'a Student Awards 2009 Winners at Gala Ceremony

Afra Bin Dhaher Receives Award for ‘Best UAE Project’

Dubai: 20 November, 2009 – Dubai Media City (DMC), the region’s leading media hub and a member of TECOM Investments, hosted the eighth Ibda’a Student Awards at a gala ceremony, honouring the winners of 12 categories from over 2,400 submissions, including over 170 from the UAE.
 
Abdullatif AlMulla, Group CEO of TECOM Investments, Abdulhamid Juma, Chairman, Dubai International Film Festival, and Mohammad Abdullah, Coordinator General of Ibda’a Student Awards presented the awards to winners at the event that was held at the DMC Amphitheatre. Senior government officials and representatives of leading media organisations and academic institutions, were among those that attended the event.

Mohammad Abdulla, Coordinator General of Ibda’a Student Awards, said:

One of the important initiatives of Dubai Media City is the Ibda’a Student Awards that has established itself as an important platform for interaction between students and industry professionals.

We are proud to say the creative entries we received this year from around the world were truly outstanding. Such works also raise our confidence in the capabilities of the next generation of media professionals. We are optimistic they will lead the industry to scale new peaks in professionalism.

An elite panel of judges from the International Advertising Association – UAE Chapter (IAA-UAE) selected the winners of the Ibda’a Student Awards that is presented by Ziad Galadari Group. 

Following is the list of winners in the respective categories:

    1. Journalism (non-news) - Stacey Pinto, UAE
    2. Radio feature - Serman August Serra, Philippines
    3. Animation - Sanjay Jangir, India
    4. Graphic design - Purva Bakalkar, India
    5. Analogue photography - Mohamad Amin Davaei, Iran
    6. Digital photography - Reza Milani, Iran
    7. Print advertising - Neha Katkar, India
    8. TV advertising - Thabit Al Mawaly, UAE
    9. Film TV feature - Rangoli Agarwal, India
    10. TV documentary - Amir Masoud Hosseini, Iran
    11. Mobile film - Naeema Amjad Pakistan

The award for the ‘Best UAE Project’ from submissions of the UAE-based university students was presented to Afra Bin Dhaher for her outstanding entry in Digital Photography category.

Additionally, Brash FZ LLC awarded an internship to Fatima Obaid from the UAE for her creative submission.

The Digital Design category received a number of entries despite being a new addition in Ibda’a Student Awards 2009. However a shortlist of finalists did not emerge as none of the entries matched all the set criteria.

Over the years, the Ibda'a Student Awards have attracted a multitude of entries from the GCC countries and beyond. Its success has been marked by an exponential rise in the number of entries and participating countries. For the 2009 edition, the submissions were received from over 20 countries including first time entries from China, Libya, Lithuania, Malaysia, Norway, Singapore and Thailand.

The winners received attractive prizes including internships from leading global media organisations.

This year’s edition of Ibda’a Awards was co-sponsored by Arabian Automobiles, Dubai Media Incorporated (DMI), AMG, OMD, Dreamdays and Grand Midwest Hotel. While Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company - ‘du’ was the communications partner,  Amrita TV, BBC World, Brash FZ LLC, CNBC Arabia, Motivate Publishing, Showtime, Think Tank, Xische, Wolf Productions, Zee TV and Zee Aflam supported the event as the media partners.

ARN, CNN, CNBC Arabia, Brash, Leo Burnett, International Media and Production Zone (IMPZ), Dubai International Academic City (DIAC), Xische, MBC, Motivate Publishing, Nikon, Team Y&R and Zee Aflam gave away the awards to the winners.

Notes to Editors

About Dubai Media City

Strategically located at the crossroads of the Middle East, Africa and South Asia, Dubai Media City, a member of TECOM Investments, is rapidly emerging as the region's media hub.  The City provides an advanced infrastructure for media-related businesses to operate globally out of Dubai.  Dubai Media City is the place where activities Publishing, Music, Film, New Media, Leisure & Entertainment, Broadcasting, Media & Marketing Services, and Information Agencies will thrive. The facility offers an environment that allows companies and individuals to operate with collective synergy and freedom.

Companies based in Dubai Media City have the unique edge of commercial benefits derived from our free zone status including 100 % business ownership and exemption from personal income and corporate taxes. Since its official opening in January 2001, Dubai Media City has grown to become a thriving media community of over 1400 companies and hundreds of freelance media professionals. Several global media giants and promising entrepreneurial ventures have joined this unique community. 

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