Hindi
DIFF results announced
MUMBAI: The Dubai International Film Festival which closed yesterday announced the results of the Dubai Film Connection (DFC). DFC selected 15 filmmakers to consult and strategise three days with sales agents, producers and major broadcasters.
Three winning projects were awarded USD 15 000 each. These projects as well as one special mention will be invited to attend the prestigious 2008 Cannes Producers Network: Amreeka, by Canadian-Palestinian filmmaker Cherien Dabis, Man Without a Cell Phone, a satire about Palestinian Israelis by Sameh Zaobi, and One Man Village, a film about healing and reconciliation in Lebanon by Simon el Habre.
Special Mention went to Ziad Doueiri’s Man in the Middle, a thrilling story about Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. A 5000 Euro prize from French broadcaster Arte went to Fix Me, a meditation on mental health and conflict by director Raed Andoni.
The Muhr Awards competition was expanded this year, and included films from all over the Middle East. Masoud Amralla al Ali, DIFF’s Artistic Director and Coordinator General of Competition, said: “This year our jury had difficulty choosing winners because of the superlative quality of most of the submissions, both from a story and production value standpoint. We intend for the Muhr Awards to instigate the production of more Arabic films in the region. The Middle East is full of creativity, and our roster of winners proves that unequivocally.”
The prizes for Short Films were as follows: Bronze went to El Ezz (Garbage), by Tunisian director Lotfi Achour, which depicts a lonely night watchman in love with his neighbour. UAE film Haresat al Ma’a (The Water Guard), from director Waleed al Shehhi, won Silver, and Sarah, by Belgian director Khdija Leclere, won Gold.
The Bronze Muhr for Documentary went to journalist, writer and filmmaker Nassri Hajjaj’s Dhil al Gheyab (Shadow of Absence), about Palestinian anxiety about what Hajjaj calls ‘the site of burial.’ Silver went to Palestinian director Buthina Canaan Khoury for Magharat Maria (Maria’s Grotto), which explores honour killing in Palestine. The Gold Muhr went to Karim Goury’s stylistically unusual Soneaa fi Masr (Made in Egypt), which follows a Frenchman as he searches for his Egyptian roots.
The winning feature films covered a broad swathe of the Middle East: Bronze feature La Graine et le Mulet (The Secret of the Grain) was directed by Abdellatif Kechiche, a Tunisian actor and set in France. The comedic Akher Film (Making Of), in which Tunisian director (who has directed Abdellatif Kechiche in previous films) Nouri Bouzid plays himself in a film depicting a film shoot in danger of being interrupted by the American invasion of Iraq, won Silver. The film also took away the Best Composer award for Nejib Charradi.
The Gold Muhr was won by Taht el Qasef (Under the Bombs), which explores interfaith love in Southern Lebanon between a Shia woman and a Christian man. Filmmaker Phillippe Aractingi reacted to the 2006 war by commencing filming in July, in the heat of the bombings. Under the Bombs also won a Best Actress Muhr for Nada Abou Fahat, who played Zeina, the Lebanese Shi’a woman who rushes into the war zone to save her son.
Best Actor went to UK-based Jordanian actor Nadim Sawalha for his role in Captain Abu Raed, where he plays an airport janitor who befriends a group of children in his poor neighbourhood.
Lebanese filmmaker Borhane Alaouie’s Khalass took away two awards: the Best Screenplay award for Alaouie himself and Best Editor Award for France Duez. Best Cinematographer went to Pierre Boffety for his photography of Burnt Hearts.
In the section of the Muhr Awards that recognizes Emirati talent, three awards were presented. The prize for Best Emirati Talent went to Mohammed Saeed Harib, creator of the Freej series. Best Emirati Female Filmmaker was presented to Nayla Al Khaja, and Best Emirati Filmmaker went to Ali Mostafa.
Hindi
Jio Studios unveils AI-powered Krishna teaser at NAB Show 2026
Global first look of Krishna uses Galleri5 AI pipeline on Azure, Historyverse slate as Jio’s Dhurandhar crosses Rs 3,000cr worldwide.
MUMBAI: Krishna has just dropped a divine teaser and this time the gods are powered by silicon, not just scripture. Jio Studios and Collective Studios’ Historyverse stole the spotlight at the NAB Show 2026 in Las Vegas with the world’s first teaser for their upcoming theatrical feature Krishna, directed by Manu Anand. The big reveal happened during Microsoft’s keynote “Powering Intelligent Media, From AI Experimentation to Real-World Impact,” where the film’s AI-native production pipeline took centre stage alongside Collective Artists Network’s in-house platform, Galleri5.
At the heart of this mythological spectacle lies a fresh cinematic workflow built by Galleri5 on Microsoft Azure’s advanced AI and cloud infrastructure. Forget bolting AI onto traditional VFX or animation, this is an end-to-end, production-grade system woven into every layer: world-building, character creation, shot design and final output. Yet the storytelling remains firmly director-led, emphasising emotional depth, stillness, music and performance rather than pure spectacle. The result? Large-format theatrical cinema rooted in Indian history and culture, but conceived in ways that were simply not possible before.
Collective Artists Network runs Galleri5 natively on Azure, leveraging Microsoft Foundry and cutting-edge AI tools to handle film, episodic and advertising workflows in a secure enterprise environment. Microsoft highlighted Collective as a “Frontier” organisation successfully moving AI from pilot projects to real production-scale deployment in cinema. The technology is also on display at Microsoft’s NAB booth in the West Hall (Booth W1731).
Jio Studios (Media & Content Business, Reliance Industries), president Jyoti Deshpande said the project advances the studio’s mission to take Indian stories global with scale, ambition and authenticity, “With Krishna, we are embracing cutting-edge AI-led filmmaking while democratising these tools to make them more accessible, intuitive and cost-effective for storytellers everywhere.”
Collective Artists Network founder & group CEO Vijay Subramaniam added, “We’re using technology developed in India to carry our culture and history to audiences worldwide at a scale never seen before.”
Microsoft, vice president for telco media & entertainment, gaming Silvia Candiani noted that the media industry has reached an inflection point, “AI is no longer about experimentation but delivering real impact at production scale… By building AI-native creative systems on Microsoft Azure, Collective exemplifies how storytellers can unlock new formats, move faster and realise a true return on intelligence while keeping human creativity at the centre.”
Krishna forms part of Historyverse, Collective Studios’ ambitious slate of history and culture-driven IPs. The slate draws from iconic figures and traditions that shaped the Indian subcontinent, including stories inspired by Kali, Karna and Durga. It builds on the already-released Mahabharat: Ek Dharmayudh series, showing how ancient narratives can be reimagined for modern screens.
Jio Studios, India’s leading content studio and the media and content arm of Reliance Industries, continues its blockbuster run. The studio’s Dhurandhar franchise led by Dhurandhar and Dhurandhar: The Revenge has become the first Indian film series to cross Rs 3,000 crore worldwide. It also delivered three consecutive years of India’s highest-grossing Hindi films: Stree 2 (2024), Dhurandhar (2025) and Dhurandhar: The Revenge (2026). In just eight years, Jio Studios has assembled a library of over 160 films and series, with more than 60 titles winning over 500 awards. Other notable successes include Laapataa Ladies (India’s official Oscar entry 2025), Stree, Article 370, Shaitaan and Mrs.
The NAB unveiling marks another step in Jio Studios and Collective’s push to blend Indian storytelling talent with frontier technology proving that the future of cinema may well be both ancient in spirit and thoroughly modern in execution. For audiences who love epic tales with a fresh twist, Krishna promises to deliver divine drama, this time with a little help from the cloud.
