A film award may be presented in a matter of seconds, but for the person receiving it, the meaning can last a lifetime. It becomes a reminder of the story they believed in, the people who helped bring it to the screen and the moment their work was recognised.
That understanding lies at the heart of a creative partnership between Emirates Film Festival and Crystal Arc Factory, which has designed and produced five bespoke trophies for the festival’s principal honours: Best Short Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Actor and Best Actress.
The trophies will be presented during the Emirates Film Festival Awards Night on 26 July 2026 at New Covent Garden Theatre, Mall of the Emirates.
The collaboration is more than an arrangement to produce awards for one evening. It brings together a UAE film festival with an international outlook and a Dubai company recognised for creating premium, bespoke pieces that give physical form to achievement.
Established in Dubai in 2000, Crystal Arc has built its reputation through the creation of distinctive trophies, awards, medals, plaques and recognition pieces. Its approach begins not with a standard design, but with the identity of the organisation, the significance of the occasion and the meaning the finished award is expected to carry.
For Emirates Film Festival, this made Crystal Arc a natural creative partner.
The festival wanted its major awards to feel unmistakably connected to the UAE while remaining meaningful to filmmakers from different parts of the world. The trophies needed to represent the festival’s home, its values and its belief in cinema as a universal form of expression.
“We were not looking for an award that could belong to any event,” said Lezlie Pableo, Festival Director of Emirates Film Festival. “We wanted something created with purpose, carrying the character of the festival and the identity of the UAE. Crystal Arc understood that from the beginning and translated it into a design that feels both cultural and cinematic.”
Two original designs were created for the five principal awards.
Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Actor and Best Actress will receive a distinctive four sided trophy. As the piece is turned, each surface reveals another scene inspired by the Emirates, including references to the country’s maritime history, desert landscape, palm trees and traditional architectural details. A sculpted film strip moves around the form, connecting the images into one continuing visual story.
Best Short Film, the festival’s main film honour, will be represented by a separate design combining a film disc with sculpted imagery inspired by the dhow, the desert and the architectural heritage of the UAE.
The cultural elements are not used simply as decoration. Together, they express the relationship between the festival, the country in which it was founded and the filmmakers it welcomes.
The dhow reflects a history shaped by the sea, travel and exchange. The desert speaks of endurance, imagination and the ability to create possibility from open space. The palms and architectural motifs bring a sense of place, while the film strip and reel connect those images to a modern creative language understood across borders.
As the four sided trophy turns, the viewer discovers the UAE through a sequence of scenes, much like a film reveals its meaning one frame at a time. The film strip becomes the visual thread that carries the country’s heritage through the design and into the present.
“This trophy carries the spirit of the UAE, proud of its roots, open to the world and always looking towards the future,” said Ronald Awa, CEO of Emirates Film Festival. “It reflects the kind of festival we are building, one that is grounded here but welcomes stories from everywhere.”
That balance between local identity and international storytelling is central to the partnership.
Emirates Film Festival provides a platform for filmmakers whose work may be shaped by different languages, traditions and experiences. Crystal Arc has created an award that brings those filmmakers back to the place where their work was recognised.
For an international winner, the trophy becomes more than evidence of achievement. It becomes something of the Emirates that can be carried home, displayed and remembered. It records the moment their story was welcomed in Dubai and connected with an audience beyond its place of origin.
“Every winner will leave with more than an award,” said Amal Bint Mubarak, COO of Emirates Film Festival. “They will carry the memory of being recognised in the UAE, a country where different cultures meet and where stories from around the world can find a home.”
Light also plays an important role in the design. As it moves across the sculpted surfaces, different details become visible from different angles. The effect connects naturally with cinema, an art form that relies on light to create images, shape emotion and guide the audience through a story.
“The design draws from the language of cinema itself, light, motion and the frame, reimagined through the lens of the UAE’s own creative spirit,” said Nafisa Golwala, Marketing and Admin Executive at Crystal Arc. “We wanted the trophy to feel like a captured moment: the instant a story comes to life on screen.”
Each award began as a concept developed around the identity and vision of Emirates Film Festival. Crystal Arc’s design team then refined the shape, cultural imagery and cinematic details before the pieces moved into production at the company’s Dubai facility, where they were completed by its artisans.
“At Crystal Arc, we believe an award should tell a story of its own,” Golwala added. “Creating the trophies for the Emirates Film Festival allowed us to honour the art of storytelling in the same way we approach our craft, with vision, patience and heart. Each piece is made to carry the memory of a moment worth celebrating.”
Founded in 2013, Emirates Film Festival has developed as a platform for filmmakers from the UAE and the wider international community. Its five principal awards recognise the complete work as well as the creative vision, writing and performances that bring each film to life.
Through the partnership with Crystal Arc, those honours now have a distinctive physical identity, one that belongs to the festival and reflects the country from which it reaches the world.
When the five trophies are presented on 26 July, they will carry the names of the winners. Within their design, they will also carry the sea, the desert, the architecture and the evolving creative spirit of the Emirates.
For the recipients, each award will mark a personal achievement. For Emirates Film Festival and Crystal Arc, the collection represents the beginning of a shared legacy, created in Dubai, rooted in UAE culture and carried into the world through the filmmakers and stories it celebrates.
