Dubai, April 8 (IANS/WAM) A collection of 194 films from 41 countries will be screened at the seven-day Gulf Film Festival that began Thursday.

The third edition of GFF, organised by the Dubai Culture and Arts Authority, opened with Emirati film 'City of Life'.

The films include 81 world premieres, 33 Middle East premieres, 17 Gulf premieres and nine United Arab Emirates (UAE) premieres.

The event will showcase 128 short fiction films, 28 short documentaries, eight features, five feature documentaries and 25 animation films.

Gulf Film Festival chairman Abdulhamid Juma said the festival had played a key role in promoting cinema from the Gulf region internationally.

'The Gulf Film Festival is now undisputedly home to a new wave in Arab cinema and serves as the only venue for all members of the larger film fraternity to meet, discuss and explore films, several of them providing compelling glimpses into life in the Gulf region,' said festival director Masoud Amralla Al Ali.

The UAE has the highest number of 36 films in the festival followed by Saudi Arabia (24), Oman (10), Kuwait (8) and Bahrain (6).

IANS