Hada News
Oman's film and theatre societies both close entries on 1 November
The Oman Film Festival (28–31 December) wants recent shorts, including AI-made films; the new Muscat Theatre Festival (December) wants full-cast stage productions.
Omani filmmakers and theatre companies face the same cut-off this autumn: 1 November 2026. Two national societies are taking entries for December festivals, and both submissions run through online forms.
Film: 28–31 December. The Omani Cinema Society runs three competitions at the Oman Film Festival 2026: short fiction, short documentary and films made with artificial intelligence. Entry is limited to Omani filmmakers. Films must have been completed in 2025 or 2026, run between 3 and 35 minutes, and must not have been shown before on television, streaming platforms or other public media. Any film in Arabic or another language needs English subtitles, and the final cut goes in as a downloadable Full HD (1080p) MOV or MP4 link. Besides placings, there are craft awards for directing, screenplay, cinematography, editing and acting, plus a poster prize in both short-film competitions.
Theatre: December, Muscat. The Omani Theatre Society is launching the Muscat Theatre Festival; the society calls this its inaugural edition. Omani troupes, universities and colleges may each put forward one production. Only ensemble shows qualify, so monodrama, two-hander and mime pieces are out. According to Al Roya, a show must not have been staged in Oman before, may have toured abroad if produced within the past two years, and must run 45 to 60 minutes, with a full high-quality video recording. Local and international scripts are both allowed, with a best-script award reserved for Omani writers. A selection panel picks the final programme.
Society chairman Imad Al Shanfari said the society hopes the event will alternate year by year with the culture ministry's own festival for theatre troupes.
Why it matters: For Omani makers these are home-grown screens and stages with craft prizes attached, and the AI category gives creators experimenting with new tools a place to compete.