Now in its third year, the BBC Arabic festival has successfully brought ground-breaking films to live audiences in London and shown highlights on BBC Arabic TV – which has an international, Arabic speaking audience of 28 million people.

The official selection, along with the winner in each category, will be decided by a panel of judges made up of experts and practitioners in the field of journalism and film. They will seek originality, creativity and technical skill.

BBC Arabic Festival 2017 judge, the United Arab Emirates-based columnist Sultan Saood Al-Qassemi says: "In the era of short tweets and soundbites, a documentary is an important medium to present subjects in a viable and contextualised manner."

Pioneering film producer Nadine Toukan, also a judge on the 2017 panel, says: “We want to see films that peak curiosity and urge people to form opinions that matter.”

All of the directors whose films are selected by the judges will be invited to come to London and present their work at the BBC Arabic Festival, which takes place at the BBC’s Radio Theatre in central London in the spring of 2017.

Tarik Kafala, Head of BBC Arabic, says: "The BBC Arabic Festival has been a growing success. We are proud to offer a stage to leading and developing film and documentary makers telling challenging, highly personal and detailed stories about the conflicts and dizzying change in the Arab world."

People of all backgrounds are encouraged to submit a fiction or non-fiction piece, covering unique, under-reported issues. The festival invites works in four categories: short films, short documentaries, feature documentaries, reportage. Two special awards, BBC Arabic Young Journalist Award and the Best Work in Journalism, will be decided by the BBC Arabic editorial team. Full entry details, along with submission forms, terms and conditions, are available on the website: BBCArabic.com/festival.

Deadline for submissions is 11:55pm on September 30, 2016.