Farrat have worked closely with cinema operators and contractors across the Middle East and Saudi Arabia over the last few years to build the cinema market from the ground up. Since the lifting of the cinema ban in Saudi in 2018,28 new venues have been deliveredas part of a 10-year plan to construct 300 cinemas by 2030. Within that period Farrat have designed and supplied high-performance cinema acoustic isolation solutions to over 80% of the Saudi cinema markets’ new venues, collaborating with the region’s leading operators including MUVI, VOX, AMC, Reel and Empire. A key force in the development of cinema in Saudi, alongside countries in the Middle East such as the UAE (United Arab Emirates) and Oman, has been the META regions dedicated cinema conference, the META Cinema Forum.
The only dedicated cinema convention in META
Founded and led by the UAE’s leading event’s organiser GM Events,the forum is currently in its 4th edition as the largest cinema convention covering Middle East and African markets. The event has grown to become the single most important regional gathering for the cinema sector, bringing together cinema operators, developers, venue designers, consultants, contractors, and fit-out specialists, with film and media production giants to shape the future of the wider industry.
Recognising the opportunity to pioneer a new standard of cinema design in the region, Farrat partnered with GM Events in 2018 as a strategic acoustic sponsor of the first edition of the cinema conference in Dubai, the MENA Cinema Forum. Four years later, the conference has evolved and scaled to include more regions, exhibitors, seminars, and market operators, covering the entire META region (consequently changing its name in 2020).
To celebrate the recovery of the cinema sector, post the pandemic era, the 4th edition returns as a physical event that promises to be ‘bigger and better than ever’, with more sessions covering various cinema markets in detail, an expanded convention floor, additional seminars, workshops, and a strong line-up of slates, product presentations and film features.
An ongoing strategic partnership
Throughout the 4-year partnership, Farrat have exhibited, presented, and sponsored various aspects of the event program.
During the pandemic when in-person events were a huge challenge, Farrat were pleased to continue the partnership by sponsoring the first hybrid version of the event in 2020. This format enabled those within the cinema industry the opportunity to stay informed of current trends and future technology, to plan beyond the pandemic.
Another leading memorable aspect of exhibiting last year was the Farrat ‘cube of silence’. Designed as a practical demonstration of Farrat’s high-performance acoustic isolation solutions for cinema auditoria, the sound booth acted as an immersive soundproof experience for conference delegates.
The #cubeofsilence sound booth construction incorporated a box-in-box Farrat acoustic isolation system (Farrat Cine PRO range), built with high-quality gypsum board, supplied by leading drywall manufacturer Knauf. Memorable Farrat moments from earlier editions include co-exhibiting with acoustic consultants Sharps Redmorein the opening year (2018), to present the value of ‘Total Acoustic Responsibility’ in cinema design. The Farrat team included Technical Director, Ryan Arbabi, Marketing Manager, Charlene Giles and CEO, Oliver Farrell. Joined by Tim Redmore and Rory Sullivan of Sharps Redmore.
And in 2019, where Farrat’s Ryan Arbabi put cinema acoustic isolation firmly on the regional construction agenda by delivering a powerful ‘future of cinema’ presentation followed by a key speaker role in an industry guest-panel debate.
“Farrat has been an active participant in all of the previous Cinema Forum events, not just in promoting technical thought-leadership on cinema acoustic design, but also actively sharing our insight and experience gained from working on over 80% of the multiplex cinema projects that have been constructed in the region in the last few years”.
2021 edition of META Cinema Forum
This year, Farrat’s Ryan Arbabi will present a new cinema construction insight at the Atlantis The Palm in Dubai. Farrat are also sponsoring both an ‘exhibition hour’ and a ‘networking lunch,’ as well as exhibiting in the main hall, where our team will be demonstrating the creative solutions that Farrat offer to some of cinema markets most challenging problems.
For more information on the event and to register, visit the event website here.
To understand the full scope of Farrat acoustic isolation solutions for cinemas, click here.
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