THE APEX TIMES
The L.A.-based filmmaking duo behind AZ Filmz says the developing Golden Dunes Festival will continue in Dubai despite recent disruption to travel and entertainment tied to heightened U.S.-Iran tensions.
Dubai’s Golden Dunes Festival will proceed with a prominent lineup of jury members, including Ron Perlman, Shohreh Aghdashloo and Cuba Gooding Jr., according to an exclusive report by Deadline published on Aug. 28, 2026.
Deadline reports that the festival’s jury duty will bring the three actors to Dubai as part of the event’s continuing effort to establish itself as a destination for film and entertainment audiences.
The report frames the scheduling as notable given recent months in which Dubai’s travel and entertainment reputation has been “battered,” with Deadline attributing the disruption to the emirate becoming caught in the crosshairs of the U.S.-Iran war. Deadline says that while the geopolitical backdrop has created strain for the broader travel and entertainment environment, it has not stopped the festival’s push forward.
Deadline identifies the organizing drive as coming from Ali and Zeus Zamani, a filmmaking duo based in Los Angeles, who are associated with AZ Filmz. The report describes the Golden Dunes Festival as “fledgeling,” and says the duo is continuing production and event planning notwithstanding the wider uncertainty affecting international travel.
The Deadline report does not, in its excerpt, specify the dates of the festival, the awards or categories the jury will consider, or the number of projects being reviewed. It likewise does not detail the formal procedures the jury will follow beyond characterizing their roles as serving “for Golden Dunes jury duty in Dubai.”
Even without those particulars, the announcement underscores how international film and entertainment events are trying to hold to schedules and maintain audience-facing visibility amid difficult conditions for tourism and cross-border movement.
For participants and viewers, the jury lineup is likely to be the most immediate public-facing detail, with Deadline positioning the casting of well-known actors as part of the festival’s effort to build credibility and attention.
Deadline’s report leaves open what, if any, changes the festival may implement in response to the heightened security and travel climate linked to the U.S.-Iran conflict, beyond continuing with the announced jury staffing. The next step for audiences would be confirming the festival’s timetable and the scope of the jury’s review once organizers publish the program.
