MUMBAI: The second editon of the on-going Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF), organised by the Dubai Media City, was attended by Viacom chairman and chief executive officer Sumner Redstone and noted Bollywood filmaker Subhash Ghai amongst others.

Redstone last visited Dubai fives year ago. He meet with the top executives at Showtime, a leading digital satellite pay TV network in the Middle East, of which Viacom is a shareholder, according to media reports.

Viacoms stable of global brands such as CBS, MTV, Nickelodeon and Vh1 have their presence in the Middle East through Showtime.

Showtime is the official broadcaster and a Gold sponsor of the DIFF. As part of the partnership with DIFF, Showtime has launched a free-to-air 24-hour channel called DIFF TV, which provides comprehensive information and coverage of all the major red carpet events, as well as behind-the-scenes interviews with the actors, producers and directors of the movies being shown during DIFF 2005.

Amongst the others were Hollywood actors Morgan Freeman, Laurence Fishburne, Hugh Dancy, Terence Stamp, actress Diane Kruger and also the Canadian-based filmmaker Deepa Mehta.

At the film festival, 98 movies from 46 countries will be showcased over the week, starting from 11 to 17 December. The second edition also includes new sections in films focusing on cinema from Africa, Europe and East Asia, an expanded palette of Arab cinema and a special programme dedicated to young and upcoming UAE filmmakers.