During the closing ceremony of the 13th Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) it was announced that Egyptian director Mohammad Hammad has received the Best Director Award for his film Withered Green that took part in the Long Muhr Feature Competition. The film had a full-house Arab world premiere and a successful second screening at the DIFF, where it received a wide attendance from audiences and critics alike.

This award marks the first in the film's record after a remarkable festival circuit at six international film festivals, starting with the Locarno International Film Festival where it landed its world premiere, Festival International du Film Francophone de Namur (FIFF), Stockholm International Film Festival,Singapore International Film Festival, and Mediterranean Film Festival of Brussels.

Mohammed Hammad is an Egyptian director with a number of short films in his repertoire. He wrote, produced, and directed the short film Central (2008). In 2010,he produced and directed the short film Pale Red, which took part in many international festivals, such as the Montpellier Festival of Mediterranean Cinema in France and the Seattle International Film Festival in the USA. Hammad won the Best Film Dealing with Women Issues Award for the Pale Red at the Carthage Film Festival (JCC) in2010.He also directed the short-length documentary Eish W Malh (2012). Hammad was selected asjury member in the Impact Competition at the Stockholm International Film Festival. WitheredGreen is Hammad's debut feature film.

Withered Green tells the story of young Iman, a conservative religious person, who takes people's opinions of her into account and shows uptight restriction to all the withering social traditions. However, a shocking discovery prompts her to do away with all these withered traditions that she once clung to.

Written and directed by Mohammed Hammad, Withered Green is produced by Hammad, Kholoud Saad and Mohammed El Sharqawy in collaboration with producer Mohamed Hefzy (Film Clinic). MAD Solutions alongside Film Clinic-Indie Distribution (FCID) are handling the film distribution worldwide.

DIFF is one of the most important film festivals in the Arab world. In each edition, DIFF showcases over 120 features, shorts films and documentaries from around the world and will include several world premieres. Every year DIFF presents new and exciting cinema from the Arab world and beyond, introducing audiences to fresh, new talent and original and distinctive filmmaking.