DIFF's CEO files multi-million dollar suit

MUMBAI: The founder and former CEO of the Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) has filed a multi-million dollar lawsuit against two senior officials of the festival "for their deplorable and despicable behavior," charging they illegally conspired to engineer his ouster-after which they tried to ruin his reputation by branding him a "racist" and an "Arab-hater," despite the fact that he had lived and worked in the Arab world for 10 years.

The suit charges DIFF chairman Abdulhamid Juma and DIFF Managing Director Shivani Pandya with defamation, intentional interference with contractual relations, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and conspiracy for their roles in forcing DIFF founder and CEO Neil Stephenson's exit last February from the film festival that he originated and turned into the most prestigious event of its kind in the Middle East.

Stephenson is seeking at least $5 million in compensatory and punitive damages from both defendants.

"Motivated solely by his affection for Dubai and his desire to build a 'cultural bridge' between the West and the Middle East, Neil Stephenson conceived and created a new cultural institution that put Dubai on the film festival map. Mr. Stephenson has not only been deprived of his position, but also of the credit for what he has accomplished. Because of his love for Dubai and his many friends in the UAE, Mr. Stephenson is not taking any action against the festival itself or any Dubai organization. But he cannot and will not accept the acts of those responsible for his exit and defamation of his character," said Liner Yankelevitz Sunshine & Regenstreif LLP, Stephenson's attorney, Michael Weinsten.

According to the lawsuit, Juma went to extraordinary lengths to undermine Stephenson's position and discredit him professionally in an effort to take credit for DIFF's success-even though the festival was Stephenson's idea and it was Stephenson who actually ran it from the beginning.
Among other things, the...

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