Chioma Ude, Founder and Executive Director of the Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF) Cinema has long been revered as a powerful and transformative tool to create awareness and change in the society. While the film-industry acts as a catalyst of global change, it still remains heavily male-dominated with vast discrepancy between the numbers of male and female workers. The under-representation of women in an industry that stands as a stimulant for social change, growth, progress and development, is a critical issue that needs to be addressed at global events such as the Dubai Expo 2020. In an effort to shed more light on this matter, Canon’s panel discussion will involve women from the film industry who shattered the glass ceiling across Middle-East and Africa such as UAE’s first female Film Director/Producer and CEO of Nayla Al Khaja Films and Motivational Speaker - Nayla Al Khaja from Dubai, Sara Shazli from Egypt who directed the critically acclaimed movie ‘Back Home’ and Ch