Geek-culture’s favorite celebration returns to Dubai this weekend, with the seventh edition of Middle East Film & Comic Con (MEFCC) — a multi-genre entertainment and comic convention which launched in 2012, based on the decades-old format that has proved popular around the world.
MEFCC co-founder Arafaat Ali Khan told Arab News it was almost inevitable that he would be involved in something like Comic Con when he reached adulthood.
“I grew up on the best cartoons, like ‘Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends,’ ‘He-Man,’ and tons more. But I also had great Arabic anime like ‘Captain Majed’ and ‘Grendizer.’ ‘Star Wars’ was also the big thing at the time, and my parents bought me the Atari 2600 entertainment system that got me into gaming,” he said. “So you could say the universe conspired to make me a geek.”
Khan’s passion for pop culture remained undiminished throughout his college years — he even did a case study on opening a comic store in Dubai — and in 2010, an “almost-rant” with some like-minded friends about why the region didn’t have a comic con of its own “to help develop pop culture in the Middle East” led to an inevitable conclusion.
“It was an epiphany-style moment for us,” he said. “We (worked in) an agency that had experience in events, marketing and design, and we definitely had the passion.”
Initial research into the idea wasn’t promising, however.
“Most of the feedback was along the lines of ‘You’re crazy,” or “Who’d be interested?’” Khan said. “But we persevered. We knew there must be other fans out there.”
And there were. Last year’s MEFCC reportedly attracted over 60,000 attendees. This year will likely build on that figure.
“It’s been wonderful seeing the development of the con and its participants over the years. We’ve had people who started as independent creators who have gone on to open retail shops, create comic books and be picked up by international publishers and much more,” Khan said. “It’s awe-inspiring to be part of this journey of pop-culture growth in the region. I’ve always believed that we have talent that rivals any on the world and I think MEFCC has proved that to regional and international parties alike.”
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