Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has launched the second edition of its Traffic Safety Film Festival, giving filmmakers, students, and community members a real platform to promote safer behaviour on the roads.
The competition comes with cash and honorary prizes worth up to AED300,000, sponsored by Azizi Developments. It follows on from a successful first edition in 2025, which pulled in more than 100 creative entries.
The festival uses short films and visual storytelling to get important road safety messages across. The whole idea is to encourage people to follow traffic laws, steer clear of risky driving, and take more responsibility for both their own safety and that of everyone else on the road.
Traffic Safety Film Festival 2026: Submission dates
Entries are open from August 24 to November 22, 2026. Participants can submit their films through the dedicated RTA Traffic Safety Film Festival website, where the competition rules, eligibility conditions, and submission requirements are all laid out.
The festival is open to a wide mix of participants, including community members, university students, families, government entities, and private sector organisations. Bringing in this range of voices is meant to add different perspectives and creative approaches to how traffic safety gets talked about.
This second edition builds on the response to the first, aiming to open up more opportunities for emerging talent and fresh ideas. RTA believes creative visual content can help road safety messages land with audiences in a way that actually sticks.
AED300,000 prizes for road safety films
The festival runs across several categories, with cash awards up for grabs for selected individual and community entries. The prize structure gives participants a chance to compete with films centred on general road safety, innovative technology, or specific community concerns.
Under Category One, individuals and university students can compete for the Best Road Safety Awareness Film award. First place takes home AED30,000, with AED20,000 for second and AED10,000 for third.
The same prize structure applies to the Best Innovative Traffic Safety Film Using Modern Technologies category, which gives participants room to experiment with new technologies and creative formats to get their road safety message across.
Government and private sector categories
Category Two is set aside for government entities and private companies, covering the Government Sector Traffic Safety Award and the Private Sector Traffic Safety Award.
Unlike the individual film categories, these come with commemorative shields rather than cash prizes. This category is designed to nudge organisations toward playing a more active role in supporting traffic safety and building awareness initiatives.
RTA bringing businesses and government bodies into the mix also reflects the bigger role organisations can play in shaping safer road behaviour. Workplace campaigns and public awareness projects can help reinforce safe habits well beyond traditional traffic education.
Family and traffic accident victims categories
The Community Category covers two important sections: the Best Family Awareness Film and the Traffic Accident Victims Category. The family category ties directly into the Year of the Family, highlighting the role households play in building safer habits on the road.
The Best Family Awareness Film category offers AED30,000 for first place, AED20,000 for second, and AED10,000 for third, giving families and community participants a chance to tell relatable stories about responsible behaviour behind the wheel.
The Traffic Accident Victims Category follows the same AED30,000, AED20,000, and AED10,000 structure. RTA says this category is meant to highlight the real, lasting consequences of unsafe driving and build a stronger sense of individual and collective responsibility.
Films to highlight key road safety issues
RTA wants participants to treat film as a genuinely practical tool for tackling common road safety risks, particularly speeding, using mobile phones while driving, and skipping seat belts.
Short films can get these messages across through real-life situations, educational storytelling, and creative visual ideas. The goal is not just to show how dangerous unsafe behaviour can be, but to actually nudge people toward making safer choices.
Hussain Al Banna, CEO of RTA’s Traffic and Roads Agency, said the festival is part of a broader push to modernise traffic awareness tools and reach more people through digital and visual content.
According to Al Banna, the strong turnout for the first edition showed just how much potential creativity and visual storytelling have when it comes to supporting traffic awareness campaigns. This second edition is built to give even more people the chance to contribute ideas and help make roads safer.
RTA to use winning films in awareness campaigns
This competition is meant to matter well beyond the awards ceremony itself. RTA plans to fold winning films into its long-term traffic awareness programmes to reach a wider audience.
Selected films could show up during educational lectures, workshops, public awareness campaigns, and on digital platforms. That gives successful participants wider exposure while helping RTA spread road safety messages across different channels.
Bringing competition entries into official awareness programmes also means the creative work does not just disappear once the festival wraps up. Films tackling common traffic risks can be adapted for different audiences and future awareness efforts.
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Festival supports Dubai’s Vision Zero road safety strategy
The Traffic Safety Film Festival fits into RTA’s broader traffic safety and awareness strategy, which supports the goal of reaching zero road fatalities. The approach blends public education with safer road design and close cooperation between government bodies and strategic partners.
RTA’s programmes target different groups of road users, including students, truck drivers, and delivery riders, while the authority also works on safety initiatives in residential communities and around schools.
These efforts include things like improved pedestrian crossings, signage, bridges, and other road safety infrastructure. The broader strategy focuses on cutting down fatalities and serious injuries through a mix of awareness, education, safer road environments, and cooperation with organisations including Dubai Police.
How to submit for Dubai Traffic Safety Film Festival 2026
Anyone interested in taking part can submit entries between August 24 and November 22, 2026 through the dedicated RTA Traffic Safety Film Festival website. The official platform lays out the detailed guidelines, eligibility requirements, and everything else participants need before submitting their films.
With categories covering students, individuals, families, government entities, and businesses, this second edition offers plenty of ways to get involved. At its core, it is all about using creative storytelling to encourage safer driving and build stronger road safety awareness across Dubai.