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Sunday, December 10, 2006
Organisers of the third Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) are hoping to boost attendance figures at the event by more than 15 per cent compared to last year.
Neil Stephenson, the event's chief executive, said he hoped about 35,000 tickets would be sold or given away for the eight-day festival — up from 30,000 at the 2005 gathering.
If the predictions are achieved, it would make the 2006 DIFF twice the size of the inaugural event in 2004, for which 18,000 tickets were distributed.
Stephenson said 102 films would be showing between December 10 and 17 this year — up from 98 at DIFF last year.
Bigger than Cannes
"If you look at some of the other big international film festivals like Cannes, that has only three or four different sections and only 70 or 80 films, so we have more than them.
"And we want to show edgy and provocative films that the audience wouldn't otherwise get to see," Stephenson said.
The final line-up of films will not be announced until November, but Stephenson said that 47 of the films scheduled were from the Arab region and the other 52 came from all parts of the world including the Indian subcontinent, North America and Europe.
"There will be a few more Arab films but not a huge percentage more. We will have a very strong representation from all parts of the world, as in previous years.
"We'll have something for Asians — there is the Cinema of the Subcontinent section — and Europeans, as well as those who like Arab cinema. There will be something for everyone," he said.
A-listers
And just as previous events have attracted big-name stars such as Morgan Freeman, so Stephenson is expecting a few Hollywood A-listers, some of Bollywood's biggest names and top actors and actresses from the Arab film industry.
"We hope to get some really interesting people to come, although it's very early to say at the moment. A lot of these big names don't know their schedule until the very last moment," Stephenson said.
The first DIFF, held in December 2004, featured 76 films, while last year's had 98 films, from a total of 46 countries.
Dont miss it!
The third Dubai International Film Festival will be held between 10 and 17 December 2006.
courtesy of Gulf News
Neil Stephenson, the event's chief executive, said he hoped about 35,000 tickets would be sold or given away for the eight-day festival — up from 30,000 at the 2005 gathering.
If the predictions are achieved, it would make the 2006 DIFF twice the size of the inaugural event in 2004, for which 18,000 tickets were distributed.
Stephenson said 102 films would be showing between December 10 and 17 this year — up from 98 at DIFF last year.
Bigger than Cannes
"If you look at some of the other big international film festivals like Cannes, that has only three or four different sections and only 70 or 80 films, so we have more than them.
"And we want to show edgy and provocative films that the audience wouldn't otherwise get to see," Stephenson said.
The final line-up of films will not be announced until November, but Stephenson said that 47 of the films scheduled were from the Arab region and the other 52 came from all parts of the world including the Indian subcontinent, North America and Europe.
"There will be a few more Arab films but not a huge percentage more. We will have a very strong representation from all parts of the world, as in previous years.
"We'll have something for Asians — there is the Cinema of the Subcontinent section — and Europeans, as well as those who like Arab cinema. There will be something for everyone," he said.
A-listers
And just as previous events have attracted big-name stars such as Morgan Freeman, so Stephenson is expecting a few Hollywood A-listers, some of Bollywood's biggest names and top actors and actresses from the Arab film industry.
"We hope to get some really interesting people to come, although it's very early to say at the moment. A lot of these big names don't know their schedule until the very last moment," Stephenson said.
The first DIFF, held in December 2004, featured 76 films, while last year's had 98 films, from a total of 46 countries.
Dont miss it!
The third Dubai International Film Festival will be held between 10 and 17 December 2006.
courtesy of Gulf News
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Simon Field, programmer of Insights from Asia, said, “Asian cinema has been developing rapidly for more than 15 years, becoming increasingly well-known, with films like The Ring and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon breaking the cultural barrier and attracting millions of viewers. For our Insights from Asia programming, we have selected a diverse array of pictures that represents the kind of creativity, vision and exuberance fans have come to expect from Asian cinema.”
Hana, a sumptuous Samurai movie from acclaimed Japanese director Kore-eda Hirokazu, hits a sentimental and comic mark, in the story of a young warrior on a mission to avenge his father. Repeatedly sidetracked on his mission, he finds himself losing momentum and interest when he takes up lodging in a tenement full of poor, honest and kind people. The traditional way of the Samurai is toward death; Kore-eda’s gentle warrior heads in the opposite direction.
Kore-ada Hirokazu will be in attendance when Hana screens on Tuesday, December 12 at 8:30 pm at Mall of the Emirates Theatre 10, and at 12:45 pm on Wednesday, December 13 at Mall of the Emirates Theatre 8.
Another Japanese director who made a career out of subverting traditional forms is Seijun Suzuki, who directed his first film in 1958, and had a long career making yakuza (Japanese mafia) films. At DIFF, he plays another tune with Princess Raccoon, a delightful film about a raccoon that transforms into a beautiful woman, played by the ravishing Chinese star Ziyi Zhang (Memoirs of a Geisha, 2005), and falls in love with a handsome prince. Children and adults alike love this extremely eccentric musical, a daring mix of eye-blowing visuals, traditional Japanese music, hip-hop and Broadway musical styles.
Princess Raccoon screens as part of the Screen on the Green programme, at 8:00 pm on Wednesday, December 13 at the Dubai Media City amphitheatre, across the man-made lake from Building 2.
More somber reflection informs Still Life, a film by Jia Zhangke, one of the greatest contemporary Chinese directors, which won the Golden Lion award at the 2006 Venice film festival. The film was shot in Fengjie, the Chinese town that was partially submerged in the construction of the Three Gorges hydro project; countless families who had lived there for many generations were forced to relocate to other cities. Still Life follows two couples as their lives connect and diverge on the banks of the lake that will cover their former home.
Still Life will screen on Tuesday, December 12 at 3:45 pm, and on Friday, December 15 at 1:00 pm at the Madinat Theatre, Souk Madinat Jumeirah.
In The Host, a Korean film that has been a spectacular hit in Korea, the waters of Seoul’s Han River conceal a human-eating monster that spreads a deadly virus to boot! As the beast wreaks chaos and disorder on Seoul in a perfect flashback to the Godzilla movies of yore (but with excellent special effects), a family searches for their missing daughter.
The Host will screen on Monday, December 11 at 3:15 pm at the Madinat Theatre, Souk Madinat Jumeirah, and on Friday, December 15 at midnight at Mall of the Emirates Theatre 2.
Jueteng Kubrador (the Bet Collector) takes the viewer to the Philippines, where Amelita makes her living collecting the proceeds of the illegal—but widely played—numbers game, jueteng. She is played by the great Gina Pareño, who won a best actress award at the Osian Cinefan 8th film festival in Delhi for this role, and who with 40 years of show business and a much-publicized, turbulent private life behind her, gives her all to this role.
Director Jeffrey Jeturian, Executive Producer Josabeth Alonso-Antonio, and actress Gina Pareño will be in attendance when The Bet Collector screens:
9:45 pm on Monday, December 11
7:00 on Friday, December 15
8:30 pm on Saturday, December 16
Venue: Mall of the Emirates Theatre 9
Dubai: Movie fans have snapped up over 12,000 tickets so far since the Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) box office opened on November 30, organisers said.
"Our gala screenings like Babel and Kabul Express are almost sold out. We are happy to see that people are also going for ... art house films, documentaries and features made in the UAE," said Shivani Pandya, DIFF's Managing Director.
Most of the tickets still available are in the 'Screen on the Green' outdoor screening segment. The festival starts today and will go on till December 17.
Dubai: The Asian movies in the Dubai International Film Festival range from a spectacular hit from Korea about a human-eating monster that spreads a deadly virus to the social cost of a dam project in China.
"Asian cinema has been developing rapidly for more than 15 years, becoming increasingly well-known, with films like The Ring and Crouching Tiger... breaking the cultural barrier and attracting millions of viewers," said Simon Field, programmer of the Insights from Asia segment in the Festival which runs from December 10 to 17.
"We have selected a diverse array of pictures that represents the kind of creativity, vision and exuberance fans have come to expect from Asian cinema," he said.
Some of the films featured include Hana from acclaimed Japanese director Kore-eda Hirokazu. The director will be in attendance on December 12.
This story of a racoon that transforms into a beautiful woman and falls in love with a handsome prince, is told by Japanese director Seijun Suzuki, in an eccentric musical.
Jueteng Kubrador (The Bet Collector) takes the viewer to the Philippines, where Amelita makes her living collecting the proceeds of the illegal but widely played numbers game, jueteng.
Silver sponsors of the Festival are Gulf News, ArtWorks, E-Vision, Filmworks, MAC Cosmetics, Motivate Publishing, the Dubai Road and Transport Authority, Realmedia, Showtime, and Sony Professional Solutions M.E.
In 2004, Dubai joined the ranks of the world’s premier film festivals with the Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF). Using the powerful medium of film to serve as a platform for inter-cultural dialogue as well as an instrument of global understanding, the Dubai International Film Festival launched with its theme of ‘Bridging Cultures. Meeting Minds.’
Going into its third year, DIFF is held under the Honorary Chairmanship of His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum. DIFF is a not-for-profit cultural event, presented and organized by the Dubai Technology and Media Free Zone Authority.
Reflecting Dubai’s cosmopolitan and multi-cultural character, the festival showcases a wide selection of features, shorts and documentaries from around the world. The festival also celebrates excellence in Arab and world cinema by screening a repertoire of critically-acclaimed and award winning films.
As one of the world’s fastest growing business and tourist destinations, Dubai provides an ideal meeting point for industry friends and colleagues from around the globe. An array of panel discussions at the festival creates an exciting atmosphere for exchanging ideas among a group of progressive film industry professionals. Moreover, the networking initiatives hosted by DIFF provide participants and guests a favourable setting for conducting business.
In its previous years, the festival has attracted prominent industry figures, including filmmakers and talent from as many as 46 different countries. Several past DIFF guests are currently scouting locations in Dubai for their new film projects.
DIFF 2005
In 2005 it became clear that the popularity of the festival had grown dramatically. Registration figures nearly doubled, with an audience growth up from approximately 18,000 in 2004 to over 30,000 in 2005. In that year the festival showcased 98 films from 46 different countries, which included 22 Gulf premieres, 38 Middle East premieres, 7 International premieres and 6 World premieres.
With the world's film industry zooming in on the emirate later this year, organisers of the Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) have upped the stakes in celebration of the very best of Arab cinema.
The annual event, now in its third year, will award around Dh1.2 million in prize money to recognise Arab and UAE filmmakers and support the film industry in the region.
The new Muhr Awards for Excellence in Arab Cinema were unveiled at a press conference at the Dubai Press Club yesterday.
Exciting
Speaking at the event, Abdulhamid Al Juma, deputy director general of TECOM (Dubai Technology and Media Free Zone Authority), described it as an "exciting new development" and said: "The competition aims to provide an environment and opportunity for Arab filmmakers worldwide to showcase their work and receive recognition for outstanding achievements. It will also help us increase understanding and spread awareness of the Arab culture and way of life to a wide audience through the effective medium of film."
Al Juma added the reason for introducing cash prizes was to encourage excellence in filmmaking in the Arab world.
Spririt
Named "Muhr" — meaning young horse in Arabic and signifying nobility and spirit — the awards will honour the work of Arab filmmakers in feature, documentary and short film categories.
It will also celebrate UAE filmmakers for best script in the short film category and recognise the UAE's "most promising filmmaker" of 2006.
Among the criteria for the competition is that the directors must be of Arab nationality or origin and the subject and storyline of the film must be centred around the Arab world, history or culture.
Competition entries will be judged by a panel of experts from the filmmaking industry.
Neil Stephenson, CEO of the festival, said that from the outset DIFF has tried "to build a unique and cultural bridge through the medium of film".
He said: "We intend to use DIFF as a forum and a vehicle to promote understanding through serious dialogue."
Expanding on the event as a whole, he added: "DIFF is very much an international film festival and as always we will be showing films from around the world."
Cash prizes
The Muhr Awards will offer the following prizes:
Feature films
GOLD: $50,000 (Dh183,600)
SILVER: $40,000 (Dh146,900)
BRONZE: $30,000 (Dh110,200)
Documentaries
GOLD: $40,000 (Dh146,900)
SILVER: $30,000 (Dh110,200)
BRONZE: $20,000 (Dh73,450)
Short film
GOLD: $30,000 (Dh110,200)
SILVER: $20,000 (Dh73,450)
BRONZE: $10,000 (Dh36,700)
Best script for a short film by a UAE filmmaker
GOLD: Dh50,000
SILVER: Dh40,000
BRONZE: Dh30,000
Most promising UAE filmmaker
Dh30,000
On the red carpet
Previous editions of the Dubai Film Festival have attracted the likes of:
Orlando Bloom
Sarah Michelle Geller
Morgan Freeman
Laurence Fishbourne
Archbishop Desmond Tutu
Sir Bob Geldof
A tool for understanding
The Dubai International Film Festival's theme has always been Bridging Cultures, Meeting Minds — but organisers said this year it was more important than ever for the message to be spread widely.
Stephenson said recent events — notably the war involving Lebanon and Israel — showed the need for better relations between people of different backgrounds.
"Between Arab and non-Arab, Muslim and non-Muslim, I believe a cultural bridge is more relevant than ever.
"We intend to use DIFF to promote understanding between people and give voice to cultural tolerance," he said.
Abdulhamid Al Juma, Deputy Director General of Tecom, said he hoped some films dealing with events in Lebanon could be shown at the festival.
"DIFF is part of the Dubai government and the UAE has contributed support for the Lebanese people.
"We would like to focus on the role of cinema in events by opening the floor for any film that shows the devastation and the lethal effects of the war on the people — not just the people of Lebanon, but throughout the world," he said.
Dubai, Dec 10: Dubai`s third International Film Festival will get under way Sunday with organisers promising a star-studded launch to the week-long event featuring 115 movies from 47 countries.
This year`s festival, running from December 10 to 17, will also introduce a competition for Arab narrative features, documentaries and short films.
Indian stars will include Shah Rukh Khan, and Egyptian veterans Mahmud Abdul Aziz, Salah al-Saadani and Laila Elwi will be among the Arab actors showing up for the event.
The Muhr Awards for the winners among 30 Arab entries will total 325,000 dollars.
Joshua Jackson and Laurence Fishburne, whose film "Bobby" will start off the festival, are among celebrities due at a red-carpet opening, organizers said.
The lineup of participants also includes Oliver Stone, who will be honoured by organizers and screen his "World Trade Center," and Barrie Osborne, producer of "Lord Of The Rings."
Mohammed Redha, a Lebanese movie critic who serves as adviser for the festival, said the launching of the event two years ago was meant to introduce a cultural dimension to the growth of Dubai, a booming regional business and tourism hub.
"The Dubai Festival cannot replace longstanding festivals such as the Cannes, Berlin or Venice festivals. But it can run in parallel with them ... And it might eventually claim fourth or fifth place," he said.
High-profile guests at the event will include Prince Albert II of Monaco.
A certain media company in the UAE just took everyones passport today. Pretty much a case of hand it over or lose your job.
Ahh the fun things these people get away with in sandland.
The labor law section on the ministry of labor website does not have one reference to the word "passport" on it. Go see for yourself
Then they wonder why the outsiders think that the middle east is backward.
Hopefully there are enough smart Emaratis around who will stand up and stop their compatriots from making their nation look bad.
Gere will participate in a seminar, "Operation Cultural Bridge", Dec 15 along with some top actors and directors, reports Sheeraz Hasan, founder of hollywood.tv.com.
They will discuss many issues such as violence in the media and the responsibility of the artist. They are also expected to touch upon the issue of dialogue among civilizations and reconciliation between enemies.
With a star-studded launch, the week-long event will showcase 115 movies from 47 countries.
Besides Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan, Egyptian veterans Mahmud Abdul Aziz, Salah al-Saadani and Laila Elwi will be among the Arab actors showing up.
The line up also includes Oliver Stone, who will be honored by organisers and whose "World Trade Center" will be screened, and Barrie Osborne, producer of "Lord Of The Rings." A key guest will include Prince Albert II of Monaco.
This year’s red carpet at the third Dubai International Film Festival is all set to sizzle with the hottest, brightest stars of Bollywood along with a diverse selection of movies from the Indian subcontinent. Dubai International Film Festival will be held from10-17th December, 2006.
The Festival will screen acclaimed director Mira Nair’s new film The Namesake, a film on the emotional aftermath of an interracial relationship suffered by non resident Indians in the United States. The festival also sees the gala premiere of Kabir Khan’s Kabul Express set in the weeks after 11 September, 2001, when journalists swept down to Afghanistan to witness the impending war and the unruly situation in the terrain.
Shivani Pandya, DIFF’s Managing Director, said, “The Dubai and the GCC are fast becoming an important market for Indian cinema, contributing massively to their box office revenues. The festival hopes to assist in the growth of this market and with the support of the Indian industry and Indian talent we feel we have a winning formula.”
The quintessential Indian actor and celebrity, Shah Rukh Khan, will be a guest of honour at DIFF this year, and will receive a DIFF Salutes trophy for his lifelong contribution to cinema during a special presentation entitled A Conversation with Shah Rukh Khan at the Madinat Theatre conducted by renowned TV news anchor Riz Khan.
Glamourous actresses boosting the star power on opening night will include Kangana Ranaut, the sensational Reddy sisters, Sameera and Sushma and the talented Ayesha Dharker sharing red carpet with the likes of Diane Kruger (Helen in Troy), Ivana Milicevic (Casino Royale), Maria Grazia Cuccinota (All the Invisible Children) and Joy Bryant (Bobby).Heartthrob and former model John Abraham, Arshad Warsi and Irfan Khan, will grace DIFF with international names such as Oliver Stone, Richard Gere, Moss Deff, Barry Osbourne, Joshua Jackson, Lawrence Fishburne and Kal Penn.
Screen legend Dev Anand, the cinema colossus with over 110 motion pictures to his credit, will lend his considerable weight to DIFF’s proceedings this year, as will Mohan Lal, representing the South.
DIFF runs an annual programming segment called Cinema of the Subcontinent, with the latest in cutting-edge, non-commercial offerings from India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Pakistan.
Representing diversity of sub-continent cinema and encapsulating the art and spirit of the region will be The Bong Connection by Anjan Dutt, Rajnash Domalpalli’s Vanaja, Nagesh Kukonnor’s DOR, John Jeffcoat’s Outsourced and Mani Ratnam’s Iruvar along with Ontarjatra by Tareque Masud (Bangladesh), Shah Rukh Khan Ki Maut by Mohammed Ehteshamuddin and Shame from director Mohammed Naqvi (Pakistan).
Vanaja- This Telugu-language film set in Coastal Andhra Pradesh revolves around 14 year old Vanaja, a feisty servant to landlady-danseuse Rama Devi who teaches her the Kuchipudi dance form. Rama Devi’s son Shekhar returns from America and pursues Vanaja, with explosive results.
The Bong Connection- Shot in Kolkatta and Houston, the film follows two young men’s search for personal goals in a country other than their own. Their respective stories run parallel, never merging yet colliding and finally find their true place of belonging, wiser and more mature.
Ontarjatra- literally meaning “inner journey”, is an intimate exploration of complex issues of dislocation and identity. The story follows the transforming experience of a mother and son trying to overcome their loss in a new land. Amidst the colour and chaos of old Dhaka, the pair reach a deeper level of mutual understanding.
Outsourced- this American Indian independent romantic comedy focuses on the manager of a call centre dispatched to Indian train his own replacement. The chaos of Mumbai assaults his senses and his new office is paralysed by cultural misunderstandings.
Shah Rukh Khan Ki Maut- an impoverished Pakistani boy, a die hard fan of the Indian star, is nicknamed after his idol. The film explores the impact of Bollywood in Pakistan and touches upon the lives of the faceless under age millions who are part of its urban landscape.
Shame- in 2002, in a remote village in Pakistan, 30 year old Mukhtaran Mai’s life changed forever when the tribal council sanctioned a punishment against her for a crime allegedly committed by her younger brother. Following the custom of “honour for honour” Mai was gang raped and then publicly paraded as an example. This outstanding documentary presents the astonishing spirit, resilience and self belief that sustained Mai through her fight for justice.
Further information can be found on the festival website at www.dubaifilmfest.com. DIFF 2006 runs from December 10 to 17.
The film that awaited those who sashayed down the red carpet was Emilio Estevez' "Bobby," which chronicles the tragic end of Robert Kennedy's 1968 presidential campaign.
Laurence Fishburne, who is a member of the film's stellar cast, was among the celebrities who turned up for the opener, as was Oliver Stone, whose "World Trade Center" is being screened as part of a salute to the American director. Egyptian stars Mahmoud Abdul-Aziz, Salah al-Saadani and Leila Alawi and several Bollywood celebrities were also on hand, resplendent.
If anything, the opening night was rather more glamorous than it had been in past years, and a minor-key controversy ignited when accredited journalists turning up to cover the event found themselves frozen out. Even respectably dressed ticket-holders were denied entry because they, like their counterparts in the press corps, hadn't been informed the event was a formal, black-tie affair.
"Bobby" marks a bit of a change from the opening film of DIFF 2005, "Paradise Now." Hany Abu Assad's story about a pair of Palestinian suicide bombers had been thought an odd choice then because of its controversial content, though all agreed having an Arab film open the DIFF was appropriate.
This year, many registered similar confusion about "Bobby," though some organizers argue the film is equally engaged since it harkens back to a time when US foreign policy was aggressive but optimistic, unlike today.
The "Arabian Nights" gala on Monday night featured the world premiere of "Justified Cheating" by Egyptian director Khaled Youssef. A murder mystery in the vein of "Rashomon," this multi-faceted tale follows several different readings of why a young bourgeois Egyptian murders his brother and wife after finding them in bed together.
That the screening went ahead on schedule was a fine bit of organizational sleight-of-hand. The press screening and news conference two days earlier had been canceled, apparently because the film print arrived from Egypt without subtitles - a blunder for an upwardly mobile international festival like DIFF.
There have been a few other minor glitches this year, which may be a reflection of changes made to the festival's organization and program - all of which amount to a mean expansion.
The core of DIFF's roster of 115 movies from 47 countries continues to reside in a bushel of noncompetitive sections - "Arabian Nights" (which has absorbed part of the former "Arabian Shorts" and "New to Dubai" sections, the latter of which was devoted to first-time features), "Cafe Europe," "Cinema from the Subcontinent" (meaning India), "Contemporary World Cinema," "Destination Documentary," "Emerging Emiratis," "In Honor of Africa," "Insights from Asia" and "Operation Cultural Bridge" - a multi-genre, cultural-dialogue-themed section and something of a personal initiative on the part of DIFF director Neil Stephenson.
DIFF 2006 has added two more noncompetitive sections, "Cinema for Children," put together by Lebanese-German filmmaker Myrna Maakaron, and "Mosaic," a late addition that groups politically engaged shorts from within and outside the region.
The big news for 2006, of course, is the Muhr Awards for Excellence in Arab Cinema, a three-part competition for Arabic-language "narrative features," documentaries and short films - all overseen by Lebanese film critic Mohammed Redha, the director of the competition.
"The competition is something we've wanted to do since the beginning and this year we decided to go for it," Stephenson said Monday evening. "And we knew we'd start with an Arabic-language competition. That, along with the 'Cultural Bridge,' is what we're all about."
Dubai film culture is still in its infancy, of course. "Emerging Emiratis," for example, consists of just six shorts. Skeptics might question the value of a prize from this fast-growing instant city.
DIFF's intentions seem honorable, however, and organizers have assembled a respected team of 10 international cineastes to judge the competitions. Their number includes Tunisian producer-director Ridha Behi, Moroccan directors Ismael Ferroukhi and Mohamed Asli, Lebanese director-producer-critic Mohamed Soueid and Egyptian film star Leila Alawi.
Another reason for Arab filmmakers to take the Muhr Awards seriously, of course, is the festival's solvency. DIFF intends to award $325,000 in prize money this year, and the winner for best film will walk away with $50,000.
"$50,000," one Palestinian filmmaker remarked. "That's more than a lot of film budgets."
Finally, DIFF has added a number of film-industry panels and roundtables this year, featuring celebrities and veterans of the regional and international cinema. Along with the highly successful Qubba Lounge - complementary happy hours where directors, producers and journalists can mix and exchange contacts in an informal setting - these panels provide a soft infrastructure in preparation for DIFF's plans for an eventual cinemart.
"Justified Cheating" is the only world premiere this year and it's hardly a surprise. DIFF is a thee-year-old, end-of-the-year festival and for filmmakers to forego premiering at the more established, early- and mid-season festivals, it will need to acquire a stature that only years and a proven track record can provide.
That aside, there is no shortage of seeable films at DIFF 2006, many that are new to the Gulf and the wider Middle East. This is true of all the gala screenings - though Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu's "Babel," labeled a "Middle East premiere" in the program, might be regarded as a bit of cheek, since it screened at the Marrakech International Film Festival last week.
Most significant for Gulf cinema-goers, perhaps, is the opportunity to be exposed to quality Arab-language cinema which - given the distribution prejudices and eccentricities in the region - remains a scandalous rarity.
In this, the Muhr Awards will play a significant role. The competition features include work from Morocco - Faouzi Bensaidi's "WWW: What a Wonderful World," which made its mark at both the Venice and Marrakech film festivals - to Bahrain - "A Bahraini Tale," from veteran filmmaker Bassam al-Thawwadi.
Between these two geographical extremes is a range of cinematic sensibilities, from the fantastical - Moroccan director Hakim Belabbes' "Why Oh Sea?" - to historical drama - Franco-Algerian director Rachid Boucharib's much-vaunted "Indigenes" - to melodrama - Salma Baccar's "Flower of Oblivion."
The competition includes sweet romantic comedy - "Falafel," by Lebanon's Michel Kammoun - and sexually explicit violence - Jilani Saadi's "Tenderness of the Wolf." It varies from films embedded in their local environment - "Barakat!" by Algeria's Djamila Sahraoui and "Cut and Paste" by Egypt's Hala Khalil (of "The Best of Times" fame) - to films that explore universal cinematic themes, such as "The Last Man," by Lebanon's Ghassan Salhab.
It will be interesting indeed to see which variation on a theme of cinematic vision DIFF's judges will choose to reward. Their choice will do much to stamp an identity on this shiny new festival.
The Dubai International Film Festival runs through December 17
Six films that screened at this year’s Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) have been nominated for the prestigious Golden Globes awards, placing them in the running for the Academy Awards in March.
Babel, which will close the festival, won the most nominations, with a total of seven: Best Motion Picture, Best Director for Alejandro González Iñárritu, Best Screenplay for writer Guillermo Arriaga, Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role for Brad Pitt, Best Original Score for composer Gustavo Santaolalla, and two nods for Best Actress in a Supporting Role, for Adriana Barraza and Rinko Kikuchi.
Bobby and Happy Feet followed Babel, with two nods each: Emilio Estevez’s film on the aftermath of Robert Kennedy’s assassination was nominated for Best Motion Picture and Best Song; the children’s animated penguin film was also recognized for Best Song, and is in the running for Best Animated Feature Film.
Pedro Almodovar’s Volver, which screened in DIFF’s Screen on the Green programming segment, was nominated for Best Performance for Penelope Cruz, and Forest Whitaker was nominated Best Actor for his role as Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in The Last King of Scotland.
Ben Affleck was nominated in the category of Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role for Hollywoodland, which investigates the suspicious death of 1950’s TV Superman George Reeves.
'Hi , I'm Naushad from India." "Hi, I'm Harris from Paris."
"Nice to meet you, Harris from Paris."
The New Best Friends, here in this new New York rising up from the Persian Gulf, clink glasses and beam at one another like modern pharaohs. Like me, both, are in the depths of total un-despair on a beach in almost-anything-goes Dubai. On a beach that's lit like a Cirque du Soleil show, done up like one of Malcolm Forbes' old bashes and currently awash in a scene of swarthy black-tie with a few dozen, white-robed Sheiks adding a nice bit of accent, indeed.
Life in the 21st-century United Arab Emirates floats, not drags. The crowd has just come from the opening night of the Dubai International Film Festival, where the film Bobby -- that one about yet another crusading and cursed Kennedy -- took its course. In this the Arab world, the fascination with America's first family is no less than anywhere else, and adding to the Kennedy pixie-dust here is the arrival of not an actual Kennedy, but a Grimaldi!
Prince Albert of Monaco was, you see, by to walk the red carpet.
"The gardener was there too! From Desperate Housewives."
So a woman in a Chanel number jogs my memory at the party -- the woman in the Chanel number being much less interested than actual royalty than in the hired help.
Actually, as I later digest, this is probably the world's first red carpet that brought out not only a Desperate Housewives hunk and the crown head behind the not-so-desperate-but House of Grimaldi-- two soap operas meeting in the night -- but also a member of the film dynasty marked Matrix ( Laurence Fishburne, one of the stars in Bobby).
Rounding things out, even more significantly perhaps, was the presence there of Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, a key and au courant member of Dubai's own ruling clan. (The "coolest sheik that ever was", according to an recent article in Vanity Fair!)
This being the City of Now, where a building seems to go up every few days and a champagne river runs through it, money is no option, and neither is the buffet. Rarely have I seen the range and extent of the food here, a culinary- ganza that extends across a party space that is several football stadiums in length and is, in addition, like the coolest, hautest Food Court you'll ever seen.
"Have you tried the Mongolian beef ?" oohs a fellow journo at some point.
No, we haven't, but we're so there. All of the food stations, I too note, are minded by an entire platoon of military-precise servers, all of whom don the kind of ingenious tees I've never seen before encountered at a party.
"Sushi," reads one guy at the Japanese corner. "Indian," reads another. "Kebab," claims yet another.
Been there, done that, ate the T-shirt? You betcha.
What's clear is that this is no ordinary film festival. Three years old and resource-rich, this annual event is yet one more example of a place that has everything going for it but still aches to brand itself as a cultural, and not just financial, hot spot. No better way to re-position the city-as-brand than with a filmfest, n'est-ce pas? Clearly, for a week that would eventually bring out everyone from American Gigolo Richard Gere to Indian mega-star Shahrukh Khan, it's working.
Certainly Joshua Jackson, the Canadian actor, and his girlfriend of late, Diane, Helen of Troy? Kruger seem to be enjoying themselves just fine on opening night. "It's wild," he enthuses when I chat with him underneath a skyline that is several light millennia away from Dawson's Creek.
Josh and Diane, who make a beautiful pair, do the Middle East canoodle as they idle in the VIP, and it's a PDA to behold. The next day, the couple would even go skiing in the Persian Gulf. In that infamous 80-metre indoor ski slope in the enormous Mall of the Emirates, the so-called "world's first shopping resort."
Skiing, shopping, cinema and everything else underneath the desert sun? To paraphrase Nike, it's a scene that seems to shriek this: Just Dubai It!