Abu Dhabi Film Festival

Festival de Cannes Presents Awards

ephram — Mon, 28 May 2012 18:45:58 +0000

28.05.2012 - The Festival de Cannes announced its award winners on Sunday evening. The jury of the Official Competition, headed by celebrated Italian director Nanni Moretti, included actresses Hiam Abbass, Emmanuelle Devos and Diane Kruger; actor Ewan McGregor; directors Andrea Arnold, Alexander Payne and Raoul Peck; and fashion designer Jean-Paul Gaultier.

Isabella Rossellini Heads Narrative Competition Jury

ephram — Mon, 21 May 2012 11:47:06 +0000

21.05.2012 - The Abu Dhabi Film Festival is thrilled and honoured to announce that director, actress, author, model and philanthropist Isabella Rossellini will be the President of the Festival’s Narrative Competition Jury for the 2012 edition.

ADFF to Collaborate with New York’s MoMA on Mahfouz Retrospective

ephram — Mon, 07 May 2012 07:06:35 +0000

07.05.2012 - The Abu Dhabi Film Festival’s efforts to champion the legacy of a great Arab author continue overseas this month when ADFF joins forces with New York’s Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) to present a retrospective of films based on the work of Nobel Prize-winning Egyptian writer Naguib Mahfouz.

Cannes Film Festival Announces 2012 Lineup

ephram — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 06:57:42 +0000

22.04.2012 - The Cannes Film Festival (Festival de Cannes) announced its 2012 line-up on Thursday. New works by Michael Haneke, Abbas Kiarostami, Jacques Audiard and David Cronenberg are among the competition titles that have set the film world buzzing, while world premieres of big-ticket films starring Brad Pitt, Nicole Kidman and Bruce Willis promise to light up the festival’s red carpets next month.

ADFF and Masdar Celebrate Earth Day

ephram — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 07:03:24 +0000

18.04.2012 - The Abu Dhabi Film Festival (ADFF) and renewable energy company Masdar join efforts once again to celebrate Earth Day with a special screening of The City Dark. This exciting addition to the Festival’s year round programming takes place at VOX Cinemas Marina Mall, Abu Dhabi on Monday, April 23 at 7pm.

ADFF 2011 Films to Screen at Tribeca Film Festival

ephram — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 12:07:02 +0000

11.04.2012 - Four ADFF films, including a top award winner and a multiple award-winning SANAD title, are slated to screen at New York City’s Tribeca Film Festival this month.

ADFF Alumni Films Continue Winning Ways at Fribourg

ephram — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 07:50:49 +0000

10.04.2012 - Two 2011 ADFF award winning films picked up further accolades at the Fribourg International Film Festival (FIFF) in Switzerland. Stories Only Exist When Remembered, Brazilian director Julia Murat’s naturalistic slice of life among senior citizens in a remote village, won four awards at FIFF’s 27th edition, including the lucrative Talent Tape Award; while Egyptian indie drama Asma’a, directed by Amr Salama, won the Audience Award. Both films won prizes in ADFF’s New Horizons competition last October.

The Emirates Korean Film Festival Opens with a Strong Lineup

ephram — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 09:44:34 +0000

04.04.2012 - The Emirates Korean Film Festival’s second year program features a remarkably rich lineup of recent Korean films. Seven feature films make up the slate, providing an opportunity for the UAE’s film audience to experience some of South Korea’s dynamic film culture between April 5 and 8.

Three ADFF Films Awarded at Tétouan’s Leading Mediterranean Film Festival

ephram — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 06:47:00 +0000

04.04.2012 - Three films that were screened at the Abu Dhabi Film Festival last October were honored at this year’s Tétouan International Mediterranean Film Festival, held in Morocco March 24-31.

Zayed University’s Middle East Film Festival

ephram — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 08:17:46 +0000

For Students by Students: Zayed University’s Middle East Film Festival ZUMEFF turns 3.

Newly Launched Indian Film Society UAE Announces Three-Day Indian Film Festival to Be Held in Abu Dhabi

ephram — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 07:01:37 +0000

03.05.2012 - The Indian Film Society of the United Arab Emirates (IFSUAE) announced last week that it will hold an inaugural Indian Film Festival in Abu Dhabi from April 19 to 21. The three-day event, supported by the Cultural Wing of the Embassy of India, Abu Dhabi, will include screenings of four independent Indian features. The festival will hold its screenings, along with a slate of other activities, at the Indian Embassy Auditorium.

Journeys in Film History

ephram — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 09:20:35 +0000

Journeys in Film History takes an innovative approach to introducing audiences to film history by examining stories that involve the common element of an actual, potential, or prevented journey.

Ireland on Screen UAE

ephram — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 10:36:20 +0000

22.03.2012 - A program of screenings of Irish feature-length and short films will take place at venues in Abu Dhabi, Al Ain, and Dubai between March 26 and April 4, with the support of the Irish Embassy. The aims of the program are to provide local audiences with a sample taste of the world of Irish cinema and to raise cultural awareness and appreciation in the United Arab Emirates for Irish and Irish-related film and cinema.

DOX BOX Wins 2012 EDN Award

ephram — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 11:12:02 +0000

19.03.2012 - Last Friday, the team behind Syria’s DOX BOX documentary film festival was named the 2012 winner of the European Documentary Network’s EDN Award. The award was given to DOX BOX co-founders Diana El Jeiroudi and Orwa Nyrabia a day after the recent DOX BOX Global Day, an event in which the festival collaborated with film organizations to screen Syrian documentaries in 38 cities around the world.

Movie Stars on Naguib Mahfouz’s Ship

ephram — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 10:28:15 +0000

19.03.2012 - A single paragraph by Naguib Mahfouz, or sometimes even a short sentence, can illuminate within the actor the internal world of the character he is about to play, and the psychological dimensions of the human specimen that he will depict.

Filmmakers on the go: Portraits from the UAE

ephram — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 07:19:37 +0000

19.03.2012 - In February, the German Embassy in Abu Dhabi, in cooperation with the Abu Dhabi Film Commission and the Goethe-Institut Gulf Region, organized a special visit program for eleven young filmmakers based in the UAE.

Filmmakers on the go: Rola Shamas

ephram — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 10:06:54 +0000

The most important meeting was with someone who was interested in my animation project and has been following up with me since we met!

Filmmakers on the go: Reem Al Falahi

ephram — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 09:46:10 +0000

I’m planning to visit the Berlin Film Festival in the coming years and maybe one day I will submit my work to the festival. However, I need a little time to work on myself and develop my skills.

Filmmakers on the go: Nizar Sfair

ephram — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 09:37:32 +0000

There is one random encounter that I would not forget: Lucca, a pantomime artist that Rola Shamas and I met on the street - a proud artist, performing in the cold, with a carton board that reads: “I live through my art.” This incident touched me on many levels. It became the substance of the film I shot there*. Unlike in our region, artists don’t surrender to society. They are the heritage of their culture and believe in their art until their last breath. Perhaps because they witnessed that throughout their history, there is always hope in their creation.

Filmmakers on the go: Mohammed Mamdouh

ephram — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 09:32:16 +0000

Always be self-critical – this is what I picked up at the Berlinale from the filmmakers and their selected films. Some filmmakers were not afraid to poke fun at themselves, which isn't so common in our region, and others found new and innovative ways to express their vision in fiction films in a unique way like the Macedonian film The Woman Who Brushed Оff Her Tears.

Filmmakers on the go: Manal Wicki

ephram — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 08:35:03 +0000

We were a very dynamic and fun group. It was such a great place to connect and bond. I feel have made some lovely friends. I hope to work with some of the people I met in Berlin during my next projects.

Filmmakers on the go: Hind Al Hammadi

ephram — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 08:04:26 +0000

From visiting the Berlinale, I quite liked that the festival is very open for the public; people are very involved in all parts of it. What really grabbed my attention is the involvement of many politicians in the film scene in Germany.

Filmmakers on the go: Hana Makki

ephram — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 07:59:16 +0000

I was overjoyed to watch The Last Friday by Yahya Alabdallah, great story and great filmmaker, and I was honored that he came to see the screenings of our films in Berlin. For me one of the highlights was getting to know his producer Rula Nasser. She is truly a great producer and one that I have learned a lot from.

Filmmakers on the go: Amal Al-Agroobi

ephram — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 07:53:08 +0000

The event that I remember the most from the program in Berlin is the laptop wedding. We were allowed to spend as much time as we wanted on each table listening to different people speak. That was valuable to me because not only did I get to speak about who I was, but hear about everyone else as well, watching their videos and hearing their presentations.

Filmmakers on the go: Adel Al Jabri

ephram — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 07:41:25 +0000

I mostly enjoyed our encounters with the people from the Berlinale Talent Campus. I love the fact that the Talent Campus exists and I think is a great part of the Berlinale. Hopefully one day I'll deserve to participate (fingers crossed).