Dubai International Film Festival

Guest Post: My Peek Under the Niqab - A Muslim Filmmaker’s Journey Breaking Her Own Stereotypes

Faiza Ambah — Wed, 30 Mar 2016 14:00:00 GMT

In 2009, I quit my job as Gulf Correspondent for The Washington Post and decided to pursue filmmaking full-time. I had become a journalist to tell realistic stories about the Arab world, having endured years of media sound bites demonizing my culture. Though film was no better, it liberated me from editorial constraints.

I was raised by an idealist feminist father and a fearless free-spirited Sufi Muslim mother. I knew first-hand that Arab stories were deeper and richer than the images in news and films. So I became a filmmaker to put a human face to the political story.

My first film, "Mariam," tells the story of a French-Muslim teenager who wears the hijab headscarf and is forced to choose between her hijab and school when France passes a law banning religious symbols from public schools, as it did in 2004. The idea was sparked during a trip to France in 2011, when the law banning the full face veil, the niqab, was being implemented. I had just come from Saudi Arabia, where women are obliged to wear the hijab headscarf, even if they don't believe in it, which is the case for me. I felt a kinship for these women in France who also did not have the freedom to dress as they believed.

But I also understood the revulsion to the niqab. I know that most people perceive women who wear the niqab as backwards and oppressed and lacking intelligence and backbone. I know because that is how I perceived women who wore the niqab. Despite being familiar with the sight of women in niqab all my life, I had very low regard for them.

I didn't see a woman wearing the niqab -- I saw an entity that couldn't think for itself, a pushover who couldn't stand up to a father or husband, someone too uneducated to fight for her rights and who couldn't see how ridiculous she looked with her face covered, only her eyes peering out. Every time I saw women in the niqab I instinctively shrank into myself, resenting their weakness. It made me feel weak and backwards by association. We were both women, we were both Saudi, and we were both Muslim.

But a few years before coming to France, during my research for an article on the ban on women driving in Saudi Arabia, I found a petition by a group of women supporting the ban. I was intrigued, so I set out to write an article on these conservative women. The dozen or so who agreed to meet me all wore the niqab.

Under their niqabs I discovered a wide range of women -- sultry divorcees afraid of their own desires, activists fighting for the rights of divorced mothers and accomplished professionals including dentists, university professors and award-winning scientists. Talking to them, I realized that I was as guilty as everyone else in bundling a group of people together and thinking I knew who they were, when I did not know them at all.

Still, I do not believe that all women who wear the niqab in Saudi Arabia are as steadfast in their convictions about it as the women I interviewed. I'm sure many are pressured to wear it. But in my brief peek under the face veil, I saw a human, a face, an individual, and I would not be able to view women who wore the niqab in the same way again. That's why when I saw these women who wore the niqab in France surrounded by policemen, harassed by onlookers, forced screaming into police vans, taken into custody and made to take off their face veils, they were no longer just a weak-minded monolithic mass to me; they were individuals fighting for something I did not believe in, but that they did.

With "Mariam" I provide that opportunity to audiences -- the chance to take a peek into the life of a teenager they might otherwise judge. And that is what draws me to film: its power to shine a light on the individual underneath the religion, the skin color and the headscarf.

"Mariam" is now available on iTunes and available for educational and community screenings. Visit http://mariamthemovie.com to learn how you can bring Mariam to your community.

Faiza Ambah is a former journalist turned filmmaker from Saudi Arabia. Her first film "Mariam" screened worldwide and won the Special Jury Prize at the Dubai International Film Festival in 2015. She will start a blog at The Huffington Post in April.

Mohamed Khan's 'Before the Summer Crowds' to World Premiere at DIFF

Sydney Levine — Wed, 25 Nov 2015 21:07:51 GMT

The Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) has revealed the selection of director Mohamed Khan's film "Before the Summer Crowds" to compete in the Muhr Feature Competition at the 12^thedition of the festival (December 9 - 16). The new film will land its world premiere at DIFF which also hosted the world premiere of Khan's previous award-winning film, "Factory Girl," in 2013.

"Before the Summer Crowds" stars Maged El Kedwany, Hana Shiha, Ahmed Dawood, LanaMushtaq and Hany El Metennawy. Set in a seaside resort, the film tracks a group of people who meet each other by the beginning of summer season. The film was produced by Middle West Films, Film Clinic, The Producers, Wika Production and Distribution and MAD Solutions, which will be in charge of the international distribution of the film.

Khan is one of Egypt's most acclaimed directors whose films have earned the audiences' admiration throughout the years. Since 1979, Khan has directed 26 films winning 25 awards in international and local film festivals.

DIFF is one of the most important film festivals in the Arab world. In its 12^th edition this year,DIFF will showcase over 120 features, shorts films and documentaries from around the world and will include several world premieres. Every year DIFF presents new and exciting cinema from the Arab world and beyond, introducing audiences to fresh new talent and original and distinctive filmmaking.

Khan 's previous film, "Factory Girl," won the FIPRESCI award at Dubai International Film Festival 2013, and the film's star, Yasmin Raeis, received the Best Actress Award. The film scored the total of 17 awards from several film festivals."Factory Girl" also represented Egypt in Best Foreign Language Film category at the 87th Academy Awards.

Take a look at the film's official poster below:

New North African Feature Film Projects Make Up 2015 Dubai Film Connection Shortlist

Tambay A. Obenson — Tue, 17 Nov 2015 20:00:23 GMT

Twelve film projects will be brought to this year’s Dubai Film Connection (DFC), the notable co-production market at the Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF), with a hope of securing crucial funding and beneficial partnerships within the film industry. DFC provides a platform for emerging filmmakers of Arab descent (mostly North African and the Middle East in this case) to acquire over $80,000 in award money and build networks with experts from across the industry to help bring their scripts to the screen. A hub for collaboration and development, DFC is part of the Dubai Film Market at DIFF, which represents the Festival’s commitment to supporting the Arab film industry and providing a global platform for talent from the region.

With an impressive and highly coveted spread of awards to be won, the projects vying to secure support at this year’s Dubai Film Connection are:

• The Bridge – Hala Lotfy, Egypt
• A Step Behind the Sun – Narjiss Nejjar, Morocco
• Amal – Mohamed Siam, Egypt
• Pagan Magic – Fyzal Boulifa, Morocco
• Weight Throwers – Hind Bensari, Morocco
• Daoud’s Winter – Koutaiba Al-Janabi, Iraq
• Ibrahim – Lina Alabed, Jordan
• My Favourite Fabric – Gayaneh Jiji, Syria
• Papion on Top of the Water Tank – Yahya Alabdallah, Jordan
• The Inheritor – Halim Sabbagh, Lebanon
• The Maiden’s Pond – Bassem Breish, Lebanon
• Wajib – Annemarie Jacir, Palestine

Since its inception in 2007, the DFC has achieved incredible success in showcasing qualified film projects, with more than 40 films being completed and going on to achieve acclaim around the world.

The awards from supporting institutions that make this all possible as part of Dubai Film Connection include: $10,000 Cinescape/Front Row Award; $10,000 Empire Award; $15,000 Fortress Film Clinic Award; $10,000 Sanad Film Fund Abu Dhabi Award; $10,000 from the ART Award; and $25,000 from the Dubai International Film Festival.

In addition to the cash prizes, the DFC will also select five of its participating Arab producers to receive complimentary accreditation to the Producers Network at the Cannes Film Festival, a high-profile networking series featuring producers from around the world.

The filmmakers and their projects employ a multitude of encapsulating themes and diverse filmmaking techniques to portray evocative and gripping stories from the region. Shivani Pandya, DIFF’s Managing Director, commented on the growing platform for DFC within the region: “DIFF is proud to work alongside a plethora of new and exciting partners in support of the DFC, and Dubai Film Market overall... With no shortage of opportunities for the Arab community to have their work rewarded on this stellar platform, DIFF recognises the contribution of partners and hopes that they can continue to work in partnership to support the communities and the individuals within the industry.”

Jane Williams, Director – Film Connection, added: “The Dubai Film Connection plays a pivotal role in helping regional filmmakers realize their potential and receive recognition on the world stage. The great industry support and networking opportunities that it offers creates a stimulating environment that exposes regional filmmakers to lucrative business and funding opportunities which help them to transcend limitations and affirm the position of Arab filmmakers on the international stage.”

Lebanon Selects Women-Centered 'Void' as Oscar Submission

Carlos Aguilar — Sun, 20 Sep 2015 23:54:07 GMT

The Lebanese Culture Ministry has selected the film "Void" (وينن) as the nation's Oscar entry in the Best Foreign Language Film category at the 88th Academy Awards.

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Written by Georges Khabbaz, who also wrote and directed, "Ghadi," the country's last submission, "Void" was directed by seven young graduates from the Notre Dame University – Louaize: Naji Bechara, Jad Beyrouthy, Zeina Makki, Tarek Korkomaz, Christelle Ighniades, Maria Abdel Karim and Salim Habr.

"Void" revolves around six women searching for their loved ones who went missing during the Lebanese Civil War that took place from 1975 to 1990. While their stories offer diverse perspectives on the issue, all of them are pushing for the country's Parliament to reopen their cases and give them some answers.

The film is a Notre Dame University Production. U.S. rights are still available.

READ MORE: Mexico Picks '600 Miles' Starring Tim Roth as Oscar Entry

The Middle Eastern country has submitted films since 1978 but has yet to be nominated. Lebanon's highest profile submission was 2007's "Caramel" by Nadine Labaki, which eventually became the first Lebanese film to get a major U.S. theatrical release when it was picked up by Roadside Attractions. Labaki's followup "Where Do We Go Now?" was also submitted for AMPAS consideration and released stateside by Sony Pictures Classics but with less success that its predecessor.

Cannes Market and Dubai Film Market Promote Arab Cinema with Works-In-Progress

Sydney Levine — Wed, 13 May 2015 13:30:00 GMT

The Marché du Film (Cannes Film Market), in partnership with the Dubai Film Market (DFM), will present an exclusive screening of five Arab films in post-production amongst the works-in-progress line-up at this year’s Cannes Film Festival: "300 Nights," "Border of Heaven," "The Curve," "Medina," and "The Other Side of November." Films part of the Dubai Film Market Goes to Cannes showcase will be screened to sales agents, distributors and festival programmers in Cannes, with filmmakers giving a brief introduction before showcasing excerpts from their films.

In addition five filmmakers who showcased their films at DIFF’s 11th edition and the winners of the ‘The Reel Dubai Short Film Contest’ and ‘The Samsung Short Film Contest’ will present their films in the Cannes Short Film Corner, an essential platform to show their projects to a massive audience, pitch future projects, and make many important connections with industry professionals from around the world.

Through the Dubai Film Market’s (DFM), the Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) plans to strengthen its program to further support filmmakers, develop a thriving film culture in the region, build a sustainable industry and promote Arab cinema on an international platform for the 12th edition which runs from December 9-16, 2015.

The Dubai Film Connection (DFC), the region’s co-production market will return to the DFM. Launched in 2007, the DFC raised the visibility of Arab filmmakers and stimulated the growth of independent film production in the region. Over the years, numerous past DFC projects have found critical acclaim around the world.

Shivani Pandya, DIFF Managing Director said: “We’re very excited to reinstate the Dubai Film Connection. The filmmakers and industry professionals wanted it back and we listened. By offering the right networking and support opportunities the DFC opens doors for Arab talent to promote and develop their film projects and it becomes a platform for producers and funds to find the best Arab projects ready for production.

The DFC is now open for submissions for feature-length fiction and documentary projects in development by directors of Arab nationality or origin. The co-production market introduces Arab filmmakers to regional and international film backers and organizations. Deadline for submission is August 1st, 2015 and details are available at www.diff.ae

Enjaaz, the Dubai Film Market’s post-production and production support program continues to go from strength to strength, lending invaluable backing to a further ten of the region’s filmmakers.

The latest recipients of Enjaaz funding include: Mahmoud Al Massad’s "Blessed Benefit," Jihane Chouaib’s "Breathe," Halkawt Mustafa’s "El Clasico," Fares Naanaa’s "Borders of Heaven," Fawzi Saleh’s "Fish Killed Twice," Mai Masri’s "3000 Nights," Hany Abu Assad’s "Arab Idol," Afraa Batous’s "Skin," Maryanne Zéhil’s "The Other Side of November" and Hakim Belabbes’s "Weight of the Shadow."

Enjaaz is central to the DFM’s strategy of developing the regional film industry by discovering and supporting filmmaking talent. By enabling more films to get realized, Enjaaz serves to diversify the choice of Arab films available to audiences. A total of 17 films supported by Enjaaz were screened at the 11th edition of DIFF and more than 110 films have benefited from the program since its inception.

Swiss luxury watch manufacturer IWC Schaffhausen, the Official ‘Festival-Time’ Partner of the DIFF, continue their support with the highly anticipated fourth IWC Filmmaker Award offering a cash prize of $100,000 which will help the winning filmmaker bring their ideas to life on screen. This collaboration reinforces IWC’s global commitment to promoting the film-making industry and supporting talent in cinema with submissions opening later this month.

The DFM’s most recent initiative, the Dubai Distribution Program (DDP) launched last year to promote and facilitate the distribution of Arab films has achieved success with local, regional and international titles being picked up from DIFF’s 2014 film program. The DDP has expanded this year to offer greater opportunity for independent filmmakers to obtain distribution and showcase their films to a wider audience by screening films at MIPTV, the largest global distribution market and at the Cannes International Film Festival.

Call for Submissions for the 12th Dubai International Film Festival is Now Open

Sydney Levine — Tue, 14 Apr 2015 15:00:00 GMT

The Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF), the leading film festival in the Middle East for showcasing the best of Arab and international cinema, is now accepting film submissions for its 12th edition, which will be held from December 9^th– 16^th 2015. DIFF presents new and exciting cinema from the Arab world and beyond, introducing audiences to fresh new talent and original and distinctive filmmaking.

DIFF is accepting entries for its highly contested Muhr competition for feature fiction and non-fiction; and short films originating from the United Arab Emirates and the Arab world which will compete for the prestigious Muhr Awards. The competition, which has been an integral part of the festival since 2006, will continue to nurture and reward exceptional Arab talent and cinema from the region.

The latest edition of DIFF also brings to its prestigious Muhr competition, a new section titled ‘Muhr Gulf Shorts’ for fiction and non-fiction shorts. The new addition will provide an essential platform for Gulf filmmakers, in line with DIFF's objectives of nurturing and recognizing regional talent. In addition, films from the GCC will be screened in DIFF’s out-of-competition section ‘Arabian Nights’.

This year’s festival will also include initiatives within the Dubai Film Market (DFM) to nurture and support filmmakers from the region and further boost the emerging industry in the local community and across the Gulf.

Narrative features, documentaries and short films directed by a filmmaker of Arab nationality or origin are all eligible for entry, and filmmakers have until August 31^st, 2015 to enter their films. Films must have been produced after September 2014.

To submit a film and review further information on rules and regulations, please visit the Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) website; www.dubaifilmfest.com

DIFF Collaborates with Beirut DC to Promote Independent Filmmaking in the Middle East

Sydney Levine — Thu, 02 Apr 2015 15:00:00 GMT

The Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF), the most important film festival in the Middle East, is partnering once again with Beirut DC, a Lebanon-based organization that provides help and support to Arab filmmakers. During the inaugural edition of the Beirut Cinema Platform (BCP), organized by Beirut DC, DIFF’s Enjaaz committee selected Syrian filmmaker Afraa Batous to receive post-production financial support for her documentary "Skin."

"Skin" follows Batous’s personal journey through vivid memories of two of her closest friends, Hussein and Soubhi, young men living in politically and socially trying times. Batous documents their gradual collapse which, as she realizes later, reflects her own inner collapse.

The BCP jury also presented the Dubai Film Market Award to Meyar Al Roumi with his feature-length film project in development "The Return." The prize will give Al Roumi the opportunity to present his project at this year’s edition of the Dubai Film Market which is DIFF’s industry arm that helps raise the visibility of Arab cinema at an international level. The market runs concurrently with the festival, which is scheduled to take place December 9-16, 2015.

Shivani Pandya, DIFF Managing Director, said: “Many remarkable Arab films in post-production stages never see the light of day due to the shortage of funding and support available to regional filmmakers. Through collaborations with committed organizations such as Beirut DC, we can reach out to the creative community and help them realize their dreams thanks to the financial backing provided by DIFF’s Enjaaz programme.”

Take a loom at DIFF's official site for more information on their initiatives HERE

Talented UAE Directors to Vie in Muhr Emirati Competition

Sydney Levine — Wed, 26 Nov 2014 15:00:00 GMT

A group of emerging UAE directors and their experienced peers will participate in the Dubai International Film Festival’s (DIFF’s) Muhr Emirati Competition, which places the Emirates firmly in the spotlight.

Masoud Amralla Al Ali, DIFF Artistic Director, said: “DIFF has always worked towards fostering the UAE’s film industry, and the Muhr Emirati Awards reflect this by highlighting the ground-breaking works of our local filmmakers. With each year that passes the quality increases and likewise competition escalates. We are proud of the significant works being produced by our Emirati directors, which add weight to the burgeoning film industry here in the UAE and firmly places the Emirates on the world cinematic map. This year is set to be more successful than ever from a local standpoint,” he said.

All of the films in the competition will be enjoying world premiere status when they’re screened this December.

Receiving its world premiere "Abood Kandaishan" is a comedic take on one simple-minded man’s life. Abood is set to be transferred within the company he’s worked 13 years for, but after he finds out about the transfer he asks his friend Sharabatoh for help to stop it. The two become friends after Abood asks for his help, but an accident puts paid to their friendship. This touching look at life feature film is directed by Fadel Almheiri.

Ali Bin Matar’s world premiere of his compelling short "Chances Have Endings" is a psychological drama about a young man’s problems that go viral on social networks.

In Suqrat Bin Bisher’s world premiere short documentary "Burden," a young Emirati man pays for the crime he’s committed with a life sentence. In a poignant look at life, the film focuses on the shame and despair the man has brought to his family and loved ones.

In TwoFour54 production "The Drive" another world premiere written and directed by Mariam Al Nuaimi, Ahmed begins the long drive home after work when he starts to encounter strange incidents. As he’s so sleepy, he can’t tell if the odd things he sees are real, paranormal or whether he’s hallucinating. Stopping at a petrol station he decides to drink a cup of coffee to wake himself up, but will it really help put a stop to his nightmare?

"The Other Dimension" follows the journey of a risk-taking, careless 20-year-old, who spends his time making trouble. After he’s in an accident he realizes his past mistakes and starts to see himself in another dimension. However, he becomes stuck between reality and his imagination and struggles to get back to his real life. But is it all in his imagination? This moral look at life is a world premiere directed by Aisha Alzaabi.

"The Confession" takes the viewer into the world of street crime and the church. Based in Paris, the film follows a prostitute who’s chased through the streets of the French capital, only to find herself confessing her sins to a Priest while she hides in a church. "The Confession" directed by Mohammed Swaidan will receive its world premiere.

Shahad Al Shehhi’s "Hidden" looks at the life of a bored, middle-aged housewife, who decides she wants to have extra-marital encounters to satisfy her sense of adventure. One of these affairs becomes all the more daring, when her paramour finds himself in the flat at the same time as her husband.

"Hidden" and "The Confession" are the result of an intensive five-week course attended by the filmmakers at the Gulf Summer University Programme at La Fémis in Paris held earlier this year and will both enjoy their world premieres at the Festival.

In the world premiere of "Love X-Large," a young man, who is obese, chases the mirage of love. Rejected by the cousin he loves, he is engaged to a girl, who loves him despite his weight. He realizes that to be loved unconditionally is truly a ‘"Love X-Large." Directed by Khalid Ali, this world premiere film is a heartwarming tale of love, life and loss.

The winners will be announced during the closing ceremony of the 11^th edition of the Festival, which runs from December 10^th to 17 ^th 2014.

Lee Daniels to Head to Muhr Feature Jury at DIFF 2014

Sydney Levine — Mon, 10 Nov 2014 17:00:00 GMT

Oscar-nominated producer, writer and director Lee Daniels will head the jury for the 11^th Dubai International Film Festival’s (DIFF) prestigious Muhr Feature Competition, festival organizers announced today. This year’s edition of the festival will run from December 10 to 17, 2014.

Daniels’s most recent production was the box-office hit "Lee Daniels' The Butler" (2013), which starred Forrest Whittaker, Oprah Winfrey and Mariah Carey. Prior to "The Butler" he produced and directed the critically acclaimed Oscar winning drama "Precious", which won numerous awards including two Oscars for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role for Monique, and Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay for Geoffrey Fletcher and made Daniels the first African-American to have directed a film nominated for the Best Picture Oscar.

The multi-talented Daniels has not followed a traditional role in film; he started in the industry as a casting director, and subsequently managed talent for a number of years before producing and, finally, directing and writing films which have received international acclaim.

Masoud Amralla Al Ali, Artistic Director, Dubai International Film Festival, said: “Lee Daniels is one of the most distinguished American filmmakers today, who has built his illustrious career on embracing the dynamics and diversities of life’s challenging situations, he is uniquely poised to understand filmmakers from the Arab world, their aspirations, and their unique viewpoints.”

“It is exciting to welcome an artist as unconventional, yet commercially minded; a compassionate and honest artist who has created a niche for himself within Hollywood. We look forward to understanding the motivation behind Mr. Daniels work further when we welcome him to the UAE.”

Daniels will head a jury of four members, who will weigh each of the formidable entries in the hopes of garlanding a winner. The Muhr competition has become the region’s foremost platform for launching new works by Arab filmmakers, regularly welcoming cinematic giants such as Egypt’s Mohamed Khan, Palestinian Oscar nominee Hany Abu Assad, and Saudi Arabia’s Haifaa Al Mansour.

Speaking ahead of his visit to DIFF Lee Daniels commented, “I’m thrilled to be visiting the Emirates for the first time and to have the privilege of being part of the Dubai International Film Festival’s jury. This festival is truly a host to international cinema, it’s an exciting time for me to join the festival and experience everything that it has to offer.”

The Muhr competition celebrates feature, documentary and short films, and non-feature films by filmmakers from the region. DIFF audiences can view all shortlisted competition films as part of the regular festival programming from December 10 to 17, 2014.

Further information, as well as screening times and venues, can be found on the festival’s website on www.dubaifilmfest.com.

11th Dubai International Film Festival

Sydney Levine — Tue, 14 Oct 2014 15:00:00 GMT

Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) (http://www.dubaifilmfest.com/en/) is going on its 11th year. By way of introduction at the Toronto Film Festival in 2004, they took over The Windsor Arms Hotel, covered the street in front with desert sands, imported camels and offered free rides. They had already hired the well-respected British programmer the late Sheila Whitaker who brought in the best of world cinema.

In 2005 or 20O6, we went to the Dubai Film Festival with the idea of creating a Books to Film initiative which would bring to prominence Arab Literature in an unprecedented way, not seen since the 8th century.

How idealistic we were, and how the Middle East has shifted since then must give us pause. And yet Dubai has remained true to its mission, retaining those it hired to start up and now to refine its goals. As we set out to conduct this interview with Shivani Pandya at the Soho Metropolitan Hotel in Toronto, these facts, and a comparison to the other two Middle Eastern Film Festivals that started around the same time were on my mind.

Shivani seemed to have appeared, fully grown and in fully in charge when I first met her. But, in fact, she had a career path which led her to the part she was playing when we met. After receiving her Bachelors in Economics in her home country of India, she continued her studies and received her Masters in Communications at the University of Mumbai. She went into advertising, working with Saatchi & Saatchi and then went on to work with UTV in Delhi, focusing on production, first for commercials, then for broadcasting and film until she became General Manager of the New Delhi branch of United Studios Ltd.

She moved to Dubai 14 years ago to help set up Media City, bringing in broadcasters, and setting up a film industry, which included setting up a film festival in order to set up film associations.

These two government-sponsored initiatives extended into setting up

Studio City as well, to further the production of films in Dubai.

The strategy the whole time has been to develop the infrastructure of cinema, and it is still ongoing.

Dubai now hosts the biggest sound stage in the Middle East where film and television production take place. It services as the anchor for most broadcasting companies¹ Middle Eastern offices are there, including BBC, MBC, CNN, OSN as well as the news agencies themselves.

The sound stage is not only used by Middle Eastern filmmakers, but by others as well. See Dubai Film Commission website:

www.filmdubai.gov.ae

The Dubai Film Festival was the first film festival in the Gulf States.

The venerable Cairo Film Festival, of course, predates it by many years as the definitive Middle Eastern film festival just as Egyptian films have been the main cinematic fare for the Middle East for generations.

But the films coming out of Dubai are different. They are more modern in outlook rather than melodramas, dealing with personal and political issues of the day.

Dubai's. objectives as originally delineated remain the same, namely:

to nurture and develop talent

to develop an audiovisual infrastructure To make a showcase cultural event for viewing films which otherwise would never be seen.

Things have developed well. Dubai has supported 242 projects, 96 of which are films today, and more are being completed. Hany Abu Assad’s Oscar nominated "Omar" [v1] which was supported by DIFF’s post production fund Enjaaz opened the 10 th edition of the Festival. The film picked up Best Film and Best Director last year at the festivals prestigious Muhr competition.

Also supported by DIFF’s Enjaaz was Haifaa Al Mansour’s "Wadja" which began at script stage there where it was mentored in the Festival's Script Lab, Al Mansour returned to Dubai Film Connection, Connect,[v2] Dubai's Coproduction Market and her film went on to win awards at the Venice Film Festival, the top prize at the ninth edition of the Dubai International Film Festival and onward to receive a BAFTA nomination.

You can see a difference in the Middle Eastern cinema today and in the activity in the Gulf region which began with Dubai. The market too has become increasingly important as there is no other film market in the Middle East.

The Dubai Film Market (DFM) has gained a reputation as the leading platform in the world to raise the visibility of Arab filmmakers, a destination to discover the best in Arab cinema and a destination for sales and acquisitions of Arab films and TV content.

In a bid to support filmmakers with distribution which is incredibly challenging in the region DIFF has partnered with industry leaders which will involve each organization selecting and securing distribution for at least one Arab title from DIFF’s 2014 film program. This new initiative for the 11 ^th edition is an opportunity for independent filmmakers to obtain distribution and showcase their films to a wider audience both here in the region and on the world stage. Sales agents, distributors, broadcasters and other purchasers will also have access to DIFF’s Cinetech, a digital library that houses over 350 titles of the festival’s offerings, giving buyers a first-look at the latest showcase of rich and diverse independent films.

Dubai has also spread its showcasing of films from the MENA territories (Middle East, North Africa by building alliances with the likes of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences.

During the 10^th edition, the visiting delegation from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) announced that DIFF had qualified as a Festival that can contribute short films for Oscar consideration.

The qualification will apply to the Muhr Arab shorts competitions, making the festival the first from the Arab world to be on the list. Winning films from last year’s festival can qualify for the Academy’s 2015 competition.

Shorts which show at their festival are eligible for nomination for an Oscar. For the first, time documentaries are also being reviewed and rated by critics when they screen in Dubai [v3] .

The book Cinema of Passion, outlining the best 100 Arab Films was published to mark DIFF’s decennial edition and was compiled with input from over 475 of the region’s and international most prominent film critics, writers, novelists, academics, and other arts professionals. This year DIFF showcased a selection of the top Arab 10 films at the Arsenal Theater next to Berlin¹s Film museum and the Motion Picture Academy Theater in Los Angeles in a bid to reach out to new audiences. DIFF has also held screenings of Arab films in London and Paris.

Dubai has taken its place among the cinema countries in the world in its ten years of existence, something to be thankful for in these days of disquieting propaganda so ubiquitous in our world today. We are grateful that serious cinema with deeply felt themes of value is supported by this festival.

[v1] Omar was nominated but didn’t win an Oscar. The film was supported by DIFF’s post production programme Enjaaz.

[v2] Dubai Film Connection.

[v3] Sydney, DIFF has always reviewed and rated.

'Factory Girl' Takes Part in Four Film Festivals across the World

Sydney Levine — Wed, 25 Jun 2014 02:13:09 GMT

After its successful run in Egyptian theaters and 6 Arab countries, in addition to playing during Ramallah, Palestinian territories, Mohamed Khan's "Factory Girl" has taken part in several film festivals across the world including Shanghai International Film Festival, which launched June the 14 ^th, 2014, where the film competed in the Panorama section.

Director Mohamed Khan attended the screenings of the film as part of the Franco-Arab Film Festival in Jordan, which opened on June 15^th, 2014. Following this, the film participated in the Arab Film Festival in Seoul, Korea, as the opening film of the festival which launched on June 19^th, 2014. The film will then screen at the Med Film Festival in Italy, which starts on July 4^th, 2014. The film screens as the opening night film.

Starting on June 16^th, 2014, "Factory Girl" has been screened during Ramallah twice a day at Al-Kasaba Theatre and Cinematheque, until June 28^th, 2014. The first screening will be at 06:00 pm and the second will be at 08:30 pm.

"Factory Girl" has played in local theaters for 13 weeks in a row, and it has secured successful release in Arab countries including the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman and Lebanon.

The film had its world premiere at the 10^th Dubai International Film Festival in 2013, where it earned the International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI) award for the Arab Feature Competition, and the film's star Yasmin Raeis walked away with the Best Actress award, in the Muhr Arab Feature Competition.

Directed by Mohamed Khan, and written by Wessam Soliman, "Factory Girl" is produced by Mohamed Samir's Day Dream Art Productions. The film tells the story of Hiyam, a young factory worker who lives in a lower-middle-class neighborhood along with her co-workers. She is clearly under the spell of Salah, the factory's new supervisor, who has expressed his admiration for her. She believes love can transcend the class differences between them.

However, when a pregnancy test is discovered in the factory premises, her immediate family and close friends accuse her of sinning. Hiyam decides not to defend herself and pays an enormous price in a society that fails to accept independent women. the film examines the changes that take place in her life over the four seasons of the year. From falling in love to facing heartbreak, her life comes around full circle by the end of the year.

AMPAS Partners with Dubai International Film Festival to Show the Best in Arab Film

Eric Eidelstein — Wed, 04 Jun 2014 17:00:21 GMT

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences (AMPAS) has partnered up with the Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) to produce "Arab Cinema Classics," a two-day screening event that will showcase some of the best Arab films.

In 2013, to celebrate their 10 years in service, DIFF collaborated with nearly 500 prominent film critics, writers, novelists, academics and other arts professionals to create a list of the 100 best Arab films.

As a result, the Academy, as part of their International Outreach Initiative, which brings together their members and filmmakers from around the world, decided to work with DIFF on a series of programs. With this collaboration, AMPAS also announced that DIFF now qualifies as a festival that can submit short films for Oscar consideration.

The two-day event, which will be held Friday, June 13 and Saturday, June 21 at the Bing Theater in Los Angeles will show the following films (descriptions courtesy of AMPAS):

"The Night of Counting the Years" ("Al-Mummia," 1970)
Friday, June 13, at 7:30 p.m.

Director Chadi Abdel Salam’s film is based on the true story of the Horabat tribe’s 1881 plundering of pharaohs’ tombs in the ancient city of Thebes. Long unavailable for exhibition, the film was restored in 2009 by Martin Scorsese’s World Cinema Foundation.

"Cairo Station" ("Bab el Hadid," 1958)
Friday, June 13, at 9:20 p.m.

Directed by the internationally renowned Egyptian auteur Youssef Chahine, the film takes place at Cairo’s main railroad station, commonly referred to as the Iron Gate, and offers a tense portrait of life at the margins of Egyptian society.

"West Beirut" ("West Beyrouth," 1998)
Saturday, June 21, at 7:30 p.m. With special guest writer/director Ziad Doueiri.

This directorial debut of Ziad Doueiri is set in the tumultuous spring of 1975, as the Lebanese Civil War unfolds. Following the lives of two teenagers from the Muslim section of Beirut, the film blends the personal and the historical into a vibrant coming-of-age drama.

Best of the Week: Top Ten Tom Hanks Performances, Talking Original Score Contenders, 'Wolf of Wall Street' and More

TOH! — Sat, 21 Dec 2013 18:44:06 GMT

The top stories of the week from TOH!

Awards:

Academy Narrows Foreign Language List to Nine

"Bethlehem": Talking Israel's Oscar Entry and Exploring the Fine Line Between Friend and Foe

"Philomena," Harvey Weinstein's Best Oscar Hope, Comes on Strong; Why Coogan Dared to Be Sincere

Why "20 Feet from Stardom" Leads the Oscar Doc Pack

Box Office:

"American Hustle" Scores Year's Best NY/LA Launch, Softer "Saving Mr. Banks" Hits More Cities

Weekend Top Ten: Number One "Hobbit" Underperforms as "American Hustle," "Frozen" and "Catching Fire" Sizzle

Features:

CINE-LIST: Ten Great Movie Quotes from 2013

Crafts Roundup: Best Original Score Contenders Talk Creating Music for Survival, Reinvention and Spiritual Uplift

For Your Streaming Consideration: Eight Unsung Male Performances from 2013

From "Big" to "Captain Phillips," TOH! Ranks Tom Hanks' Ten Best Performances

TOH! Ranks the Worst Films of 2013

Festivals:

"Grand Budapest Hotel" Opens Berlinale in February; Is Wes Anderson the Ultimate Euro-Auteur?

Interviews:

25 Years After Playing Young Tom Hanks in "Big," David Moscow Looks Back on Child Stardom, Penny Marshall's Direction, and the Making of a Classic

Alexandre Desplat Talks Embracing Humor Through Music in "Philomena" Score

David O. Russell Talks "American Hustle" in Dubai, Redemption, Scorsese and Embracing "Muscular" Cinema

EXCLUSIVE: Tom Hanks and Paul Greengrass Talk Powerful Final Scene from "Captain Phillips"

News:

Why the San Francisco and New York Film Societies Seek New Leaders

Reviews:

"Her" Review: Spike Jonze Returns with a Vengeance with Tech Romance (Q&A)

Review: In Oscar Shortlisted "The Hunt," Mikkelsen Plays a Man Wrongly Accused of Society's Worst Crime

Scorsese's "The Wolf of Wall Street" a Wild Drug-Addled Tragicomedy with DiCaprio Going for Broke

This Weekend: Don't Miss "Her," "The Past" and "The Selfish Giant"; "Anchorman 2" Also Arrives

Television:

TV IS THE NEW CINEMA: Shocking "Homeland" Season Three Finale Admits Failure (SPOILERS)

David O. Russell Talks 'American Hustle' in Dubai, Redemption, Scorsese and Embracing "Muscular" Cinema

Matt Mueller — Wed, 18 Dec 2013 23:24:44 GMT

Is there a recent filmmaker who has enjoyed a more impressive career rebound than David O. Russell? Before "The Fighter" in 2010, Russell's career was in tatters, and in danger of flatlining for good. But that shrewd melding of "Rocky"-style boxing saga and family psychodrama marked a magnificent return to form, and was duly recognized with seven Oscar nominations and a pair of wins for Christian Bale and Melissa Leo. It was followed last year by "Silver Linings Playbook," which propelled Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence to new career heights, performance-wise, and brought Lawrence her own Oscar.

With "American Hustle," which goes into wide release this weekend, Russell shows off his renewed vigor with the most ambitious and virtuoso feature yet in what he calls his "comeback trilogy." Having been named Best Picture by the New York Film Critics Circle and garnered seven Golden Globe nominations, "American Hustle" which charts the 70s Abscam scandal through the amorous and combative engagements of four desperate but enthralling characters, could be the film that brings Russell his own, first Oscar statuette. He's in the running for picture, director, screenplay and editing, if not nominations for his superb actors who made significant contributions to the end results.

On his "American Hustle" campaign promo tour, Russell dropped into the Dubai International Film Festival, where his seventh feature was the closing-night film, and sat down for a chat with TOH. Despite arriving only hours earlier from London, Russell, who brings a spiky reputation into interviews, was in an open, relaxed and jovial mood.

The opening sequence, with Christian Bale's character Irving meticulously crafting his combover, is fantastic. It sets the tone that this is a movie about characters, and about who people want to be in their lives.

That's what Christian and I wanted the whole movie to be about, all of us. I inherited a script that I rewrote. I wanted to make this about the characters, not the events. The events are secondary to me. I want it to be about their love lives and their hearts and their survival and the theme of reinvention. I like to feel the passion that people feel for life. Even if they've made terrible mistakes and are having to reckon with them, I love that they love someone or they love Duke Ellington or they love their hair. It's very vulnerable and human to me. My father had a combover so there's something very endearing about it to me.

The performances are all great, but it's a career-best from Amy Adams.

If you have formidable women, that's a nuclear weapon for a movie. I discovered that with "The Fighter." It was exciting for me to go back to all of these actors and say, "I want to do something you've never done. Amy, you're going to be as raw as you've ever been, as vulnerable and as glamorous and sexy. I want people to see you like they never saw you." I wanted each of them to be like that. I think the dynamics between these four characters were electric. Everybody was excited to work together. It made the set exciting.

One review has called the film "a sincere meditation on insincerity." Would you agree?

That's overly simplistic. It's also kind of a paradox. These characters aren't just insincere, they're also sincere. They sincerely love each other. Irving sincerely loves his kid and his wife, even though he wants to kill her. He sincerely loves Duke Ellington; he sincerely loves elegance. Duke Ellington created himself -- he was a butler's son -- and these characters have all created themselves too.

As someone remarks in the film, "You believe what you want to believe."

"Silver Linings" is the same thing. So is "The Fighter." "The Fighter" is, "Who do you believe you are? Do you believe you're in the shadow of your brother?" He had to take that step to say, "I'm going to dare to be greater than my brother was, and I'm going to dare to break away from the family." You've got to believe in what you're doing, even if it's just to survive. It's what's required of being a human being. These films are a little more operatic than life, but I prefer that. I like that they're out there, with big emotions and big scenes and big characters. It's muscular. That's the cinema that I've embraced.

How did you rediscover your filmmaker's mojo?

By being humbled and brought to my knees. By being told, "This is your last chance to tell a story or we're going to drop you off this cliff." Because I would never have made "The Fighter" ten years ago. I would have gone, "I don't get it. It feels like a story that's been told before. Who cares?" Whereas I said to myself, "Look closer. Look at the people. Oh, the sisters; the mother; the brother... that's interesting to me." And I realized how humbling it is to have the opportunity to make a movie at all. You should kiss the ground to be able to make a movie every time. Cherish it and get your head out of your ass. I often use sex or eating as my metaphor for making a movie. What's your favorite food?

Off the top of my head, let's say shrimp.

So this is how you have to be as a storyteller, with one story and then every story. Here's your shrimp. How do you like it? You're excited about this shrimp, aren't you? Eat that shrimp. Great. Now, eat the shrimp again but eat it like it was the first time, okay? Now eat it again. No, eat that fucking shrimp. I want you to love that shrimp. I'm not feeling like you're loving it. You have to write it like that, you have to direct it like that, edit it, talk to you about it. That makes you have to love it, otherwise you're not going to be able to do that. It makes you deep.

Part of being back in the game is that your films are being showered with critical praise and awards. What does this kind of recognition mean to you, following your own line of thought about cherishing the whole experience?

You don't think about that; you just want to try to do really good work. And if that happens, then that means -- I don't know what that means. It's nice. It's exciting for everybody who's involved in the movie. When we did it with "The Fighter" and "Silver Linings," it wasn't expected. With this one, it was expected so that was a lot of pressure. It was more like, "I pray we can do something really good." The only way you can do that is if you keep turning around and saying to yourself, "Are you sure this is good? Try harder. I'm not feeling it." Eat the shrimp. You have to stay hungry.

In the back of your mind, though, you must be feeling optimistic that "American Hustle" will be your third film in a row to collect at least one Oscar.

It's always exciting to me emotionally if you do get acknowledged. But the people who don't -- that list is just as distinguished. When we were landing in London and the Golden Globe nominations were coming out, everybody was saying, "Maybe we'll have exciting news when we land." I'm really superstitious and I said, "Look at me. We got nothing." As soon as you start to expect it, you're screwed.

Your recent work, and "American Hustle" in particular, is drawing comparisons to Scorsese at his best. Is he an influence and inspiration?

You know, he's a great filmmaker and to not be influenced by him would be impossible. I am a fan for sure. But I'd also like to think we're doing something that is, as Duke Ellington said about what he aspired to in his music, beyond category. We're trying to bring characters and stories that are beyond category. I would never call "Silver Linings Playbook" a romantic comedy. When people said that, my head snapped. I said, "Wash your mouth out with soap." Or they say "The Fighter"'s a boxing movie. That's not how I thought of it.

Is "American Hustle" a comedy?

It's funny but it's also heartbreaking. It's an opera to me.

10th Dubai International Film Festival Closes With 'American Hustle'

Matt Mueller — Mon, 16 Dec 2013 19:00:32 GMT

During the 10th Dubai International Film Festival, which closed this weekend with a gala screening of 'American Hustle' and a typically lavish bash near the city centre, Martin Sheen turned up to accept a Lifetime Achievement Award, '12 Years A Slave' and 'Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom' played alongside a panoply of Arab, Asian and African programming (174 films in total including festival opener 'Omar,' Palestine's entry for the 2014 foreign-language Oscar race); and DIFF organizers celebrated their first decade on the global festival map.

On the occasion of their 10th birthday, I asked DIFF's top guns to reflect on the festival's origins and where they hope to be in ten years' time. Abdulhamid Juma, a DIFF founding father who became Chairman in 2006, was naturally bullish despite the lack of star names turning out for this year's edition. The need for smaller festivals like Dubai to attract A-listers remains strong and, despite early hopes that he might be able to fit it into his schedule, Bradley Cooper wasn't able to come for closing night, leaving writer-director David O'Russell to fly the 'American Hustle' flag (he was in fine, fiery form, too: we'll be posting our interview with O'Russell this week).

But despite that setback, DIFF has established itself as the region's key film festival, especially considering that it was launched three years after 9/11, when, Juma notes, "there was much mistrust on both sides." Even though the fest has always followed its two Gulf brethren, the Abu Dhabi Film Festival and the Doha Tribeca Film Festival, on the calendar, DIFF now stands tall as the region's top festival, helped by having a stable regime in place and the fact that Doha has dropped the Tribeca connection and subdivided into two smaller festivals.

There were four strategic objectives in place at the start: give Arab cinema a global platform; attract international productions to Dubai ('Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol' has been the most high-profile visitor to date); develop local filmmakers; and bridge the cultural divide. As DIFF sought to forge its identity, there have been ups and downs, with several programming and industry initiatives coming and going along the way. The most successful, however, which include the Dubai Film Market and the 'Script to Screen' scheme that helped launch 'Wadjda' on its way, are firmly entrenched. The festival also introduced its awards back in 2006. This year's winners include Hany Abu-Assad's 'Omar' as Best Arab Feature (backing up the international acclaim he received for 2005's 'Paradise Now'), 'The Square' as Best Arab Documentary and 'Ilo Ilo' as Best Asia/Africa Feature.

"When this festival was set up, we were so aware of the need for Arab filmmakers to have this platform and for the international community to see what is happening here," says DIFF Artistic Director Masoud Amralla Al Ali. "There's the media image of the Arab world that we always see. If it's this region, it's that we are rich and have tall buildings; if it's other Arab countries, it's that they are terrorists and have wars. But the true image always comes from films more than TV and the news."

The industry side of the festival has increased substantially in recent times, too. Jane Williams established the Dubai Film Connection co-production market in 2007 with the intent of bringing together Arab filmmakers and international producers. In seven years, 75 projects presented in the DFC have gone into production, an incredible success rate. This year, the Dubai Film Market & Forum had its buzziest festival to date, with several hundred filmmakers, producers and buyers in attendance and 30 exhibition booths in the heart of DIFF headquarters in the Madinat Jumeirah complex. "What we offer that's different from any other festival in the region is access to those people," says Williams. "I hope this is the beginning of something new and exciting."

Among 41 industry panels were "Beyond The Oscars," presented by the former president of the Academy for Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, Sid Ganis, while DIFF was also officially accepted as one of the qualifying festivals for the Oscar's short film competition. Admittedly, there isn't much of an industry in the Gulf but success is beginning to come with the likes of 'Omar,' which was financed in the United Arab Emirates (of which Dubai is part), and Haifaa al-Mansour's feature debut 'Wadjda,' also U.A.E. financed. 'Wadjda,' a socially relevant tale from Saudi Arabia featuring a spiky teenage heroine, delivered a particular gust of fresh air to perceptions of the region's filmmaking environment. Interestingly, female filmmakers made up 40 percent of DIFF's Arab feature programme this year. Most are making documentaries, but it's an unexpected flowering that DIFF is actively supporting.

But not rocking the boat too much is still a stark reality in this part of the world. Free speech isn't enshrined in law, and while Emirati rulers are less autocratic than their Saudi neighbors, they can still be draconian. The 29-year-old American-born satirist Shezanne Cassim was arrested in April of this year after posting a mockumentary spoofing Dubai youth culture on YouTube (watch it here), and is still languishing in a maximum-security prison in Abu Dhabi.

If uncomfortable topics do get aired, it tends to happen in subtler ways. "Champ Of The Camp" was one of my favorite films at this year's DIFF, a moving, entertaining documentary focusing on an X-Factor-style Bollywood competition that takes place amongst the migrant worker population who come to toil in Dubai from the Indian subcontinent and Asia. Directed by Dubai-based Lebanese filmmaker Mahmoud Kaabour, the film focuses on a singing competition as a way to explore a topic he might not have dared to tackle head on. While 'Champ Of The Camps' can't help taking a slightly sanitized approach (and avoids airing Dubai's dirtiest laundry about the treatment of its guest work-force), it also depicts the grim realities for the workers living in these "jail-like" dormitories.

Despite some successes, Juma admits the challenges facing Arab cinema are still daunting. "If 'Wadjda' goes to the Oscars, what does that mean?," he says. "They don't even have movie theaters in Saudi Arabia. I think we are still struggling to define this new Arab cinema. You have to mix passion with professionalism, otherwise you will always struggle."

On the plus side, both Al Ali and Juma think that the new filmmakers coming through are more open to taking risks, encouraged by the Arab Spring and aided by new technologies. Juma points out that there were 103 Arab films playing at DIFF this year, whereas 20 years ago there were fewer than 70 films produced across the entire region. "There is something happening," he says. "Things are moving."

As for DIFF itself, Juma declares that at the age of ten, "we're still a child... We push boundaries, we dream a lot, but at the end of the day, we know our position." For DIFF's chairman, it's all about serving Arab cinema. When the Toronto International Film Festival accepted "Omar," DIFF stepped aside rather than insist on Abu-Assad's film being a world premiere. If "Omar" goes on to find Oscar success, as some pundits predict, it would be a win-win situation for festival and filmmaker.

"Not everyone liked that decision, especially for our 10th year," says Juma. "But this festival is about what's best for Arab cinema. It makes us happy that we made the right choice taking this chance."

Film Analyst Alaa Karkouti Gives a Lecture in a Workshop for Filmmakers

Sydney Levine — Sat, 14 Dec 2013 13:30:00 GMT

In addition to multiple industry panels and as part of his widely recognized annual appearances in international festivals and film events, Film Analyst Alaa Karkouti, CEO at MAD Solutions, formed part of the 10^thDubai International Film Festival (DIFF) which ran from December 6^th - 14^th, 2013. Within the frame work of DIFF's Dubai Film Forum, Karkouti gave a lecture in a workshop for filmmakers and film industry professionals. In addition, he moderated a discussion panel under the title "Video-On-Demand (VOD) in the Arab World".

Organized by Dubai International Film Festival, in collaboration with EAVE and Torino FilmLab, Karkouti's lecture was held on Saturday, December 7^th, 2013. Karkouti drew on the conditions of film production and financing in the Arab world in a closed session with the presence of eight directors and producers.

On Wednesday, December 11^th, 2013, Alaa Karkouti also moderated a one-hour panel discussion focusing on VOD in the Arab World. The discussion shed light on the new global trend of moving towards the world of VOD and the potentiality of having a real market for VOD in the region. The panelists of the event included Abe Naga, Director of Digital Business, MBC, Carlos Tibi, CEO, Icflix, Cliff Nelson - CEO, My-HD and David Hanson, Head of Digital Products, OSN

To learn more about MAD Solutions visit HERE

Dubai International Film Festival: Martin Sheen Lifetime Achievement Q & A, 'Apocalypse Now' Breakdown and More

Matt Mueller — Mon, 09 Dec 2013 22:58:03 GMT

For its 10th edition, the Dubai International Film Festival awarded its Lifetime Achievement Award to Martin Sheen, and the one-time "Apocalypse Now" and "The West Wing" star turned up over the festival's first weekend to give a career talk that was scheduled to last an hour but extended to 90 minutes as the actor, still robustly energetic at 73, encouraged further questions from the audience. When a career montage was presented before Sheen came up on stage, the selected clips were heavily loaded with highlights from "Badlands" and "Apocalypse Now". But Kit and Captain Willard are undoubtedly the two film roles that define Sheen's career to this day (joined latterly by his popular small-screen turn as President Jed Bartlet in "The West Wing"), and if some of his on-stage remembrances sounded familiar, it's only because Terrence Malick's lovers-on-the-lam drama and Francis Ford Coppola's operatic war epic have become such hallowed cinematic landmarks and been pored over with Biblical reverence.

When the scene in "Badlands" where Kit finally surrenders was shown, it served as a reminder that Sheen had leading-man looks and charisma to spare when Malick cast him as his sociopathic outlaw lead - not a million miles away, in fact, from the actor's own idol James Dean. It prompted an obvious question from the on-stage interrogator, DIFF programmer Nashen Moodley: why hadn't Sheen become a bigger star in the 1970s? Had he avoided the mainstream roles after "Badlands"? To which Sheen, who has always nipped back and forth between TV and film, replied, "I followed the recipe that if you did good work, the offers would come. But I didn't get a whole lot of offers for major films after 'Badlands'. I chose to do a lot of TV through the '70s because I needed to make a living and they were the best offers I was getting. I didn't understand that you could organise your career better, that you could go out of your way to meet people in the business. I was always very shy about that, and still am to a great measure. I didn't know how to sell myself beyond doing the best job I could in a film and trusting that that would bring other offers. And a lot of times it didn't."

But lighting did strike again in the late 1970s, when Sheen famously replaced Harvey Keitel a week into the "Apocalypse Now" shoot (he'd been Coppola’s top choice but unavailable at first due to a prior commitment). "Apocalypse Now"'s powerful opening sequence was also shown, revealing Willard in a Saigon hotel room behaving like a coiled, deranged panther ("I can't watch," joked Sheen, shielding his eyes). Coppola shot that scene on Sheen's 36th birthday and, following a day of celebratory boozing, the actor was hugely inebriated by the time the cameras began rolling. When Sheen started tapping into an internal reservoir of anguish and self-loathing, Coppola wanted to stop filming, particularly after his star cut his hand breaking mirror. "I said, 'Don't stop, I want to wrestle this demon on camera. Please let me have it'," Sheen said. "And so I did. I just showed a completely broken, desperate guy, which was a reflection of who I was at the time. That's not who I am now, but that was a revelation for me… I got through it but something was never the same, in my life or in my character, after that. Something happened that I knew I had to come to grips with."

Unsurprisingly, given the fact that it's his own nervous breakdown, Sheen didn't want the scene in the final cut, refusing Coppola's pleas to watch it in the editing suite. And, in fact, it wasn't in the "work-in-progress" version Coppola screened at Cannes in 1979, before the director added it back in for the film's theatrical release. "I finally saw it on my own months after the film opened in the US," Sheen said. "I was shocked. It had been a little over two years since we'd shot it, so I was beginning to come to grips with my life in a lot of different ways."

Further topics broached were Sheen's deep and unstinting commitment to human rights, social justice and environmental causes; his devout Catholicism, a faith he returned to in his 40s following several theological discussions with "my spiritual director" Malick in Paris in 1981; and the revelation that he wrote Robert De Niro a gushing fan letter after he'd been to see "Raging Bull" in a Paris cinema. Years later, when Sheen had the opportunity to meet him, De Niro's first words were, "Thanks for the letter."

Sheen also imparted that Martin Scorsese, who he finally got to work with on "The Departed", is the director he'd most like to work with again, while the Coen brothers are the filmmakers he'd love the chance to work with at all. Taking questions from the audience, Sheen obliged when asked to demonstrate Jed Bartlet's nifty jacket maneouvre, where he tosses it over his head and slips his arms in the sleeves in the blink of an eye, explaining it's something he learned to do thanks to a birth defect (forceps crushed his left shoulder as he was being born, leaving his left arm practically useless). He also expressed a degree of career frustration. Asked if there were roles he's still sorry he didn't get, Sheen laughed, "Only about a hundred of them! Every time I go to the movies, I say, 'Oh jeez… Is Al Pacino the only actor?' I say that with a great deal of affection. Al and I are great friends, we started out together."

Having been cast as Uncle Ben in Marc Webb's 2012 franchise reboot "The Amazing Spider-Man", Sheen won't be appearing in the sequel, even though he was approached about returning for a flashback scene. "I said I'd be delighted to do it and then they decided they didn't need it,” he said, adding with a wry smile, "My agent asked for about $10 million. That may have had something to do with it. Frankly, I was disappointed. I had a great time on the first one and I love that young man [Andrew Garfield], he’s a brilliant actor."

Sheen concluded his career talk with a fitting summation of what being an actor means to him: "Acting is deeply personal but it's equally sacred, I think, and it has purpose. The older I get, the more sensitive I get and I realise that sometimes you do have to explore parts of yourself that are very revealing and painful for a higher purpose. But you always get a reward for that. You get a confirmation of your humanity. No matter how much fame you get, you're always linked to the brokenness – in the sense that we're all vulnerable – of all mankind."

Earlier the same day, I also sat down with Sheen for a brief chat, with a few highlights below:

On plans for a sequel to "The Way", the 2010 comedy-drama directed by son Emilio Estevez about an eye doctor who embarks on a life-changing pilgrimage when he journeys to Spain to collect the ashes of his estranged son.
"Emilio's son Taylor and I were trying to do the Camino [the 1000-year old pilgrimage across northern Spain] in a car in 2003 and we were in Burgos at a refugio, where the pilgrims stopped along the camino, and he met his future wife there. In the second one, Tom [Sheen's character] has joined Doctors Without Borders and he is in a very isolated part of Afghanistan. They get mail dropped in once a month and one day the mail comes and the Irishman's book [Jack, played by James Nesbitt] is in there. Tom reads it and is furious so he goes after him and they all hook up again and have another adventure. The script is very good."

On shooting "Trash" in Brazil for director Stephen Daldry earlier this year.
"That's based on a very sophisticated children's book about three boys that live on a trash heap. It was written by an Englishman teaching school in Manila and I knew the trash heap he wrote about because we had a project there, in a place just outside Manila. It was called the worst trash heap in the Third World; it was horrible. I visited there a couple of times and we started this water project so people that lived there could take a bath. It went on for years until the government threw us out. Although the book does not specify that it's the Phillipines, I knew it was and when I met the writer I said, 'I've been to Payatas.' At any rate, they chose to do it in Rio and Stephen asked me to play the priest, Father Juilliard, who runs the mission on the trash heap. It was a great experience. I hear that the editing of the film is going very well."

On rejecting overtures from the Ohio Democratic Party to run for US Senate in his home state.
"I don't really have a great interest in politics per se, I have a great interest in peace and social justice issues. I don't believe that politics really addresses the problems because they come at it from the top and they have special interests and constituencies. The real change comes from people on the bottom who have suffered the most, who oppression has affected the most, and these great leaders have transcended the oppression and the pain. They're the only ones that make a difference. We just lost maybe the greatest one of the 20th century in Nelson Mandela. He suffered the most and rather than becoming his enemy, he transcended the pain. He understood what he could do because he had suffered so much. He made a profound difference and the whole 20th century is filled with people who made a difference like that, starting with Gandhi, who inspired all of them: the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr., Bobby Kennedy, Malcolm X and Aung San Suu Kyi."

On passing up the chance to meet Elvis Presley and Martin Luther King Jr.
"It's one of my regrets. I was offered the chance to meet Elvis and I turned it down. We had a mutual friend and I was in Vegas doing this television show where celebrities learned circus acts, a silly thing, and this friend said that he wanted to meet me. He was at the Hilton and I could have gone and met him but I just got nervous. I would be a blithering idiot: what do you say to Elvis? I couldn’t deal with it so I passed on meeting him. Same thing with Sinatra, same thing with Martin Luther King Jr. I was standing as close as you and me here and he was alone. It was backstage at a benefit and I just did not have the courage. I was so shy. I was just stunned to see him and stunned that he was so small. I remember crouching down because I didn't want to look over the top of his head. I was having a dialogue to myself saying, 'Just go and get the blessing' but I couldn't do it. I let him go."

First Egyptian Film about Homosexuality Hits DIFF's Dubai Film Market

Sydney Levine — Mon, 09 Dec 2013 20:30:00 GMT

Making history and causing controversy, Egyptian Director Hany Fawzy will present his film Family Secrets, a film that deals with homosexuality, at the 10th Dubai International Film Festival.MAD Solutions company is in charge of the film's marketing and distribution campaigns on both regional and international levels.

Family Secrets is Hany Fawzy's feature directorial debut, who is best known for scripting several cinema hits including Osama Fawzy's Baheb El Cima (I Love Cinema),and Ard El Ahlam (Land of Dreams) by Daoud Abdel Sayed.

The new feature is still experiencing censorship restrictions in Egypt as the head of censorship has ordered the cut of no less than 13 scenes, which was rejected by both the director and Al Amal Film Production, which has produced the film.

Dubai Film Market (DFM) is the business center of the Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF). Located in the heart of the festival headquarters, the market is the destination to discover the best in Arab cinema and has established a number of pioneering initiatives to showcase and support Arab film-makers.

Hany Fawzy's Family Secerts is written by Mohamed Abdel Qader, andis the first production by Ihab Khalil's Al Amal FilmProduction.

Based on a true story, the film revolves around a young gay man and the struggles he faces with his family and community over the issue of his sexuality.

Family Secrets stars the new talent Mohamed Mahran, prolific actress Salwa Mohamed Ali,Tarek Soliman, Passant Shawki,Emad Al Raheb, and Ahmed Abd El Wahab.

Dubai Film Festival Rakes in Millions

Sydney Levine — Sat, 30 Nov 2013 21:30:00 GMT

Around the same time, ten years ago(!), as Doha Film Festival and Abu Dhabi Film Festival were beginning, at the peak of the world’s awareness that the Arab world not only was extremely rich but was also interested in breaking into the international film business through its extravagant and, at the same time, business oriented film festivals with markets attached, Dubai, under the leadership of DIFF chairman Abdulhamid Juma and Shivani Pandya, made a strong impression on us and has remained the frontrunner of the three in our mind. They have maintained stability in staffing and have not changed course. Their mixture of Western and Arab sensibilities seems to work well for all including Africa and Asia. Last year more than 1,600 industry delegates from 88 countries,1,300 media delegates and hundreds of filmmakers from Asia, Africa and the Arab world attended DIFF.

This very interesting report comes from From 7 Days in Dubai. How do other festivals calculate the financials of their event? Read below how Dubai is measured.

From Hollywood film directors gulping cups of Arabic coffee between screenings to Tom Cruise scaling the Burj Khalifa, organisers of the Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) on Sunday said the event has raised Dhs188 million ($51 million) for the emirate’s economy since it began in 2003.

The fresh figure comes ahead of the 10th anniversary of the star-studded festival - which runs from December 6 to 14 this year.

DIFF chairman Abdulhamid Juma said the figure - arrived at after research from an independent international consultant - “shows business-minded people” that the film bash is a valid contributor in Dubai’s economic growth.

“They ask ‘why are you doing this’?” said Juma. “‘Why are you flying these people to Dubai? What does it give to us?’”

Juma responded directly to such often-made queries on Sunday. “We’ve calculated that this festival has a lot of economic impact,” he said. “You don’t necessarily see it because so much else happens in Dubai - but if this festival was the only thing in Dubai then [you would].”

Juma said a company that provides economic data for various film festivals across the world collated the numbers. The detailed sums include spending at malls frequented by visiting film crews, what coffees they bought and what cars they rented. It also examined how many industry players choose to visit the emirate with their families. Many do, according to Juma.

“A lot of stars come back to this place,” said Juma. “I know because I go and see them.

“They love this place. Gerard Butler came back, Zac Efron came back.”

The Emirati film chief added that last year he saw an interview with Morgan Freeman on television filmed “somewhere on Earth”.

“He was wearing a Jumeirah cap,” Juma said, adding that it’s not just the stars but also others from the film industry that return.

The Dhs188 million sum is from 2003 up until 2011 - and includes Tom Cruise’s Hollywood blockbuster ‘Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol’, which raised an estimated Dhs80 million alone for Dubai and had its world premiere at DIFF 2011.

The film was the most successful ever at the box office for Cruise - who famously attempted to climb the world’s tallest building in the flick - raking in nearly $500 million worldwide.

DIFF has also created an estimated $1 billion in global media coverage, Juma said.

Two years ago they partnered with the Film Society of New York’s Lincoln Center to showcase Arab cinema in a special DIFF Focus. This year in partnership with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, a delegation will attend the 10th edition of DIFF (Dec 6-14) to deliver a program of events. Highlights will include a panel discussion with members of Academy titled “Beyond the Oscars,” an open session that will provide an overview of AMPAS and masterclasses for filmmakers.

The delegation includes Sid Ganis, producer and former president of the Academy; Vicangelo Bulluck, Academy md of outreach and strategic initiatives; Ellen Harrington, Academy Museum, director of exhibitions and collections; and Academy members, directors Ava DuVernay and Shekhar Kapur. DuVernay and Kapur will present “An Academy Conversation on Directing,” where they will discuss their personal experiences and insights on the impact that changing moviegoer demographics and new technologies have on the filmmaking process. DIFF chairman Abdulhamid Juma said: “This will be a fantastic opportunity for DIFF audiences to gain an insight from Academy members about their craft, films and anecdotes from their illustrious careers.”

Sheila Whitaker Dies

Pat Saperstein — Tue, 30 Jul 2013 17:30:00 GMT

Sheila Whitaker was one of the first people I met on the international film circuit in the days in the 80s and 90s when the London Film Festival meant much more in the world of festivals than it does today.

The obituary below direct from Variety and is written by Pat Saperstein, another woman I have always seen covering film affairs, and I have so often read her articles in Variety without ever noticing the byline. Not only is she an editor at Variety but also for EatingLA.com. I think she deserves more tribute than this, but for now, I want to quote her on Sheila and thank her for letting me know that Sheila, one of my early role models, has passed on. I will be aware for a long time that she is no longer at the places that matter so much in our world, starting with this upcoming Toronto Film Festival where I always would know I could find her at the Dubai and Doha receptions. I know Dubai will miss her greatly as will so many of us.

Sheila Whitaker, who served as director of international programs for the Dubai International Film Festival, died Monday in London.

She was previously director of the London Film Festival from 1987 to 1996, and head of programming at the National Film Theater in London from 1984 to 1990.
Whitaker had been working with the Dubai festival since the fest’s beginning in 2004.
“She dedicated her life to understanding the emerging cinema…From the Arab world, Iran, and Latin America. She engaged with the people of those regions, with their culture and true nature,” wrote the artistic director Masoud Amralla Al Ali on the Dubai fest’s website.
A lifetime lover of film, she headed the British National Film Archive collection of stills and posters and co-edited “Life and Art: The New Iranian Cinema” and “An Argentine Passion: The Films of Maria Luisa Bemberg.” She served on festival juries from Venice to Syria and was also founding editor of “Writing Women,” a journal of women’s writing. In addition, she wrote obituaries of entertainment figures for the Guardian newspaper.
She was awarded a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, an Honorary Doctorate of Letters by the University of Newcastle and an Honorary Doctorate of Law by the University of Warwick.
Instead of flowers, Sheila requested that donations should be made to Palfest at https://secure.thebiggive.org.uk/charity/view/6862
By
Pat Saperstein
[at] Variety_PatS

Dubai Goes Latino Via Biarritz

Sydney Levine — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 19:30:01 GMT

Everyone should read this recent article from Screen Africa:

The Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) has announced a new partnership with the Festival Biarritz Amerique Latine, which is an important festival of reference for Latin American cinema held annually in Biarritz, France. The partnership is the first of its kind for DIFF, and takes the form of an exchange, with each festival offering exhibition space to select films.

Biarritz Film Festival is the most attractive French event dedicated to Latin American films. It presents its yearly selections of some 80 movies with various competitions, special focus, tributes and avant-premières.

Biarritz Film Festival shows not only the best of Latin American productions but also provides the perfect venue for discovering Latin American cultures with exhibitions, meeting with Latin American authors, conferences and concerts.

During the Festival Biarritz Amerique Latine that runs from 30 September to 6 October 2013, one of DIFF’s Arab films and its director will be showcased. In return, the French festival will select a Latin American producer interested in co-production with the Arab world to attend DIFF’s Dubai Film Connection project market and the Dubai Film Market during DIFF’s 2013 edition from 6 to 14 December 2013.

“With this mutually beneficial partnership, Arab cinema will continue to travel outside of the region to Europe and on to Latin America. Conversely, the Latin American films that are selected in Biarritz will gain exposure to the Middle Eastern and South Asian markets that are on DIFF’s doorstep.

“DIFF has always sought to leverage Dubai’s position as a crossroads, and this bridge to Europe and Latin American is another welcome pathway for Arab cinema to reach the world,” says Shivani Pandya, DIFF’s managing director.

Marc Bonduel, managing director of Festival Biarritz Amerique Latine, adds: “We are thrilled to be collaborating with the Dubai International Film Festival, the leading festival in the Middle East. This partnership will offer Latin American films selected in Biarritz a new world visibility beyond the French and European markets.”

Dubai Film Festival: 'The Attack', 'Winter Of Discontent', 'Death Metal Angola'

Matt Mueller — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 00:02:59 GMT

Perusing the Dubai programme deciding what to see when your knowledge of Arab and African cinema is on the rudimentary side can generate a fog of confusion, so a film titled "Death Metal Angola" stands out like a screaming neon sign.

Jeremy Xido, who directed this absorbing, beautifully shot documentary, which had its world premiere in Dubai, is a Detroit-born multi-talent (he has a European-based contemporary dance company and acted in "The Machinist") and was in Angola researching another documentary about a Chinese railroad when he discovered that the war-torn nation has a flourishing death-metal scene. An ex-Portuguese colony, Angola was wracked by civil war for nearly four decades (until the US, China and Russia stepped up to end the conflict, lured by the country's abundant natural resources); its people are haunted and scarred by their history; and the angry aggression of death metal offers an ideal outlet for expressing that angst. One Angolan musician describes the music as "a scream in revolt against what happened in our past that helps us remove the debris and suffering of war."

At the film's epicentre is a woman named Sonia Ferriera, a rock 'n' roll lover who not only acts as godmother to the nation's death and thrash metal scene but runs an orphanage in Huambo, a city that witnessed more horrors than most. The stories and experiences relayed in "Death Metal Angola" are unfathomable and devastating, but there is a sense of hope for the future; the music… well, not to my taste but you can't help feeling moved watching these musicians sing their pained lyrics. Xido couldn't finish his film in time to try for a Sundance slot but is hoping South By Southwest will go for "Death Metal Angola", which would be a stronger fit anyways because of the film's musical connections. I hope he makes the cut but even if he doesn't, I predict a long festival life, if not more, for Xido's superb film.

Talking of passions, "Winter Of Discontent," whose leading man Amr Waked was awarded Best Actor at Dubai's closing ceremony, is a heartfelt portrait of the 2011 Egyptian revolution. The film follows several characters, including Waked's activist blogger, a disillusioned newswoman (Farah Youssef) and a state security officer, in the month-long people's uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak. Director Ibrahim El Batou largely improvised "Winter Of Discontent" with his actors (including all of the dialogue) but the film suffers from structural and pacing issues, not least a succession of awkward flashback sequences that unravel past connections but don't add a whole lot to the narrative. Unsurprisingly, the film's most powerful moments come towards the end, when El Batout's camera trails Waked and Youssef as they join the real-life protesters in Cairo's Tahrir Square. Waked – who played the benevolent sheikh in "Salmon Fishing In The Yemen" and is a massive star in his home country – told me in Dubai that those scenes were the very first to be shot, with El Batout responding rapidly to history-changing events by pulling a story together and convincing the actor to take the leading role. It's this reactive, spur-of-the-moment authenticity that makes me forgive "Winter Of Discontent" its flaws.

One of the more controversial films to play in Dubai was "The Attack", Ziad Doueiri's drama about an esteemed Palestinian surgeon (played by Ali Suliman) who has assimilated into Israeli society but is forced to reconsider his identity after it appears his wife was the suicide bomber behind a murderous Tel Aviv attack. Suliman, who's appeared in "Homeland", "Body Of Lies" and "The Kingdom" (and says he's about to head to LA for pilot seaon), is a talented and charismatic actor and conveys a compelling emotional journey for his character without lapsing into the clichéd expectations that a role like this might carry (surely he's going to rediscover his Arab roots, right? It's not that simple...). Doueiri, who previously directed "West Beirut", strikes a fine balance, depicting sympathetic and unsympathetic characters on both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian divide. "The Attack"'s message, that the two sides are so polarised there’s little hope for a resolution, made it a less cheery proposition than the many festival features celebrating Arab springs and Saudi girls riding bicycles - but it was also one of the most resonant and memorable films at the festival.

As for Saudi girls and bicycles, I was delighted that this year's Dubai jury awarded the Best Arab Film prize to Haifaa al-Mansour's 'Wadjda' and Best Actress to the film's delightful young star, Waad Mohammed. We'll be covering 'Wadjda' in greater depth when Sony Pictures Classics release the film in the US in early 2013.

Dubai Diary Four: 'Wadjda,' 'Hanyut,' "Television'

Meredith Brody — Sun, 16 Dec 2012 21:29:10 GMT

A gluttonous day of five movies, one after another: first, a press screening of “Wadjda.” There’s been some confusion as to whether it was scheduled to start at 9:30 or 10 a.m., and I arrive at the Mall of the Emirates multiplex to find that it did, indeed, start to screen at 9:30, but was halted and will start up again at 10. First instance of anything even approaching a glitch at this superbly-run Festival: everything starts on time, introductions are brisk, with talent on hand for virtually every screening, and end credits are silenced so Q-and-As can start while they’re still unspooling. I never have to wait for a shuttle between the several locations for more than a couple of minutes, and I also never stand in line at a box office for more than perhaps ten minutes. I couldn’t get a ticket only twice: both times for the same movie, the multiple-award-winning “My Brother The Devil,” set among Egyptian immigrants in London. Everybody has been preternaturally helpful and polite.

“Wajdja,” touted as the first movie shot in Saudi Arabia, as well as being helmed by a woman, is about a ten-year-old girl who wants a bike, a common-enough desire, but not permitted within the strictures of her society. She sets out to earn the money for the bike herself, weaving bracelets for sale (the bracelets themselves not to be worn at her traditional school), and entering a Koran competition in order to win the prize money. Her mother is coping with problems of her own: she can no longer bear children, and her handsome husband is being pressured by his family to take a second wife in order to achieve a male heir. There’s something of a twist ending. The story-telling is conventional but satisfying – the main pleasure and surprise of the movie is the compelling, even nuanced, performance of the young main actress, Waad Mohammed, handsome rather than cute or pretty. They got lucky when they found her.

At 12:15 I see “Hanyut,” by U-Wei Haji Saari, introduced as one of Malaysia’s most important and prolific directors, and the first Malaysian director invited to the Director’s Fortnight at Cannes, in 1995, with “Kaki bakar.” I see that it also played at Telluride, that year (why am I not surprised?). It might not only be the first time I’m aware of Saari’s work – this might be the first Malaysian film I’ve ever seen.

It’s based on Joseph Conrad’s “Almayer’s Folly,” and not for the first or last time I wish again that I’d caught Chantal Akerman’s version of “Almayer’s Folly” earlier this year, in Toronto. Saari’s melodramatic version of the story is handsomely mounted. A Dutch trader dreams of finding a mountain of gold in order to escape his expatriate life in the Malaysian jungle and return to Europe with the daughter he had with a local woman he has rejected. The atmosphere is properly sultry, thick, dense – there’s an inescapable sense of inevitable doom. The meaning of the title is revealed only at the end -- something about being lost, drifting, in peril. I ask Haji Saari which of the characters he thinks is referenced by the title, and he turns the question back on me: I think everyone.

3:45 pm finds me at a Bangladeshi film, “Television,” a comedy about the tensions in the family of the village elder who has banned television, photography, even mobile phones (but not landlines – business is business!) from his small rural village. The youth of the community – including his son, who is trying to conduct a love affair with a modern young woman – rebel against him. The very youthful, very Indian and Bangladeshi audience greets them film with hysterical enthusiasm – it’s like they’re at a different movie.

Just when I’m thinking that the film is overlong, uneven, and repetitive, I’m impressed by a surprising, powerful, even emotional ending. When the elder leaves his village in order to join a religious pilgrimage, his travels are abruptly ended because of an unscrupulous tour operator. He breaks down and hides out in a crummy hotel, where he finds to his surprise that he can join the celebration by means of the television he so feared. His religious fervor, even ecstasy, is something of a transcendental moment.

6:45 p.m.: “When Monaliza Smiled,” a slick chick flick from Jordan, about a repressed office worker finding true love with a younger, lower class, Egyptian boy who makes tea and snacks for her government colleagues, and who is threatened with deportation. Negligible, pleasant, but even so, a glimpse into another culture. Director Fadi D. Haddad enlivens the narrative with several amusing and jokey sequences alluding to traditional romantic movies from the Golden Age of Egyptian cinema, starring Omar Sharif and Faten Hammama, popular in Jordan, as well as a quick-cut opening introducing the main characters in silent-movie style.

9:45 p.m. – the classic film festival mistake. The day before, when turned down for a ticket for “My Brother the Devil” in this time slot, with the pressure of others standing in line behind me and breathing down my neck, I hastily scanned the list of possibilities and asked for ”Valley of Saints.” It’s not until the film begins that I realize I saw it, nine months ago, at the San Francisco International Film Festival. Oops. Unfortunately all the other movies in this time slot have already started. I consider just getting up and going home, but the beauty of its images – set on a lake in Kashmir – as well as its tender, elusive story of love and friendship, set against unsettling political unrest, keep me glued to my seat. It was a pleasant surprise in San Francisco, and I like it even more, this time around. There’s also the added pleasure of a Q-and-A with the young Indian American director, Musa Syeed [http://musasyeed.com/], as well as two of the non-professional stars of “Valley of Saints.” The sensitive, poetic lead, Gulzar Ahmad Bhat, has returned to his job of ferrying tourists around Dal Lake in his boat – this is only his second trip away from Kashmir; the first was when he saw the film in Hamburg.

He favors the rapt crowd with two songs. It’s a magical way to end the day. I’m happy I accidentally found my way there.

Dubai Fest: Michael Apted on Arab Docs, Women in Film, '7 Up' Series,' & Why 'Skyfall' Isn't a Bond Film

Matt Mueller — Sat, 15 Dec 2012 21:06:11 GMT

It seems a tad peculiar to find Michael Apted at the 9^th Dubai International Film Festival, but here he is, heading up the jury for the Muhr Arab Documentary section and collecting a Lifetime Achievement Award. (And that was his take when he playfully recounted the "strange order" his Dubai Festival invitations arrived in.) He also took part in a panel on non-fiction vs. fiction filmmaking, a natural fit for the prolific British filmmaker who has spent much of his career flitting between the two. "56 Up," the latest installment in his "Up" documentary series picking up on the lives of several British children at seven-year intervals, was broadcast in the UK earlier this year. And he stepped into the fray mid-shoot last year on the surf drama "Chasing Mavericks" after Curtis Hanson was forced to pull out with health troubles. Apted has 16 documentaries to watch in Dubai but did find time to chat on a terrace at the swanky Al Qasr hotel in the Madinat Jumeirah resort complex, which hosts the Dubai Fest each year (manfully ignoring the interruptions of an attention-seeking flock of squawking jays).

How is the documentary watching going?

It's what I'd hoped it would be coming here. You look at a lot of Western documentaries and they're straining for subject matter or are just incredibly narcissistic vanity pieces, and I come here and see these films that are raw and powerful and full of vitality. They're meaningful not just about the politics but about women's roles in society, the break-up of family life, parents and children. The context is so powerful. I'd love people in America to see some of these documentaries to reassure them that Middle Easterners don't have three heads or anything like that. I remember someone telling me when they knew I was coming here, "Don't go – they hate us!" And these are sophisticated people, but they really think the Middle East is just full of terrorists.

Had you been to the region before?

It's my first time this year. I’d been to North Africa and then I had a trip to Jordan and Saudi Arabia earlier in the year. There's a book I want to adapt about women in the Middle East.

What's the book?

"Eight Months On Ghazzah Street," by Hilary Mantel. It's an autobiographical story set in the '80s about going to the Middle East with her husband while he's working there. It's about the cultural divide between a Muslim woman and a Western woman, which I find very interesting. It's political with a small p but being here it feels like the social revolution that's been part of my life – the role of women in society – is happening here, and may even be beginning to rumble in Saudi Arabia. If I want to do another film about women in society, the Middle East might the place to do it.

You're known for drawing powerful performances from actresses, notably Sissy Spacek in "Coal Miner's Daughter" and Sigourney Weaver in "Gorillas In The Mist"...

Yes, but it goes deeper than that. Bearing in mind that I grew up in the United Kingdom, the greatest social revolution of my lifetime has been the changing role of women in society. That was vividly pointed out to me in the "7-Up" series because we didn't choose enough women. I can't beat myself up for it because when we started in 1964, it was inconceivable that Margaret Thatcher would exist.

Are you proud of the portrayal of women in your films?

I just think I've tried to avoid clichés. I've never allowed women to be ciphers or caricatures; I might have done that more with men than with women in my films.

"The World Is Not Enough" was the first Bond film to have a properly strong and well-rounded female villain…

Yes, that's true. When they asked me whether I'd like to do one, I thought it was a joke because why would they want me? But then I discovered it wasn't some great epiphany they'd had, they just wanted to get more women in to see Bond films. They couldn't really get beyond fathers and sons and wanted to see whether they could make it more friendly to young girls – which, when you look at "Twilight" and "The Hunger Games," is an even bigger audience than fathers and sons!

Did you enjoy "Skyfall"?

Yes I did, but it isn't a Bond film. I did [Bond] 19 and this is 23 and whoever plays Bond changes the whole tone of it completely. You go from Brosnan to Daniel [Craig] and it's different. As soon as Daniel started, it was much, much tougher. "Skyfall" is terrifically well done but it is different. There's a lot of competition in that marketplace for those kind of testosterone-driven action films. That whole business of the pretty girls and the double entendres – maybe those days are over for good and they're right to roll with the punches and move on.

Did you feel constricted by the formula and what you were able to do with Brosnan?

A little bit but you knew that going in. I'd suggest something grittier and they'd say, "Bond wouldn't do that." "Well, why not?" "He wouldn't." They'd done 19 so I figured they knew better than I. But it does change and that's what's allowed it be as successful as it is.

You're about to receive the Director's Guild of America's Robert B. Aldrich Award for services to the DGA. Are you proud of what you achieved there?

I was the first non-American president and I was the second longest-serving president in its 75-year history. I have done well there, navigating through very difficult times with the growth of new media and the issues of how do you monetise it and how do you deal with piracy, which are two huge issues that were launched on my watch. And whereas the Writer's Guild overreacted and went on strike about, you know, this is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius, well, it might have been but it's a very slow dawning.

Dubai Festival Diary 3: 'New Arab Films' Panel, 'Wadjda,' 'Detroit Unleaded,' 'Chaos Disorder'

Meredith Brody — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 16:25:00 GMT

There are only two screening slots scheduled for today, both in the evening, so in the afternoon I attend one of the industry panels that are part of the buzzing Film Market. This one is entitled “New Arab Films: A Story of Success,” although after listening to a broad spectrum of views, it seems that the panel could also have been entitled: “As William Goldman famously said, Nobody knows anything.” There’s Fadia Abboud, a director of an Australian Arab film festival; Rasha Salfi, who programs half-a-dozen Arab films for the Toronto International Film Festival annually; Anaïs Clanet, international film sales for Wide Management; Eve Gabereau, who buys films for exhibition, and Roman Paul, a German film producer who is at the Festival with “Wadjda,” which his company produced. The panel is moderated by Marion Masone of the Film Society of Lincoln Center.

Clanet is blunt when she says that television channels only want movies that can fit a 90 minute slot. Gabereau points out that festival and critical success doesn’t always translate into financial returns – see “This is Not a Film,” by Jafar Panahi. Social media is lauded, but it remains to be seen whether VOD will be a savior, since even VOD seems still to be tied to a theatrical release.

At times it seems as though “Wadjda,” which premiered at Venice, and since has traveled the festival circuit, hitting Telluride and Toronto among others, has highjacked the conversation. It’s playing here as the Arab Programme gala. I learn it’s not only the first Saudi feature to be shot by a woman, but also the first feature shot inside Saudi Arabia, which, it seems, does not have a single movie theater (why do I not know this? Where have I been? I guess this is why they say travel is broadening). Paul tells us that the original title, “Wadja,” confused people who thought it was about Andrzej Wajda, the Polish film director. After trying to come up with another title – “The Girl with a Bike” was facetiously considered, to draft off the Dardenne brothers “The Kid With a Bike” – it was decided that adding a “d” to the name, i.e. “Wadjda,” would have to suffice.

The most important thing for me is that I’ve experienced one of those come-to-Jesus moments: I have to see more Arab films – and not just while I’m here, where they’re thick on the ground, but in the future. I’ve already internalized the sort of advice handed out by DIFF’s programmers in the Festival Guide: “watch as much as possible” from Nashen Moodley, Director of the AsiaAfrica Programme, “Pick ‘wildcards’ – never seen a Korean, Moroccan, or Senegalese film? Now’s your chance!” from Antonia Carver, programmer of Arabian Nights; “Don’t just watch the films you know you like, but choose one or two from left field,” from Sheila Whitaker, director of the International Programme; “Pick a film from a country you always wanted to visit,” from Dorothee Wenner, consultant to the celebration of Indian Cinema.

With that in mind, I pick out an eclectic and entirely non-Western slate for tomorrow’s films: from Malaysia, Bangladesh, Jordan, and India, as well as planning to see that first-ever Saudi film about the girl with the bike.

After I pick up my next-day tickets, I run into Peter Scarlet, veteran director of international film festivals including San Francisco, Tribeca, and Abu Dhabi. He’s en route to see “Moondog,” a 136-minute-long film billed as an experimental look into the psyche of the Egyptian filmmaker Khairy Beshara, shot over 11 years, mostly in the US. He introduces me to a beautiful young woman, Sara Al Qaiwani, telling me that she’s going to the London School of Economics, speaks uncounted languages, and is also an astonishing opera singer, about to burst upon the world stage. “Google Emirati opera singer,” he tells me, and I do.

I head off to see “Detroit Unleaded,” billed as “the first Arab American romantic dramedy,” which won the Discovery award in Toronto. It’s specifically Lebanese-American, and in a day of learning new things, I am told that Detroit has the largest Lebanese population outside of Lebanon.

It seems that a number of them – not just Lebanese now living in Dubai, but Lebanese who have lived in Detroit, or have relatives living there now -- have managed to find their way to this screening, as they attest during testimony during the enthusiastic q-and-a afterwards. They laud the director, Rola Nashef, who spent nine years in her quest to make it, and her three main actors: EJ Assi, a Detroit native in his feature film debut as the guy with ambitions beyond operating his family’s gritty gas station/convenience store; Nada Shouyahib, fresh out of college in her first-ever role as the middle-class daughter also eager to escape working in her brother’s cellphone business; and Mike Bateyeh, playing EJ’s cousin and co-worker, the veteran of the group, another Detroit native who’s knocked around LA as a standup comic and actor with a couple dozen credits, including an arc on “Breaking Bad.”

It’s not a flawless movie, but it has interesting and unexpected rhythms both in its dialogue and situations, and believable chemistry between the romantic leads. I’m not surprised when Nashef says her next film script, also set in the Lebanese-American community, revolves around a group of girlfriends: two of the best scenes in “Detroit American” involve the tight-knit group of Nada’s gal pals.

Segue from a interesting but conventional Hollywood-type film, however independently produced, to the world premiere of “Chaos, Disorder,” the debut feature film from a young Egyptian woman, Nadine Khan, who graduated from film school in Cairo, has worked as an AD and made short films. An isolated community, living among garbage is dependent on quixotic outside forces for food, water, and electricity, while a love triangle brews among the disaffected youth. You don’t have to be particularly sophisticated to see a political parable. It’s hard not to think of Samuel Beckett when you see people on top of garbage, and because of the enclosed setting and brisk 76-minute running time, I think that “Chaos, Disorder” could also be a satisfying play.

A guy asks me where the shuttle bus is, and he turns out to be a Tunisian film professor who has also just seen “Chaos, Disorder,” which he didn’t like – specifically because it was both a parable and theatrical. I tell him that I also found it theatrical, but that Samuel Beckett is very good company for it to be compared with.

What, I ask, have you seen that you liked? “Moondog,” he says. When I get back to my hotel room, I email Peter Scarlet : “How was Moondog?” “I ankled it after an hour,” he replies, in Varietyese. Knowing that not everybody watches everything all the way through, I ask: “I’m assuming you wouldn’t recommend it?” “Perhaps to curiosity-seekers with a strong masochistic streak…”

That’s what makes horse races.