My Top 20 Picks for Dubai International Film Festival 2012

The 9th edition of the Dubai International Film Festival is on from 9th-16th December. The theme this year is "A Film for Everyone" and with a line up of 161 feature films, shorts and documentaries from around the world - there certainly is a something for everyone. 

The opening film is Ang Lee's Life of Pi (my bet was on The Hobbit) and there's a big line up of celebrities attending this year's festival. But I won't go into any of that. I'll just get straight to the point of this post, my usual top 20 recommendations. Let me know if you have a list and see you at the festival front row and centre.

 

100 Mankai ikita neko (The Cat That Lived a Million Times)  

Yoko Sano, 70 years old picture book author, was given two years to live due to cancer. While reciting her masterpiece picture book “The Cat That Lived a Million Times” which was published 33 years ago, people talk about their view of life and death in their life.

On the other hand, Sano is slowly heading to the death. The camera captures both Sano and people who read the book and talk their life which was linked with only the book. This is the tranquil documentary thinking about life and death based on a picture book.

Schedule and ticket information.

Amour 

Winner of the Cannes Palme d’Or this year AMOUR tells of octogenarians Georges and Anne, retired classical music teachers, long married and still enjoying each other's company and life's simple pleasures. Their daughter, also a musician, lives in London with her family.

One day Anne has a mild stroke and Georges insists on looking after her but when a second one strikes, life as they knew it is over. In this poignant exploration of the power of love Haneke's direction and marvellous performances from two legendary French actors leave one breathless and deeply moved.

Schedule and ticket information.

Bekas 

Dana and Zana are two little kids looking for their salvation. The only way they figure out to that is "Superman", after secretly watching bits and pieces of the movie. They are both orphans and homeless, in the Iraqi Kurdistan, under the oppressive regime of Saddam Hussein during the nineties of the last century.

Their only hope is to reach the United States of America, and live with their friend "Superman". But how to get there? They have no money, no passports, and the only means of transportation they've got is a donkey.

Schedule and ticket information.

Blancanieves

This glorious silent melodrama is inspired by the fairy tale of Snow White. Young Carmen escapes her malevolent step-mother to join a travelling troupe of bullfighting dwarves and rises to fame in the corrida.

The combination of a much loved fairytale and a female bullfighter crossed with Goya visuals ensures a fantastical tribute to a golden age of cinema and the toreros.  

Schedule and ticket information.

Casablanca Mon Amour

Using movies as a road map, and in part a road movie itself, CASABLANCA MON AMOUR offers a Moroccan perspective on the long and entwined relationship between Hollywood and the Arab world. This highly original film takes a human look at the effects that blockbusters have had people’s imaginations and affords Moroccans an opportunity to talk back - which they do in intelligent, witty and wildly ingenious ways.

Part-documentary, part-fiction, and featuring a cast of compelling non-actors, CASABLANCA MON AMOUR uses the process of movie making as a way of turning the Great American Story on its head; in the process it offers Hollywood and America a story about itself. 

Schedule and ticket information.

De rouille et d'os (Rust and Bone)

Marion Cotillard and Matthias Schoenaerts star in this gritty, emotionally credible and raw story of love and courage from Jacques Audiard that garnered unanimous accolades in competition at Cannes this year.

Based on Craig Davidson’s eponymous short story, RUST AND BONE is about a 25-year-old single father who meets a beautiful killer whale trainer who suffers a terrible accident. An emotionally moving story of love and courage that lingers in the mind.

Schedule and ticket information.

Deine Schönheit ist nichts wert (Your Beauty Is Worth Nothing) 

In this charming and thoughtful film, 12-year-old Veysel, named for the legendary Turkish poet Asik Veysel, struggles to adapt to his new life in Austria. At school he doesn’t speak the language while at home there continues to be tension amongst the various family members.

His only happy moments are when he thinks about Ana, a classmate he is secretly in love with and unable to communicate with. Help comes in the unlikely form of a rough neighbour, Cem, who assists as Veysel set outs to win Ana's heart. 

Schedule and ticket information.

Harana (Serenade)

A rare chance to see old fashioned courtship, where singing was once used to woo a woman. SERENADE is a lovely portrayal of a side of the Philippines rarely seen on the screen.

Florante, a classically trained guitarist returns to the Philippines after 12 years and rediscovers harana - a long-forgotten Filipino tradition, when men sang under the window at night to fearlessly declare their love for a woman.

He finds three of its last surviving practitioners - a farmer, a fisherman and a tricycle driver - and asks them to travel with him to perform. As word spreads around Manila of leathery faced men whose style of expressive singing touch the hearts everywhere they performed, it culminates in recording the first authentic harana album in the last 50 years. But can harana be restored to its former glory or is it doomed to vanish silently into the night forever? 

Schedule and ticket information.

 

The Master 

Paul Thomas Anderson continues his investigation of flawed characters (MAGNOLIA, THERE WILL BE BLOOD) with this powerful story of the relationship between Freddie, a Second World War ex-soldier, and Lancaster, the larger than life founder of a new religious cult who uses his charm and charisma to beget and manipulate followers.

Their friendship is bizarre and volatile with Lancaster’s sophistication set against Freddie’s troubled and violent psyche. A glorious, ebullient study of characters outside conformity. 

Schedule and ticket information.

Mit Afghanistan - livet i den forbudte zone (My Afghanistan – Life in the Forbidden Zone)

Disenchanted by the western media's depiction of the war in Afghanistan, director and journalist Nagieb Khaja decided to equip a group of Afghan civilians with mobile cameras.

The end product offers glimpses of their dreams, hopes and fears in the midst of a war zone – as viewed by the people of Afghanistan. 

Schedule and ticket information.

Pieta 

A solitary man lives as a loan shark brutally threatening people for payback, and maiming them for insurance money when they fail to pay.

When a woman appears in his life claiming to be his mother, he rejects her at first, but is ultimately drawn to her and decides to give up his cruel ways for a better life.

It’s not as simple though, as the woman is kidnapped, setting him off to track down all those he harmed. When he finally finds the abductor, he discovers dark secrets better left unknown.

Schedule and ticket information.

Radioman 

RADIOMAN is the extraordinary story of New York street bum Craig Castaldo, who became an unlikely movie legend with over 100 cameo apperances in films and TV shows.

Director Mary Kerr debuts as a documentary director with a film which features interviews with celebrities including George Clooney, Matt Damon, Meryl Streep, Robin Williams and more. Watch out for Craig in your movie going!

Schedule and ticket information.

Ship of Thesus 

If the parts of a ship are replaced, bit-by-bit, is it still the same ship? An unusual photographer grapples with the loss of her intuitive brilliance in the aftermath of a clinical procedure; an erudite monk confronting an ethical dilemma has to choose between principle and death; and a young stockbroker, following the trail of a stolen kidney, learns how intricate morality could be.

Following the separate strands of their philosophical journeys, and their eventual convergence, SHIP OF THESEUS explores questions of identity, justice, beauty, meaning and death. 

Schedule and ticket information.

Shut Up and Play the Hits 

On 2 April 2011, LCD Soundsystem played their final show at Madison Square Garden. LCD frontman James Murphy had made the conscious decision to disband one of the most celebrated bands of its generation at the peak of its popularity, ensuring it would go out on top with the biggest concert of its career.

The instantly sold out, near four-hour extravaganza did just that, moving the thousands in attendance to tears of joy and grief. SHUT UP AND PLAY THE HITS documents this once in a lifetime performance and presents an intimate portrait of Murphy as he navigates personal and professional ramifications of his decision.

Schedule and ticket information.

Sightseers

A fun horror film with lots of laughs, horror and bloody deaths to keep everyone happy. Chris wants to show Tina his world and he wants to do it his way - on a journey through the British Isles in his beloved Abbey Oxford Caravan. But it doesn't take long for the dream to fade.

Litterbugs, noisy teenagers and pre-booked caravan sites, not to mention Tina's meddling mother, soon conspire to shatter Chris's dreams and send him, and anyone who rubs him up the wrong way, over a very jagged edge. 

Schedule and ticket information.

Soundbreaker 

The notion that the piano accordion could be regarded as an instrument capable of beautiful music may come as a surprise to some, but just listen to Kimmo Pohjonen.

Whether playing alone or accompanied by other musicians, bellows, farmyard animals and machines, this Finnish maestro enthralls listeners with his strongly Scandinavian take on multiple musical genres. His approach to music, his instrument and life (see him drop out of sight down a hole in deep ice) provides an extraordinary document of a singular man.

Schedule and ticket information.

Sta Per Piovere (It's About To Rain) 

IT’S ABOUT TO RAIN is a film about a very particular situation - an Algerian father and two Algerian-Italian sons, struggling to come to terms with an Italy that appears to reject them - that's extraordinarily universal.

Starring the charismatic newcomer Lorenzo Baglioni as Said Mahran, this is a subtle, emotional and gripping story, one that relates to everyone that's ever found themselves between different countries, belonging somewhere that doesn't make them wholly welcome.

Schedule and ticket information.

Tabu 

In this beguiling and unpredictable film, a temperamental old woman, her Cape Verdean maid and a neighbour devoted to social causes live on the same floor of a Lisbon apartment building.

When the old lady dies, the other two learn of an episode from her past: a tale of love and crime set in an Africa straight from the world of adventure films.

Schedule and ticket information.

Virgem Margarida (Virgin Margarida)

1975, Mozambique’s rebirth as an independent nation. The young revolution sweeps the streets of Maputo clean of prostitutes and bad habits. The prostitutes are sent to re-education camps deep in the countryside, where they will become “new women” – loyal comrades of the new nation.

As the “clean-up” takes place, Margarida, a 16-year-old girl from the countryside, is mistakenly taken. Drawing on the stories of real women, VIRGIN MARGARIDA is a dramatic exploration of a little known chapter in Mozambique’s history. A chapter that made no allowance for individuality and enshrined male domination as an ideology. 

Schedule and ticket information.

Wadjda 

Every day Wadjda passes a toy store window with a beautiful green bicycle. Although it is forbidden for girls to ride bicycles, Wadjda concocts a plan to earn enough money to afford the bike by secretly selling 'illicit products' in her schoolyard.

But her plans are soon exposed, leaving her with only one last chance to make the money she needs; a Quran recital competition with a big cash prize. Wadjda tries to find a sly and cunning way to rise above her fellow competitors to make her most cherished dream come true... the green bicycle. 

Schedule and ticket information.

www.dubaifilmfest.com 

[Movie synopsis via dubaifilmfest.com] 

DIFF at The Pavilion - From Book To Screen

Still from Submarine 

The fourth edition of Dubai International Film Festival's monthly film screenings at The Pavilion will focus on films based on novels.

It's a very good line up this month, I'e watched all three films before and really like each one, so I strongly recommend you don't miss this month's screenings. 

Here's the line up: 

Monday, 26th October - Submarine (2010)

Directed by British writer, actor, director and comedian Richard Ayoade (The IT Crowd), the offbeat Submarine is based on the acclaimed coming of age novel by Joe Dunthorne, but is also exquisitely crafted for film buffs–15-year old Oliver Tate narrates his agonizingly self-conscious antics complete with camera angles.

But the film is far from precious, taking viewers along with the precocious Oliver as he attempts to save his parents’ marriage and lose his virginity, preferably both before his next birthday.

Tuesday, 27th October - Project Nim (2011)

Project Nim is a fascinating documentary based on the biography of a chimpanzee, Nim Chimpsky, who was adopted by a human family in the 1970′s to determine if he could communicate with researchers if he were raised like a human child.

After his wild nature endangered the children of his first human family, Nim was moved to a series of research facilities, touching the lives of all he came across. His journey is a revealing look at both human and chimpanzee society.

Wednesday, 28th October - We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011)

Scottish director Lynne Ramsay (Morvern Callar, Ratcatcher) crafts an emotional thriller based on the  Orange Prize winning novel by Lionel Shriver. Academy Award winner Tilda Swinton (I am Love; The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe) plays Eva, a career woman turned devoted mother.

Despite disquieting signs throughout their son’s childhood, Eva and her husband Franklin (versatile character actor John C. Reilly of Magnolia and Stepbrothers) find themselves unprepared for a spectacular act of violence he commits as a teenager. As a result, Eva struggles with crippling guilt—could she have foreseen and possibly prevented Kevin’s crime?

Event details
Dates: 26th-28th November at 7.30pm
Venue: The Pavilion Downtown, Dubai Emaar Boulevard, Downtown Dubai (location map)
Phone: +971 4 4477025
Free entry and seating is on a first come, first sit basis.

www.dubaifilmfest.com
www.pavilion.ae   

[image via 505diary.blogspot.com]

Gulf Film Festival 2011 - My Top 20 Picks

The 4^th edition of the Gulf Film Festival returns this month from 14th-20th April at Dubai Festival City and will screen more than 150 films, all free to the public.

“The Gulf Film Festival celebrates cinematic excellence in the Gulf, offering a solid platform for regional talent to highlight their competencies. This year, complementing our credo of promoting regional filmmaking, we are also opening doors to showcase international shorts for the first time in the region, which will serve as an interactive experience for participants.  Short films are a compelling artform that capture the dynamism of cinema within a short span of time. By inviting international talent to the Gulf Film Festival, we want to highlight the diverse approaches in short filmmaking across the world.” Masoud Amralla Al Ali, Festival Director

The festival includes Gulf-wide, student and international shorts competitions, as well as out-of-competition segments, a children’s cinema segment. Two important highlights at this year's festival is the focus on experimental and eclectic French filmmaker Gérard Courant by screening ‘Cinématon’ the world's longest film, 156 hours long featuring short, silent, self-portraits of over 2,347 artists, directors, and cinephiles and the master class with renowned director Abbas Kiarostami and a series of workshops and discussions open to a limited number of participants. 

Whilst the Dubai International Film Festival is the older and more glamourous sister festival and showcases films from around the world, the Gulf Film Festival is the humble younger sister that focuses on films from the Gulf region and this year will also include films from around he world including non-traditional film markets such as Afghanistan, Lithuania, Gabon, and Kyrgyzstan. If you have not been introduced to films from the Gulf, this is your chance to get acquainted

Here are my top 20 picks of short films, full features and documentaries from/about the region. See you at the festival, front row and centre.

Hamama (UAE)
Director Nujoom Al Ghanem

Hamama is nearly 90-years-old, a spiritual healer renowned as a living legend across the United Arab Emirates. Blessed with an incredible gift of healing, she nevertheless has to face her increasing frailty which threatens to impact her work and her livelihood. Her skills are incredibly valuable to hundreds who continue to visit her each day where she lives in Al Dhaid (Sharjah), seeking her essential cures. Yet, Hamama struggles with the responsibility of providing the care that is so greatly needed, while confronting her own personal hardships.

 

The Philosopher (UAE)
Director Abdalla Al Kaabi

Baggio is a successful footballer, martial artist and a pianist living the high life with his fame and fortune. Unfortunately, all of the perfections do not help satisfy that urging need in Baggio to do ‘something’ with his life. So he embarks on himself to drop all his titles and adopt a new title as a – philosopher! But if only things were that easy!

Al Seefah (UAE)
Director Mohammed Ghanim Al Marri

"Al Seefah" translates to the word beach in Arabic.  A fictional drama that conveys the problems that many UAE nationals face, as explored through the eyes of an old fisherman. With new fishing restriction laws being put into effect, fishermen are struggling to preserve their ancestors' source of living. This film demonstrates how an old fisherman reminisces about the old days when it was possible for anyone to place their fishing nets in the sea without paying fines.

telePhoni (UAE)
Director Hassan Kiyany

telePhoni tells the story of a nine-year-old boy who discovers a secret through the first test shots taken on his new iPhone.

 

Soweer (UAE)
Director Saud Merwesh  

A traditional game lies between the reality and the imagination. 

Letters to Palestine (UAE)
Director Rashid Al Marri

Letters to Palestine is a documentary film which gathers the voices of various Arabs who are sending their unread letters to the Palestinian people living under occupation in current day Palestine. It captures the stories which never had the opportunity to reach the homes and the families of the Palestinians living under occupation. From young to old, the Arabs captured in this film have the chance to send their love, their stories, their aching for Palestine to the homes, families and children of Palestine.

Al Kandorah (UAE)
Directors Lamya Al Mualla and Maitha Al Haddad

A social commentary on the national attire directed.

Sabeel (UAE)
Director Khalid Al Mahmood

Two small boys live with their elderly grandmother in the mountains of the UAE. Spending their days tending their vegetables and then selling produce on the road, they have to earn enough money to buy medicine for their sick grandmother. This sweet, poignant film explores their lives and the world in which they live. 

 

Kanary (Qatar)
Director Sophia Al Maria

Kanary is a coming-of-age story about an alienated Qatari teenager (Najla), who rebels against her family and their rules. But when she is caught riding in a car with a boy, a dramatic duel between father and daughter ensues.

A Night to Remember (Saudi Arabia)
Director Fahmi Farouk Farahat

Two films by director Fahmi Farouk Farahat’s will be screened at this festival, the documentary A Night to Remember is a docudrama of music and dance set in the holy city of Makkah. His other film, The Corporation is a comedy about working in a mixed-gender office, a rarity in Saudi society.

Maher's Camera (Saudi Arabia)
Director Mansour Al Badran

Mansour Albadran’s comedy Maher's Camera follows a talented photographer who decides to participate in a photography competition about tourism in Saudi Arabia and has to face several difficulties.

Photon (Saudi Arabia)
Director Awadh Alhamzani

A short documentary about the story of a pioneer photographer, Sufyan Al-Khazraje, who left Iraq to Sweden when he was young.  He left with a dream. Later , his art won over  Swedish prize for photography 10 times in a raw. It's the journey of a photon, started from a peaceful soul that learned to live in harmony lined up with contradictions forced by absence of home and being in different times and places at the same time.

The Power of Generations (Bahrain)
Director Mohammed Jassim

Mohammed Jassim’s thriller The Power of Generations shines a light on the developments that the region has witnessed from the beginning of time. A commentary on progress, its fragility and the importance of maintaining development, the film revolves around a man sitting in a chair in the desert, when the world around him starts to evolve and devolve.

Lulwa (Bahrain)
Director Osama Al Saif

Lulwa focuses on the sensitive issue of sexual harassment, from a personal to the community level. The film tells the story of the glamorous Lulwa, who is harassed by a family member as well as a leading community figure, and the repercussions within her family and the reactions of the community at large as the wrong people are implicated in the traumatic incidents.

The Quarter of Scarecrows (Iraq)
Director Hassan Ali Mahmood 


Flocks of crows attack a rich landowner’s property. The landowner tries a variety of ways to prevent them from eating his harvest. A fierce battle ensues between the two parties with the village children becoming victims of the conflict.

Leaving Baghdad (Iraq)
Director Koutaiba Al-Janabi

Leaving Baghdad follows the personal cameraman to Saddam Hussein, as he tries to escape the grip of the regime, while being pursued around the world.

Golakani Kirkuk (The Flowers of Kirkuk) (Iraq)
Director Fariborz Kamkari

The Flowers of Kirkuk is the story of a young doctor who must choose between her family traditions and her own dreams in 1980s Iraq.

Fragments of Life and Death (Iraq)
Director Mano Khalil

Mano Khalil’s Fragments of Life and Death shows stories of people who stayed alive by chance after mass killings carried out by the regime.

Goodbye Babylon (Iraq)
Director Amer Alwan 

Goodbye Babylon tells the story of an American soldier drafted to Iraq whose initial belief in the mission of liberation starts to fade over his three years in the nation

Baghdad Film School (Iraq)
Director Shuchen Tan

In 2003, only a few months after the liberation of Baghdad, two Iraqi born filmmakers opened the first independent film school in Iraq. Baghdad Film School is the true story of the first independent film school in Iraq and its students’ struggle to fulfil their dreams of making films in the midst of chaos, fear, death, and hardship.

Complete festival schedule can be found at www.gulffilmfest.com.

Review: Dubai International Film Festival 2010

The First Movie by Mark Cousins (image from www.thefirstmovie.net)
I'm back after spending a week at our cinemas attending the 7th edition of the Dubai International Film Festival. At the opening ceremony, Masoud Amralla Al Ali, DIFF’s Artistic Director said, “If I could choose one word to describe our 2010 programme, it would be 'discovery'. We have discoveries of new talents, new styles and new collaborations.”

I am always very enthusiastic about our film festivals, but this year’s edition of DIFF didn’t have that effect on me. There were a lot of discoveries, but this year’s edition lacked uplifting stories compared to last year (Zanzibar Musical Club, Les Plages D'Agnès, The Silver Fez, Amreeka to name a few). Maybe I missed out on watching some films that could have changed my mind but friends that watched many other films that I couldn’t shared the same feeling. Or maybe it’s a reflection of the year in general.

Don’t get me wrong, there were some good films shown, but from the selection I watched, I ended up with a handful of favourites compared to previous years.


The ones I loved:

1. The First Movie
A documentary written and directed by Mark Cousins is my number one film from this year’s festival. Filmed in the village of Goptapa in Iraqi Kurdistan, Cousins wanted to capture the village’s memories of war and suffering during the years of Saddam Hussein by focusing on the children and using cinema as a communication tool. 

He set up a makeshift open-air cinema and screened five classic films (The Boot, ET, Palle Alone in the World, The Red Balloon, The Singing Ringing Tree) and then gave the young children cameras to make their own films.

Watching the children experiencing and enjoying cinema for the first time was such a moving scene for me, I could not hold back the tears. As I type this and remember that scene, it brings tears to my eyes again (or maybe I’m just a tearful wreck). The beautiful short films made by the children were a selection innocence and profundity, which was just as moving.

The First Movie is so poetic and if there is any justice in this world, I hope these children have a bright future ahead of them.

2. Khusel Shunal (Passion)
A lovely documentary/road movie about Mongolia’s film history, which is almost non-existent compared
to the pre-democratic revolution days, which had a healthy film industry funded by the state.

Throughout the film, we follow Binder Jigjid, son of the legendary Mongolian director Jigjid Dejid, as he takes his film from village to village trying to find venues and viewers to watch it and his struggle to make art movies that must fight for attention against Hollywood blockbusters.

3. The King's Speech
This was screened at the opening gala of the festival and was wonderful, an absolute joy to watch. Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush captured a great friendship on screen. I heard its director Tom Hooper describe it on a radio interview as a “period bromance”.

It deserves all the critical acclaim its been receiving since it’s release across the world.

4. Amin
A beautiful and heartbreaking story about Qashqai music (folk music of the ancient Qashqai tribes of southern Iran) and one man’s struggle, Amin Aghaie to keep it alive.

I always call people like Amin Aghaie music nerds and I mean it in the most endearing sense. Their effort in trying to preserve, record and archive music that is at the risk of disappearing is very commendable.

This is what else I watched:

Documentaries:

Imams Go To School follows a group of apprentice imams at Paris' Great Mosque undergoing a programme of secular training in the Catholic Institute of Paris. It’s an interesting look at inter-faith dialogue, but I wasn’t sure how convinced some of Imams were with this programme. Some of the dialogue felt stiff, it was as if some of the Imams couldn’t ignore the presence of the camera in the class room.

Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child made me appreciate Basquiat's work more than before, it was a great insight into the life of the artist and his work.

All About My Father left me very disappointed, even though I was hoping it would be one of my favourites.  Its main character Elie Sfeir is a charming man and a barber who has coiffed the heads of politicians, princes and presidents since 1942. So I was expecting to hear some amazing stories, but most of them felt incomplete, lacked depth and throughout the film Elie Sfeir just looked very uncomfortable in front of the camera.

Hamama follows the lovely and strong-willed 90 year old Hamama from Al Dhaid, Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates. Known for having the gift of healing people, which was simply explained as a God given gift she one day discovered as a young woman, so it will sound like mumbo jumbo to many, but nevertheless, it was compelling to watch. I hope this gets picked up and screened at our local cinemas.

Tagnawittude takes a look at Gnawa music from North Africa and the traditional practice of trance state its musicians and listeners get into. Its director Rahma Benhamou El Madani used to watch her mother meditate and enter a state of self-induced hypnosis when she was a child and wanted to discover the roots of this practice. She interviews several musicians including members of Gnawa Diffusion's Amzigh Kateb and Aziz Maysour. We also get to witness some intimate musical performances and the trance it leads to, but the end of the film left me wondering if El Madani was satisfied with the result or still looking for more answers.

Madinat Al Mawta (The City of the Dead) was a good introduction Cairo's thriving and densely populated four mile long cemetery but it didn’t go in depth about life (and death) in this area.

Full length films

Harud (Autumn), a great display of the 'psychological decay' (as described by the director Aamir Bashir  in a discussin after the screening) of life in Kashmir. It was a very slow movie, but it had some very moving moments.

Jimseung Ui Kkut (End of Animal), the synopsis for this Korean film directed by Sung-hee Jo described it as a “gripping and absorbing psychodrama”. It was very tense to watch and left the audience quite baffled at the end.

El Maktoub (Taxiphone) is about a young Swiss couple who are crossing the Sahara desrt and bound for Timbuktu, Mali on a truck that breaks down leaving them stuck in a tiny settlement in the Algerian desert. During their stay they discover the local culture and lifestyle that eventually leaves them questioning their lives and choices. Its director, Mohammed Soudani later explained he wanted to explore  the role of westerners coping in an eastern environment and the film had some funny moments and beautiful desertscapes, but overall it felt bland and just wasn't powerful enough to get high marks.

Microphone, one of the most talked about film at this festival written and directed by Ahmad Abdalla is a love letter to Alexandria and an insight to its underground music scene. It follows a group of young and talented musicians looking for an opportunity to be seen and heard, yet, traditional society doesn’t offer them the opportunities. The soundtrack is good, the dialogue quite funny and despite its length (t could have been a bit shorter) and some of the plotlines lost its direction, I enjoyed it.

Norwegian Wood based on Haruki Murakami's novel and directed by Tran Anh Hung was one of the most beautiful looking films at this festival, filled with complicated and raw emotions.

The Piano in a Factory is an endearing film about Chen, a steel factory worker and a  father trying to keep his daughter after his estranged wife reappears asking for a divorce and custody of their daughter. The daughter who loves music thanks to her father decides to live with whoever can provide her a piano. After several failed attempts at trying grant her wish, Chen decides he will build a piano from scratch with a help of his friends at the derelict steel factory. The film has another layer to it - it's a nostalgic look at fading factory towns in northeastern industrial China in the 1990s.

Copacabana starring Isabelle Huppert and her daughter Lolita Chammah wasn't as quirky as I was expecting but it had superb acting by both mother and daughter. The bonus of the night was having both of them along with the director Marc Fitoussi present for a post screening discussion and question/answer session.

Short films

The Philosopher by first time filmmaker Abdulla AlKaabi and starring Jean Reno is a sweet look at trying to free yourself from possessions to find true happiness. 

Hayat min Sakhar (Life of Stone) by Moath Bin Hafez takes a look at he harsh life of Saeed Al Thuhoory, a 70 year old man from Shaam, Ras Al Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates who has been quarrying rocks and stones from the mountains since he was 10 years old. A very patient and content man who knows no other way of life. It felt like he finds spiritual satisfaction in these mountains.

Ghawas Gaza (Gaza Diver) by Ali Khalifa Bin Thalith is a heartbreaking yet uplifting look at Khalil Aljdeili, a young man who lost his legs during the Gaza bombing two years ago. He underwent treatment in the UAE and despite his disability was able to learn underwater diving and enjoy the freedom of movement underwater.

Brownbook Urban Series is comprised of 10 interviews with people making a difference to the Middle East through arts, music, food, and architecture brought to us by the same people behind Brownbook magazine. Although beautifully shot, it felt like an advertorial and is more suited for TV or an online series  - it really didn’t fit the festival line up.

One film that I must mention although not viewed at DIFF because I watched it in London few weeks ago is Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives. I heard mixed reviews from the Dubai crowd, but I must say that had I watched it at this festival, it would have been a favourite. It's very hard to describe this film as it combines mythology, horror and humour. It's dark, yet optimistic. I am still trying to figure out the ending and I want to post a separate review about this film soon, so watch this space. I also want to add that I had the opportunity to meet one of its producers, Simon Field and had a brief chat with him about the film and the filmmaker, Apichatpong Weerasethakul.

Last few remaining thoughts about the festival (if you are still reading this, thank you for your interest and patience).

- The website www.dubaifilmfest.com -  I've already ranted about this in a previous post, but I just want to mention that I did not encounter one person that didn't have problems with the site. I even had a friend that flew in for the festival and struggled with the schedule, finding theatre locations, etc. Please, please, please DIFF invest in a decent website. This is your 7th year, you should have a consistent and working website by now. Trust me, it will be worthwhile. Find an agency that can design and build websites and stop treating it as an online version of your catalogue.

- The YouTube Channel www.youtube.com/dubaifilmfestival - DIFF announced a "curated" selection of online videos in collaboration with students from Zayed University. But throughout the week, DIFF’s Twitter feed felt like a spambot with a lot of posts showing links and names with no description, so it wouldn’t entice me to click. Not all the names are well known filmmakers, so perhaps a missed opportunity to get more people to click on the links.

A small example of what I am talking about from http://twitter.com/DFF2010

After the festival, I spent some time on the YouTube channel, and most of the interviewees are just saying how happy and excited they are to be in Dubai attending DIFF or even worse, being asked if they use the Internet. I mean, seriously, if you have a few minutes with Colin Firth, Ed Harris and Jean Reno, surely there are far more interesting questions to ask them. You can almost feel the awkwardness watching these clips.

- The outdoor venue for the Rhythm and Reels section of the festival, The Walk at Jumeirah Beach Residence location - again, I've already ranted about this before, and due to the "overwhelming response", the screenings ended up free of charge, so yes, it was easy to fill up. But for next year, I hope DIFF makes an effort to invite the whole city to be part of the festival, find a central venue and not just focus on the "new" parts of Dubai. Introduce venues to people that are not familiar with the rest of the city, let DIFF become a discovery of the city as well.

What were your thoughts of this year's festival? What was your highlight, lowlight? 

www.dubaifilmfest.com

Mascarades - movie screening in Dubai

Masquerades premiered at the Dubai International Film Festival 2008 and won the Muhr Arab Award and subsequently went on to win critical acclaim and several awards across several global film festivals.

It will be screening from 3rd-10th June at The Picturehouse in Dubai Mall -  so if you are craving world cinema, make sure you don't miss this one.

Masquerades narrates the story of Mounir, who lives with his family in the heart of the Algerian Aures. An arrogant man, who also adores his sister Rym, a narcoleptic and whom the village is convinced will end up a spinster - Mounir has only one dream: to finally be appreciated by his fellow citizens. After working for much of his life as a gardener in his dusty Algerian village, Mounir dreams of improving his family’s fortune and gaining a measure of respect by marrying off Rym, to a "real gentleman".

Rym, however,  has other plans. She dreams of marrying Mounir’s best friend, Khliffa, who has secretly courted her for years. When Mounir lashes out at village gossip with a fib that he has promised Rym to a wealthy outsider, she comes out of her sleepy stupor to embrace the rumor and press her real betrothed into action.

Beautifully brought to life by a memorable cast—including director Lyes Salem as the cocky but compassionate bumbler Mounir—this heartfelt comedy suggests that when dreams become reality, it’s time to wake up.

Director Lyes Salem was born in Alger, Algeria in 1973. After studying at the National Conservatory for Superior Dramatic Arts, he performed in some of the most respected theaters in the country. His second short film, Cousines, received France's César award for Best Short Film in 2005. As an actor, he has appeared in a number of films, including Alex, Banlieue 13 and L’Ecole de la Chair. Mascarades is his first feature film.

www.reelcinemas.ae/cineplexes/picturehouse
www.dubaifilmfest.com

City of Life

City of Life premiered last December at the Dubai International Film Festival 2009. I intentionally skipped this movie in December because I normally focus on watching movies I know that will have no chance in hell getting a wide release here and instead of counting on watching them on DVD later (since I cherish my cinema theatre experience), I make sure I watch as many as I can at the festival.

So with that in mind and with City of Life being a Dubai movie, I assumed it would be released across cinemas here shortly after the festival.

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Top 10 events in Dubai in 2009

Didn't have a chance to share this earlier, but here is a list of my top 10 events in 2009 in Dubai (including one in Abu Dhabi). What was your favourite event in 2009?

1. Dubai International Film Festival: 9th-16th Dec 2009
This is the only week when cinephiles in Dubai are treated to regional and international movies and documentaries and I love losing myself watching movies during this festival and falling in love with some gems. Hands down it is my favourite week in Dubai and you can read my complete review here.

2. The opening of The Empty Quarter
Earlier this year saw the opening of The Empty Quarter, the only gallery in Dubai devoted exclusively to fine art photography. This made my day and I love the work they show. Here are two exhibitions that stood out for me.

Dubai Transmutatations: 20th Oct-28th Nov 2009
A very unique photographic project by French photographer Martin Becka captured Dubai using techniques that date back to the very beginnings of photography. The images of modern Dubai were captured with a wooden photographic tool of a very large format on negative waxed papers, using a process invented approximately 160 years ago by Gustave Le Gray. The photographs were then printed on albumin paper and toned with gold. It was fascinating seeing images of modern Dubai taken using ancient techniques.

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Dubai International Film Festival 2009 - Review

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Dubai International Film Festival 2009

The 6th edition of the Dubai International Film Festival is back this month, from 9th-16th Dec. With over 170 films from 55 countries in this year's line up, here's my top 15 recommendations to watch this year:

Corso: The Last Beat

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