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Celebration of Gulf cinema begins

DUBAI — The fifth Gulf Film Festival, which opened with Kuwaiti feature film Tora Bora on Tuesday, will screen an exciting collection of films on the first day of regular screenings today at the Grand Festival Cinemas in Dubai Festival City. All screenings are free to the public.

Among the highlights of the screenings today is the special ‘In Focus’ programme of GFF 2012, which puts the spotlight on Jordanian cinema. To be screened from 3.45pm to 5pm at Grand Festival Cinema 2 are five films, highlighting the country’s much talked-about talent and projects.

These include two international premieres: Akram, directed by Anas Balawi, and Fugue directed by Sarah Kaskas. Akram is the story of an 11-year-old boy who dreams to become the world’s most famous race-camel trainer, and Fugue is a psychological drama that follows Fadi, a young man searching for his father even as he suffers from a strange form of amnesia.

Other screenings include that of director Zaid Abu Hamdan’s Bahiya… and Mahmud, an award-winning film about love taking different forms during old age; A Crossover, directed by Thouraya Hamda and Mohammad Hushki about the disturbing question of death being addressed by an eight-year-old boy in Laith; and Emergence by Katia Al-Tal, exploring how the human race has been ruled by certain laws and if they decide to break the chains, what turns followers into system errors.

Film lovers will also have the opportunity to watch two UAE productions, exploring two different facets of art. Glitter Dust: Finding Art in Dubai, directed by Katy Chung, tries to discover the real artists behind the dazzle of the city’s art scene. A world premiere at the GFF, the film is competing in the Official Gulf Features competition and will be screened from 6.15pm at Grand Festival Cinema 9. The Akram Tree, to be screened from 3.15pm at Grand Festival Cinema 9, is the bio-pic on Akram Khan, the acclaimed choreographer who has regaled audiences in the UAE through his performances. Making its Middle East premiere at the GFF, the documentary is directed by Francesco Cabras and Alberto Molinari.

Another world premiere at the GFF, also competing in the Official Feature competition, is the science fiction Lockdown: Red Moon Escape by Mohammed Al Ibrahim and Ahmed Al Baker. The Qatari film is about Mishal’s and Rashid’s road trip, which goes awry when they encounter a group of zombies. The film will be screened from 8pm at Grand Festival Cinema 4.

At 3pm at the Grand Festival Cinema 10, the festival will screen selected vignettes crafted by avant-garde French filmmaker Courant, including four-minute personal sketches of UAE residents and GFF guests that are now part of the world’s longest movie, Cinematon.

Today’s screenings also include collections of short films that are competing in the Official Gulf Shorts, International Shorts and Official Gulf Students Shorts competitions. Audiences can also watch a diverse breadth of trend-setting shorts, drawn from around the world, in the Intersections and Lights category.

Held under the patronage of Shaikh Majid bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Dubai Culture and Arts Authority, the festival will run till April 16. The lineup, which is presented free to the public, includes 82 world premieres, 12 international premieres, 27 Middle East premieres, 11 GCC premieres and four UAE premieres. The GFF is also celebrating its landmark fifth anniversary with a special weekend of festival film screenings in Abu Dhabi from April 12 to 14, at the Abu Dhabi Theatre, in partnership with the Sultan bin Zayed Centre for Culture and Media.

news@khaleejtimes.com