The Cannes Film Festival presented its "second-tier" Un Certain Regard Awards last night ahead of the presentation of the illustrious Palme D'Or at tonight's closing ceremony and the long awaited screening of Terry Gilliam's decades-in-the-making The Man Who Killed Don Quixote.
The top award, the Un Certain Regard prize, went to the Danish-based, Iranian director Ali Abbasi for his genre defying mix of romance, mystery, social realism and supernatural horror Border, centred on a Swedish customs official with an unusually pronounced sense of smell.
There was also regional success when a tearful Moroccan writer/director, Meryem Benm'Barek, picked up the Best Screenplay Award for her drama Sofia, about a 20-year old Moroccan woman facing arrest after giving birth out of wedlock.
Another rising star to watch is 16-year old Belgian actor Victor Polsner, who picked up Best Performance for his role as a transgender girl who dreams of being a ballerina in Lukas Dhont's Girl.
The Best Director Award, meanwhile, went to an old hand in the shape of Ukrainian film maker Sergei Loznitsa, in competition for the third time with his political drama Donbass. The film is set in the conflict-stricken eastern part of his home country, where Ukrainian nationalists and Russian separatists have been battling it out since 2014.
Finally, a Special Jury Prize was presented to Portuguese-Brazilian duo João Salaviza and Renée Nader Messora for their film The Dead and the Others, a visually arresting look at indigenous traditions and mythology in northern Brazil.
All eyes are now on the Palme d'Or. The jury, headed by Cate Blanchett, is still out on that one. If the critics are to be believed, Korean director Lee Chang-dong's Burning should have this sewn up: the film has a 3.8 score in the Screen Daily Critics' Poll, breaking the record set by Maren Ade's Toni Erdmann two years ago. It's worth noting that Ade went home empty handed on that occasion.
There's regional representation here from Nadine Labaki's Lebanese drama Capharnaum, about a preteen boy who is suing his parents for bringing him into the world while raising a one-year old baby. The film hasn't fared too well in the critics' polls, but in a year in which Cannes has promised more female representation, and when Blanchett, the jury's president, took part in a protest to that effect on the steps of the Grand Lumiere Theatre, could the stars align for a second woman to finally pick up the prize? Jane Campion remains the sole female recipient since she picked up the prize in 1993 for The Piano.
Elsewhere, the other burning question is "Will Don Quixote finally screen?" Director Gilliam has famously been trying to make the film for over three decades, and the hurdles and comic mishaps that have so far prevented him were even made into a documentary, Lost in La Mancha, about his failed attempts back in 2002.
Now, 16 years later, the film is finally set to premiere closing the festival, but this week alone it has faced a legal challenge from a former producer to stop the screening, the withdrawal of Amazon from backing the film and even a health scare for Gilliam. At the time of writing, the French courts had cleared the film to show and Gilliam had made a full recovery, but could there still be one last twist in this 30+ year tale of woe? Check back later to find out.
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UAE squad
Ali Kashief, Salem Rashid, Khalifa Al Hammadi, Khalfan Mubarak, Ali Mabkhout, Omar Abdelrahman, Mohammed Al Attas (Al Jazira), Mohmmed Al Shamsi, Hamdan Al Kamali, Mohammad Barghash, Khalil Al Hammadi (Al Wahda), Khalid Eisa, Mohammed Shakir, Ahmed Barman, Bandar Al Ahbabi (Al Ain), Adel Al Hosani, Al Hassan Saleh, Majid Suroor (Sharjah), Waleed Abbas, Ismail Al Hammadi, Ahmed Khalil (Shabab Al Ahli Dubai) Habib Fardan, Tariq Ahmed, Mohammed Al Akbari (Al Nasr), Ali Saleh, Ali Salmeen (Al Wasl), Hassan Al Mahrami (Baniyas)
Citizenship-by-investment programmes
United Kingdom
The UK offers three programmes for residency. The UK Overseas Business Representative Visa lets you open an overseas branch office of your existing company in the country at no extra investment. For the UK Tier 1 Innovator Visa, you are required to invest £50,000 (Dh238,000) into a business. You can also get a UK Tier 1 Investor Visa if you invest £2 million, £5m or £10m (the higher the investment, the sooner you obtain your permanent residency).
All UK residency visas get approved in 90 to 120 days and are valid for 3 years. After 3 years, the applicant can apply for extension of another 2 years. Once they have lived in the UK for a minimum of 6 months every year, they are eligible to apply for permanent residency (called Indefinite Leave to Remain). After one year of ILR, the applicant can apply for UK passport.
The Caribbean
Depending on the country, the investment amount starts from $100,000 (Dh367,250) and can go up to $400,000 in real estate. From the date of purchase, it will take between four to five months to receive a passport.
Portugal
The investment amount ranges from €350,000 to €500,000 (Dh1.5m to Dh2.16m) in real estate. From the date of purchase, it will take a maximum of six months to receive a Golden Visa. Applicants can apply for permanent residency after five years and Portuguese citizenship after six years.
“Among European countries with residency programmes, Portugal has been the most popular because it offers the most cost-effective programme to eventually acquire citizenship of the European Union without ever residing in Portugal,” states Veronica Cotdemiey of Citizenship Invest.
Greece
The real estate investment threshold to acquire residency for Greece is €250,000, making it the cheapest real estate residency visa scheme in Europe. You can apply for residency in four months and citizenship after seven years.
Spain
The real estate investment threshold to acquire residency for Spain is €500,000. You can apply for permanent residency after five years and citizenship after 10 years. It is not necessary to live in Spain to retain and renew the residency visa permit.
Cyprus
Cyprus offers the quickest route to citizenship of a European country in only six months. An investment of €2m in real estate is required, making it the highest priced programme in Europe.
Malta
The Malta citizenship by investment programme is lengthy and investors are required to contribute sums as donations to the Maltese government. The applicant must either contribute at least €650,000 to the National Development & Social Fund. Spouses and children are required to contribute €25,000; unmarried children between 18 and 25 and dependent parents must contribute €50,000 each.
The second step is to make an investment in property of at least €350,000 or enter a property rental contract for at least €16,000 per annum for five years. The third step is to invest at least €150,000 in bonds or shares approved by the Maltese government to be kept for at least five years.
Candidates must commit to a minimum physical presence in Malta before citizenship is granted. While you get residency in two months, you can apply for citizenship after a year.
Egypt
A one-year residency permit can be bought if you purchase property in Egypt worth $100,000. A three-year residency is available for those who invest $200,000 in property, and five years for those who purchase property worth $400,000.
Source: Citizenship Invest and Aqua Properties
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
