Sharjah is set to host its first event dedicated to animation.
Sharjah Animation Conference, which will be held from May 3 to 5, will give fans of the genre and professionals in the field the opportunity to learn, network and watch industry leaders and Oscar winners discuss the craft of animation.
“Animation lovers in the UAE and beyond are in for a spectacular treat,” said Khoula Al Mujaini, the executive director of SAC.
“At the three-day Sharjah Animation Conference, they will enter the fascinating world of animation and get behind the scenes to learn so much about what brings these iconic and timeless characters to life.”
SAC 2023 will include a series of workshops, masterclasses, film screenings, networking events with publishers and producers, and other leaders in the animation industry. The focus of the event will be on the art of writing, languages, themes, production techniques and technologies within animated cinema.
Artists who are scheduled to be at the festival include John Nevarez, the film story artist of Disney’s Coco, which won an Oscar for Best Animated Feature; Sandro Cleuzo, animator and character designer of Mary Poppins Returns, starring Emily Blunt; and Takahiro Yoshimatsu, animator and director of Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z.
“Our intention is for Sharjah to become the animation capital of the Arab world, attracting professionals and young people from all over the Middle East,” added Pietro Pinetti, the festival's artistic director.
“A platform like SAC presents a great new opportunity for enabling exchange between the Arab and western worlds, particularly here in Sharjah, which has been investing in culture and young people for a long time.”
There is growing interest in all forms of animation, which was a focal point at this year’s Middle East Film and Comic Con. The annual event in March recorded its biggest turnout to date, with more than 35,000 visitors attending the event at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre.
MBC Group also recently announced the launch of a new hub dedicated to the licensing, commissioning, promotion and production of anime content in the region. And in November of last year, the Abu Dhabi Early Childhood Authority announced the reboot of the popular Emirati Arabic language cartoon series Mansour, which has more than two billion views on YouTube to date.
SAC 2023 will be held as part of the 14th annual Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival, running between May 3 – 14.
The years Ramadan fell in May
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Gertrude Bell's life in focus
A feature film
At one point, two feature films were in the works, but only German director Werner Herzog’s project starring Nicole Kidman would be made. While there were high hopes he would do a worthy job of directing the biopic, when Queen of the Desert arrived in 2015 it was a disappointment. Critics panned the film, in which Herzog largely glossed over Bell’s political work in favour of her ill-fated romances.
A documentary
A project that did do justice to Bell arrived the next year: Sabine Krayenbuhl and Zeva Oelbaum’s Letters from Baghdad: The Extraordinary Life and Times of Gertrude Bell. Drawing on more than 1,000 pieces of archival footage, 1,700 documents and 1,600 letters, the filmmakers painstakingly pieced together a compelling narrative that managed to convey both the depth of Bell’s experience and her tortured love life.
Books, letters and archives
Two biographies have been written about Bell, and both are worth reading: Georgina Howell’s 2006 book Queen of the Desert and Janet Wallach’s 1996 effort Desert Queen. Bell published several books documenting her travels and there are also several volumes of her letters, although they are hard to find in print. Original documents are housed at the Gertrude Bell Archive at the University of Newcastle, which has an online catalogue.
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The Bio
Favourite vegetable: “I really like the taste of the beetroot, the potatoes and the eggplant we are producing.”
Holiday destination: “I like Paris very much, it’s a city very close to my heart.”
Book: “Das Kapital, by Karl Marx. I am not a communist, but there are a lot of lessons for the capitalist system, if you let it get out of control, and humanity.”
Musician: “I like very much Fairuz, the Lebanese singer, and the other is Umm Kulthum. Fairuz is for listening to in the morning, Umm Kulthum for the night.”
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
The years Ramadan fell in May
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
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Director: Robert Rodriguez
Stars: Rosa Salazar, Christoph Waltz, Keean Johnson
Four stars
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Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
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