Beasts of the Southern Wild
The writer-director Benh Zeitlin's poetic Beasts of the Southern Wild is one of the best first features to emerge from the US in years. At its heart is a mesmerising (potentially Oscar-grabbing) performance from Quevenzhane Wallis as Hushpuppy, a feisty firecracker of a six-year-old who lives with her angry, ailing father, Wink, in the Bathtub, a wild southern delta community surviving outside a levee. When a Katrina-like storm destroys their home, Hushpuppy determines to save Wink and their free-spirited way of life. Feted at Sundance and Cannes, this is visionary filmmaking of the highest order.
October 16, 7pm, Vox 6 Cinema; October 19, 2.30pm, Vox 5 Cinema
* Stephen Applebaum
The Battle of Algiers
I’ve always wondered if the director Gillo Pontecorvo had any inkling just how influential his 1966 film would become. Although made as a historical dramatisation of the Algerian War of Independence, specifically the efforts of Algiers’ revolutionary cells to overthrow French colonial rule and counterinsurgency attempts to suppress them, it has since become something of a handbook in the art of urban guerrilla warfare and still hugely relevant today. But as a piece of filmmaking, it is simply spectacular, with the tension amid the Kasbah’s tight alleyways, the entirely unromanticised depictions of both sides and Jean Martin’s ruthless, unapologetic French commander making for breathless viewing.
Friday, 7pm, Vox 1 Cinema
* Alex Ritman
Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry
One of China’s most controversial cultural figures, Ai Weiwei’s achievements already loom large – be it helping design Beijing’s Bird’s Nest stadium for the 2008 Olympics or filling Britain’s Tate Modern with 100 million ceramic sunflower seeds. Alison Klayman’s up-close documentary goes some way to bottling the essence of this most compelling artist/activist, from tracing his early days in New York to watching him at work in his Shanghai studio. But it’s his myriad confrontations with the Chinese government – on Twitter, in his art, in person – that give the film its startling emotional impact. A fitting tribute to a courageous voice – you’ll be left in awe.
October 18, 8.45pm, Vox 4 Cinema; October 20, 1.15pm, Vox 4 Cinema
* James Mottram
Room 237
It's usually best not to pay too much attention to conspiracy theories, but that doesn't mean exploring them can't be a whole lot of fun. Rodney Ascher's documentary inspects the web of speculation that has surrounded Stanley Kubrick's 1980 masterpiece The Shining since its release. Some believe the film is about the genocide of the Native Americans, others the Nazi Holocaust. It's even suggested that the movie is the director's tacit confession that he faked the Apollo 11 moon landing at the behest of the US government. Convincing or otherwise, Room 237's wonderful use of archive film serves as a reminder of Kubrick's timeless genius.
October 18, 7pm, Vox 1 Cinema; October 20, 1.30pm, Vox 1 Cinema
* Oliver Good
Ruby Sparks
The directing duo Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris follow up their 2006 hit Little Miss Sunshine with an equally likeable and intelligent film: this charming and often hilarious high-concept comedy stars the usually serious Paul Dano as a novelist who writes about the girl of his dreams, only to see her come to life. Dano heads a talented cast that includes Elliott Gould (as his therapist) and the British comedian Steve Coogan. Superbly written by Zoe Kazan (who also plays the title role), the film possesses a light humour that guides you happily from start to finish.
October 17, 9.15pm, Emirates Palace; October 19, 9.30pm, Vox 4 Cinema
* James Luxford
A Respectable Family
There are echoes of vintage Hitchcock and Costa-Gavras in this gripping, contemporary film noir from the young Iranian writer and director Massoud Bakhshi. It’s a slow-burning suspense thriller which opens with a dramatic abduction seen from the viewpoint of the victim. Babak Hamidian stars as Arash, an academic who returns to his native Iran after more than 20 years away, only to become entangled in a murky web of violence and corruption linking his troubled family history to the martyrs of the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s. Still based in Iran, Bakhshi’s bittersweet love letter to his homeland has a subtle political subtext but packs a powerful emotional punch.
October 14, 7pm, Vox 6 Cinema; October 17, 4.30pm, Vox 6 Cinema
* Stephen Dalton
End of Watch
Fresh from its premiere at last month's Toronto International Film Festival, the third feature by Training Day's David Ayer is a triumph of gritty, urban storytelling, tracking a pair of cops (Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Peña) on their daily rounds around South Central LA. Shot point-of-view style throughout (Gyllenhaal's Officer Taylor is shooting a short film about his working life), the dangers posed to both sides of the law are terrifyingly real and urgent, as are the wives left behind to worry and weep. Gyllenhaal and Peña (like his director, a real South Central LA native) shadowed police for five months in preparation. The results are extraordinary.
Saturday, 6.15pm, Emirates Palace; October 14, 3.45pm, Vox 4 Cinema * Ed Gibbs
No
Gael Garcia Bernal gives a career-best performance playing an advertising executive, Rene Saavedra, who has the task of masterminding the “No” campaign in a 1988 referendum on whether the Chilean dictator General Pinochet should stay in power for another eight years. Taking inspiration from American advertising of the period, Saavedra masterminds a jingle-led campaign that promises the population a happy future post-Pinochet. Using archival footage of the actual adverts, the director Pablo Larrain cleverly fuses fact with fiction. Of particular note is the aesthetic, filmed to look like it’s made on videocassette; it’s unattractive but is a masterstroke that perfectly captures the feeling of the era. It gets my vote as film of the year.
October 14, 7pm, Vox 5 Cinema; October 17, 1.45pm, Vox 5 Cinema
* Kaleem Aftab
Stories We Tell
Both of Sarah Polley’s first two directing efforts, Away From Her and Take This Waltz, featured a woman straying outside her marriage. But Stories We Tell, the actress-filmmaker’s third feature and her first documentary, explores that notion in a deeply personal way, relating the story of how the Canadian actress came to discover that the man who raised her wasn’t her biological father. Pieced together using interviews with siblings, family friends and relatives (as well as both men she calls Dad), along with Super 8 footage featuring her late mother who died when she was 11, Polley’s film is a revelatory and unexpectedly humorous journey into the heart of memory and identity.
October 12, 9pm, Vox 4 Cinema; October 14, 4.30pm, Vox 6 Cinema
* Matt Mueller
Editor’s pick
Caesar Must Die
Winner of the Golden Bear at this year’s Berlin Film Festival, Caesar Must Die chronicles the fascinating staging of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar in a real-life maximum security prison in Rome. It’s helmed by the Italian veterans Paolo and Vittorio Taviani and we follow the convicts as they audition and rehearse for the play, all the while trying to contain their real-life rivalries threatening to derail the production. As they dissect The Bard’s text, they find its themes of fraternity and betrayal parallel to their own stories.
October 14, 6.45pm, Emirates Palace; October 19, 7pm, Vox 1 Cinema
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
'Cheb%20Khaled'
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At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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PROFILE BOX:
Company/date started: 2015
Founder/CEO: Rami Salman, Rishav Jalan, Ayush Chordia
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Technology, Sales, Voice, Artificial Intelligence
Size: (employees/revenue) 10/ 100,000 downloads
Stage: 1 ($800,000)
Investors: Eight first-round investors including, Beco Capital, 500 Startups, Dubai Silicon Oasis, Hala Fadel, Odin Financial Services, Dubai Angel Investors, Womena, Arzan VC
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Other promotions
- Deliveroo will team up with Pineapple Express to offer customers near JLT a special treat: free banana caramel dessert with all orders on January 26
- Jones the Grocer will have their limited edition Australia Day menu available until the end of the month (January 31)
- Australian Vet in Abu Dhabi (with locations in Khalifa City A and Reem Island) will have a 15 per cent off all store items (excluding medications)
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
Race card
6.30pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round-3 Group 1 (PA) US$100,000 (Dirt) 2,000m
7.05pm: Meydan Classic Listed (TB) $175,000 (Turf) 1,600m
7.40pm: Handicap (TB) $135,000 (T) 2,000m
8.15pm: Handicap (TB) $135,000 (D) 1,600m
8.50pm: Nad Al Sheba Trophy Group 2 (TB) $300,000 (T) 2,810m
9.25pm: Curlin Stakes Listed (TB) $175,000 (D) 2,000m
10pm: Handicap (TB) $135,000 (T) 2,000m
10.35pm: Handicap (TB) $175,000 (T) 1,400m
The National selections
6.30pm: Shahm, 7.05pm: Well Of Wisdom, 7.40pm: Lucius Tiberius, 8.15pm: Captain Von Trapp, 8.50pm: Secret Advisor, 9.25pm: George Villiers, 10pm: American Graffiti, 10.35pm: On The Warpath
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Most F1 world titles
7 — Michael Schumacher (1994, ’95, 2000, ’01 ’02, ’03, ’04)
7 — Lewis Hamilton (2008, ’14,’15, ’17, ’18, ’19, ’20)
5 — Juan Manuel Fangio (1951, ’54, ’55, ’56, ’57)
4 — Alain Prost (1985, ’86, ’89, ’93)
4 — Sebastian Vettel (2010, ’11, ’12, ’13)
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
