Maid’s story stirs crowd
Ilo Ilo, about a young boy’s bond with his Filipino nanny, struck a chord with the audience at its Middle Eastern premiere last weekend. The film is based on the director Anthony Chen’s real-life childhood growing up in recession-hit Singapore in the late 1990s and the relationship that he and his family had with their maid, Teresa.
Chen’s film is full of poignant observations of daily life with a domestic helper, such as when the father forgets that the maid is at home and walks into the kitchen in underpants. The film also shows the world through the maid’s eyes – she cries herself to sleep remembering her baby son back in the Philippines.
In a magical turn of real-life events, as the film gained traction in the Philippines, someone managed to track down Teresa. “I got to see my Auntie Terry again in July, for the first time in 16 years,” said Chen.
After watching the film by his side, Teresa, now a chicken farmer, told him proudly: “You made me laugh and you made me cry.”
Walkouts over violence
The graphic violence depicted in 12 Years a Slave had many of the audience members walking out of the theatre when it screened at DIFF on Monday. The film is based on the true story of a man from New York who is kidnapped and becomes the property of a depraved slave owner in America in the pre-Civil War era. As one male festival-goer put it: “It was very graphic, too graphic at times. Some scenes, I had to look away.”
One female audience member said: “Some of the content was horribly shocking ... but it needed to be.”
“I am American and I feel it’s shameful really, that part of our history,” said another woman who attended the screening. “It was an incredible film and very moving.”
The gut-wrenching violence was offset by the beauty of the scenery. And although it’s only the third feature film from Steve McQueen (following up on 2011’s Shame and 2008’s Hunger), the director is seemingly in the running for an Academy Award nomination. And if the reaction at DIFF is any indication, Chiwetel Ejiofor as the main character, Solomon Northup, may be, too.
“He was a brilliant actor,” said another male attendee. “He made it seem so believable.”
A powerful depiction
The second film screening on Monday night to tackle the contentious issue of American race relations, following 12 Years a Slave, was Fruitvale Station, a dramatisation of the true story of the killing of Oscar Grant by police officers in San Francisco five years ago.
The movie was a sell-out, with crowds of people waiting for standby seats as the film began. Afterwards, the audience broke out into spontaneous, thunderous applause.
Michael B Jordan, who walked the red carpet on the opening night of the festival, was praised for his acting skills.
“He was amazing. When the cop shot him, it gave me goosebumps,” said one young viewer from the US.
“The build-up to the moment of the shooting was so powerful,” said one woman who saw the screening.
“You knew it was coming, but at the same time, you didn’t expect it. I had a good cry,” another woman added.
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Brief scores:
Day 1
Toss: India, chose to bat
India (1st innings): 215-2 (89 ov)
Agarwal 76, Pujara 68 not out; Cummins 2-40
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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
Zakat definitions
Zakat: an Arabic word meaning ‘to cleanse’ or ‘purification’.
Nisab: the minimum amount that a Muslim must have before being obliged to pay zakat. Traditionally, the nisab threshold was 87.48 grams of gold, or 612.36 grams of silver. The monetary value of the nisab therefore varies by current prices and currencies.
Zakat Al Mal: the ‘cleansing’ of wealth, as one of the five pillars of Islam; a spiritual duty for all Muslims meeting the ‘nisab’ wealth criteria in a lunar year, to pay 2.5 per cent of their wealth in alms to the deserving and needy.
Zakat Al Fitr: a donation to charity given during Ramadan, before Eid Al Fitr, in the form of food. Every adult Muslim who possesses food in excess of the needs of themselves and their family must pay two qadahs (an old measure just over 2 kilograms) of flour, wheat, barley or rice from each person in a household, as a minimum.
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
Ain Dubai in numbers
126: The length in metres of the legs supporting the structure
1 football pitch: The length of each permanent spoke is longer than a professional soccer pitch
16 A380 Airbuses: The equivalent weight of the wheel rim.
9,000 tonnes: The amount of steel used to construct the project.
5 tonnes: The weight of each permanent spoke that is holding the wheel rim in place
192: The amount of cable wires used to create the wheel. They measure a distance of 2,4000km in total, the equivalent of the distance between Dubai and Cairo.
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The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
More from Neighbourhood Watch
Anghami
Started: December 2011
Co-founders: Elie Habib, Eddy Maroun
Based: Beirut and Dubai
Sector: Entertainment
Size: 85 employees
Stage: Series C
Investors: MEVP, du, Mobily, MBC, Samena Capital
Scores
Oman 109-3 in 18.4 overs (Aqib Ilyas 45 not out, Aamir Kaleem 27) beat UAE 108-9 in 20 overs (Usman 27, Mustafa 24, Fayyaz 3-16, Bilal 3-23)
'Skin'
Dir: Guy Nattiv
Starring: Jamie Bell, Danielle McDonald, Bill Camp, Vera Farmiga
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
The specs: Fenyr SuperSport
Price, base: Dh5.1 million
Engine: 3.8-litre twin-turbo flat-six
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 800hp @ 7,100pm
Torque: 980Nm @ 4,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 13.5L / 100km
yallacompare profile
Date of launch: 2014
Founder: Jon Richards, founder and chief executive; Samer Chebab, co-founder and chief operating officer, and Jonathan Rawlings, co-founder and chief financial officer
Based: Media City, Dubai
Sector: Financial services
Size: 120 employees
Investors: 2014: $500,000 in a seed round led by Mulverhill Associates; 2015: $3m in Series A funding led by STC Ventures (managed by Iris Capital), Wamda and Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority; 2019: $8m in Series B funding with the same investors as Series A along with Precinct Partners, Saned and Argo Ventures (the VC arm of multinational insurer Argo Group)
Sri Lanka-India Test series schedule
- 1st Test India won by 304 runs at Galle
- 2nd Test Thursday-Monday at Colombo
- 3rd Test August 12-16 at Pallekele
Five expert hiking tips
Always check the weather forecast before setting off
Make sure you have plenty of water
Set off early to avoid sudden weather changes in the afternoon
Wear appropriate clothing and footwear
Take your litter home with you
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Schedule for show courts
Centre Court - from 4pm UAE time
Johanna Konta (6) v Donna Vekic
Andy Murray (1) v Dustin Brown
Rafael Nadal (4) v Donald Young
Court 1 - from 4pm UAE time
Kei Nishikori (9) v Sergiy Stakhovsky
Qiang Wang v Venus Williams (10)
Beatriz Haddad Maia v Simona Halep (2)
Court 2 - from 2.30pm
Heather Watson v Anastasija Sevastova (18)
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (12) v Simone Bolelli
Florian Mayer v Marin Cilic (7)