A highly anticipated Arab tale, a Ben Stiller-directed flick and a much-talked-about Disney animated classic are just a few of the films on offer at this year's Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF).
The 10th edition of DIFF opens on Friday, December 6, with the long-awaited Arab offering Omar by the Palestinian director Hany Abu-Assad.
A fitting tribute to the progress of filmmaking across the Arab world, the Academy Award-nominated and Golden Globe-winning filmmaker will walk the red carpet before officially raising the curtain on the decennial edition, which runs until December 14.
The complete line-up of films - 174 features, shorts and documentaries in total, more than 100 of which are from the Arab world - reads like a who's who of the movie world, boasting award-winning directors, producers, actors, as well as Hollywood and Bollywood heavyweights.
Thriving scene
Under the patronage of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, the nine-day celebration of cinema will screen 70 world premieres and 11 international premieres from 57 countries in 43 languages.
Organisers say the strong Arab presence highlights a thriving film culture within the region as well as an increased interest in Arab cinema from audiences around the world.
Martin Sheen will collect a Lifetime Achievement Award, Naomie Harris flies in to support her latest film Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, Cate Blanchett is back as head of the IWC Filmmaker Award panel and Little Miss Sunshine's Abigail Breslin hits the Middle East for the first time.
From the west come the cast of the Indian love story The Lunchbox, directed by Ritesh Batra and starring Irrfan Khan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Nimrat Kaur and Bharati Achrekar.
The Muhr Awards, which have honoured more than 200 filmmakers so far, will showcase an impressive 90 films competing for a share of the US$575,000 (Dh2.1m) prize money across three categories - Muhr Emirati, Muhr Arab and Muhr AsiaAfrica.
For the third year running, on December 11, DIFF partners with Dubai Cares and Oxfam to host a glittering annual One Night to Change Lives charity event.
Surge in confidence
At a press conference at the Mina A'Salam hotel, the DIFF's chairman Abdulhamid Juma said the 2013 showcase is a direct result of 10 years of undeterred vision and hard work.
"When DIFF launched 10 years ago, we had very sizeable goals. We trusted in our community to support us and we knew there was strong demand for a world-class cultural event devoted to cinema," he said. "Since those early days, we have seen a surge in confidence in Arab cinema year on year, and DIFF is now the premiere platform for launching Middle Eastern films."
To celebrate 10 years, the festival will host two daily red-carpet galas at Dubai's Madinat Jumeirah Arena, its home for the last decade.
The first, on Friday, December 6, is a nod to DIFF's post-production and production funding support programme Enjaaz, which supported the filmmaker Hany Abu-Assad on the project. He will also make cinematic history as the only director to open the festival twice, having opened the second edition of DIFF with Paradise Now in 2005. Omar, with compelling performances from cast Adam Bakri, Samer Bisharat, Eyad Hourani and Waleed Zuaiter, is expected to become an Arab classic. The story of a young baker, Omar, and his secret love, Nadia, who are separated by military police, suspicion and betrayal in war-torn Palestine, the film is a heart-wrenching tale of a love capable of conquering all.
The headliners
David O Russell's American Hustle brings the curtain down at the closing night gala. DIFF will be the first festival to screen the highly anticipated film starring Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Louis C?K and Robert De Niro.
On Saturday, December 7, the first of the family galas presents Frozen from Walt Disney Animation Studios, directed by Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee, and featuring the voice of Demi Lovato in the lead. The evening gala follows with August: Osage County by John Wells featuring the superstars Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts.
Jason Reitman's Labor Day starring Kate Winslet and Josh Brolin screens ahead of the Arabian gala of The Factory Girl (Fatat Al Masnaa) by Mohamed Khan on Sunday, December 8.
On Monday, the much-hyped 12 Years A Slave by Steve McQueen, featuring Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender and Brad Pitt, will showcase.
The evening gala will have Ryan Coogler's Fruitvale Station with Michael B Jordan and Octavia Spencer.
More top picks
Ben Stiller directs and stars in The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, which screens on Tuesday, December 10, ahead of Justin Chadwick's Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom starring Idris Elba and Naomie Harris, who will walk the red carpet in Dubai.
Tom Hanks and Emma Thompson share the screen in John Lee Hancock's Saving Mr. Banks on Wednesday, December 11, before the Indian director Batra presents The Lunchbox with Khan, Kaur, Siddiqui and Denzil Smith.
The Thursday galas are Out of the Furnace, directed by Scott Cooper and starring Christian Bale, Casey Affleck, Zoe Saldana and Woody Harrelson, as well as Laïla Marrakchi's Rock the Casbah, featuring Hiam Abbass, Nadine Labaki, Lubna Azabal, Morjana Alaoui and Omar Sharif.
Words And Pictures with Clive Owen and Juliette Binoche follows the prestigious Muhr Awards Ceremony on December 13. Rounding off the week of double-bill galas is the second family film, Walking with Dinosaurs directed by Barry Cook and Neil Nightingale, and American Hustle on December 14.
DIFF will present the Lifetime Achievement Award to the veteran actor Martin Sheen, who has starred in more than 65 films, and will also host an In Conversation on December 8.
The Arab Lifetime Achievement Award will go to the veteran Egyptian film critic Samir Farid.
* star gazing
International celebrities flying in for the festival include Martin Sheen, Cate Blanchett, Zac Efron, Irrfan Khan, Nimrat Kaur, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Rooney Mara, Mark Ruffalo, Bérénice Marlohe, Maryam D'Abo, Jim Sheridan, Andy Serkis, Stephan Lang, Walter Parkes, Jaaved Jaffrey, Shekhar Kapur, Eugene Domingo, Michael B Jordan, Naomie Harris, Michael Peña, Chuck Roven, Megan Ellison, Abigail Breslin, Jonathan Teplitzky, Catherine Breillat and Jennifer Lee. A-list Arab celebrities gracing the red-carpet include: Hassan Youssef, Yosra, Ezzat El-Alaily, Nelly, Nadia El-Gendy, Samira Ahmed, Youssef Shaaban, Abdelrahman Abouzahra, Ahmed Bider, Khaled Saleh, Samy El-Adl, Mahmoud Kabil, Hassan Mostafa, Mimi Gamal, Mohamed Saad, Sherine Adel and Monther Ryahnah.
* tickets
The DIFF box office will open online on Thursday, November 28, at www.diff.ae and tickets will be available from box office locations at Madinat Theatre, Souk Madinat Jumeirah, Vox Cinemas and Mall of the Emirates and Dubai Internet City, Building 3. For tickets for the One Night to Change Lives charity event, call 04 445 6842 or email rsvp@urbanevents.ae
artslife@thenational.ae
