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TODAY Smash & Grab: The Story Of The Pink Panthers

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Haneen

Filmi throws weight behind Martyr, Dolphins

BY NANDITA DUTTA

Dubai-based film funding initiative Filmi is financing Emirati animated feature Martyr Of The Flag and Waleed Al Shehhi’s IWC Filmmaker Award winner Dolphins.

A part of government organisation Watani, Filmi was launched in April this year at Gulf Film Festival to promote the cultural identity and social values of the UAE through films.

Currently in post-production, Martyr Of The Flag revolves around Salim Suhail, the first martyr of the UAE who was killed by Iranian military for refusing to lower the flag of the Emirates in 1971. The film is being directed by Mohammad Fikree, whose short film Girl & It is part of the Muhr Emirati competition here at DIFF. Principal photography on Dolphins starts in January and the film is expected to be ready for the next edition of DIFF. Filmi fully financed four films that are premiering in this year’s Muhr Emirati competition: Nugoom Al Ghanem’s documentary Red Blue Yellow and three short films: Muna Al Ali’s Concealment, Hamad Al Hammadi’s Nafaf and Nasser Al Yaqobi’s Haneen.

“Through Filmi, we want to create a platform that encourages cinema as an independent art form and helps film-makers right from the inception of their projects. We believe in investing in film-makers,” said Filmi CEO Abdulaziz Ahmad Al Najjar.

“Our strategy is to take these films to various film festivals around the world,” he added.

Filmi aims to support a minimum of four Emirati projects every year in addition to two films per cycle of Enjaaz, the post-production and production funding support programme of Dubai Film Market.

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Smash & Grab’s Dubai producer lines up Hakima’s Tale trilogy » Page 5

DIFF winners take short cut to Oscars

BY LIZ SHACKLETON

DIFF has been granted status as a qualifying film festival in the eligibility criteria for the short film category of the Academy Awards.

The move, which was announced by the Academy’s Vicangelo Bulluck at DIFF yesterday, means short films that win best film in the festival’s Muhr Arab and Muhr AsiaAfrica competition will be eligible for Oscars awards consideration.

“Dubai is now a qualifying festival for the Academy in short film, in both the Muhr Arab and Muhr AsiaAfrica categories,” said Bullock.

Former Academy president Sid Ganis added: “If you’re a short film-

maker and win an award in Dubai, you qualify, which is very good news for film-makers in the region.”

To be eligible for Oscars consideration, short films must either be released commercially in Los Angeles or have won a qualifying award at a festival on the Academy’s short-film qualifying festival list. The list includes 75 festivals mostly in North America and Europe. Japan’s Hiroshima International Animation Festival is the only qualifying festival in Asia, Africa or the Middle East.

“We are delighted by the news, especially as we’re the only festival between Europe and Japan to qual-

NEWS Triple heist

FEATURE Buyers bounty Profiles of the major theatrical distributors in the Middle East » Page 8

ify for this status,” said DIFF managing director Shivani Pandya.

The Academy gives Oscars to best live-action short and best animated short. Short films that win at this year’s DIFF will be eligible for the 87th Academy Awards in 2015.

Bulluck, Ganis and Ellen Harrington, of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), are attending DIFF to share film-making expertise and explain what the Academy offers international film-makers beyond the awards. AMPAS is hosting ‘An Academy conversation on directing’ session with Shekhar Kapur and Ava DuVernay at DIFF today.

Getty

FORUM EVENTS 9:30 - 11:00 How to finance your film

Location The Forum Room Panelists Khalil Benkirane, Doha Film Institute; Vida Rizq, Aflamnah; Joëlle Levie, OLFFI; Mohammed Al Turki, producer; Aliaa Zaky, Enjaaz; Mohamed Samir, producer

11:30 - 13:00 An Academy conversation on directing Location The Forum Room Panelists Shekhar Kapur, Ava DuVernay

11:00 - 12:00 Teamwork: all for one and one for all

Location Press Conference Room Panelists Nicolas Khabbaz, Tarek Korkomaz and Naji Bechara (all Void), Nermeen Salem, Mayye Zayed and Hend Bakr (all The Mice Room)

13:30 - 14:00 Case study: UAE-based galleries and artists’ film

Location The Forum Room Speakers Claudia Cellini, The Third Line; Umer Butt, Grey Noise

14:00 –14:30 Case study: Soda Pictures Location The Forum Room Speaker Eve Gabereau, Soda Pictures

14:30 - 15:00 Case study: Sharjah Art Foundation and Traitors The team behind Factory Girl, which had its world premiere at DIFF last night. (From left) Producer Mohamed Samir, actors Hani Adel and Yasmine Raees, director Mohamed Khan and screenwriter Wessam Soliman

AARC sheds light on Lakhdar-Hamina’s Crépuscule

BY MELANIE GOODFELLOW

Algerian cultural agency AARC is showing first images of Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina’s Le Crépuscule Des Ombres at Dubai Film Market.

It is the first work in 30 years from Lakhdar-Hamina, best known for Chronicle Of The Years Of Ember, which won the Palme d’Or in 1975 and remains the only Arab or African film to have clinched Cannes’ top prize.

Set in the Algerian desert and epic in scale, Le Crépuscule Des Ombres revolves around a local freedom fighter and two French soldiers, one in favour of Algerian independence, the other against it.

French actor Samir Boitard, who starred in hit French TV series Spiral, plays the Algerian revolutionary opposite Nicolas Bridet and Laurent Hennequin as the soldiers.

AARC started investing in cin-

ema in 2012 as part of a statebacked initiative to build up Algeria’s film industry. To date it has supported roughly 100 works. As a key backer, it handles rights for all the titles, either partially or fully.

Other pictures on its slate include Rachid Bouchareb’s Enemy Way, starring Forest Whitaker and Harvey Keitel, and Palestinian director Najwa Najjar’s Eyes Of A Thief starring Souad Massi.

Location The Forum Room Speakers Sheikha Hoor Al Qasimi, Sharjah Art Foundation; Sean Gullette, Traitors

15:30 - 16:30 Discussion: Moving pictures in art and cinema

Location The Forum Room Speakers Sheikha Hoor Al Qasimi, Sharjah Art Foundation; Omar Kholeif, Arab Film Festival; Simon Field, Illuminations Films

17:00 - 18:00 Networking Session: meet the industry stands

Location The Forum Room Participants Zoom, TV5, French Institute, France 24, MAD Solutions

NEWS

By Nandita Dutta

Moroccan actor Slimane Dazi and French child actor Didier Michon shared the best actor prize at this year’s International Film Festival of Marrakech for their roles in Hicham Ayouch’s Fevers.

Dazi plays a man who is forced to take in his delinquent son, played by Michon, in the MoroccoFrance co-production. Dazi’s other credits include Jacques Audiard’s A Prophet.

Martin Scorsese headed the festival jury, which also included Fatih Akin, Patricia Clarkson, Marion Cotillard, Amat Escalante, Golshifteh Farahani, Anurag Kashyap, Narjiss Nejjar, Park Chan-wook and Paolo Sorrentino.

Best film at the festival, which wrapped on Saturday night, went to Han Gong-ju, the debut feature from Korean film-maker Lee Su-jin that had its world premiere at Busan in October. The film revolves around a high-school girl who is involved in a scandalous accident and forced to change schools.

The jury award was shared by Blue Rain, directed by US filmmaker Jeremy Saulnier, and The Swimming Pool from Cuba’s Carlos Machado Quintela.

Best director went to Italy’s Andrea Pallaoro for his Venice competition title Medeas.

Best actress went to Sweden’s Alicia Vikander for her role in Lisa Langseth’s Hotell.

DayDream wakes up to expanding docs slate

By Liz Shackleton

Mohamed Samir’s DayDream Art Production is developing a slate of documentaries and short films to follow its debut feature, Mohamed Khan’s Factory Girl, which received its world premiere at DIFF last night.

DayDream has two documentaries in the pipeline: Ali Sheikh Khudr’s Cows Farm and Ahmed Rahal’s Pentatonic, both of which are in post-production. Cows Farm is a creative documentary about a pro-regime farmer in Syria, while Pentatonic is about Nubian music in southern Egypt, which uses the pentatonic (five-tone) scale.

Samir is also gearing up to make his directorial debut with short film 7-10 and documentary The Season, revolving around an orchestra at Cairo Opera House,

Muna Khalaf

Dazi, Michon share actor prize in Marrakech

Mohamed Samir

which examines perceptions towards the arts in Egypt.

A former editor, Samir established DayDream in 2007 to produce independent films. He raised financing for Factory Girl from seven international funds including Egypt’s Ministry of Culture, Germany’s GIZ institute, Global Film Initiative (GFI), Abu Dhabi’s Sanad, DIFF’s Enjaaz and USbased Women In Film Foundation.

“In the past producers in Egypt

have been businessmen, but there’s definitely been a move towards creative producing over the past five years,” Samir told Screen.

DayDream also collaborated with Egyptian independent production outfits WIKA and Middle West Films on Factory Girl. “I didn’t want to partner with any company or organisation that would change the vision of the film,” Samir said.

DayDream also co-produced Dutch documentary Ana Ana, which was in competition at IDFA this year, and Johanna Domke and Marouan Omara’s creative documentary CROP. DayDream’s previous short films include Zafir, which won a special mention at DIFF in 2011, Hassan Neama’s Grey and Bahaa El Gamal’s Six.

Kingham goes into battle with Hakima’s Tale

By Melanie Goodfellow

UAE-based UK producer Rosie Kingham has optioned Dedra L Stevenson’s sci-fi fantasy The Hakima’s Tale, about a modernday Arab warrior princess, which she aims to shoot as a trilogy in the Gulf.

“It has the potential for a starstudded cast and an internationally recognised director,” said Kingham, who was the Dubai pro-

ducer on Smash & Grab: The Story Of The Pink Panthers, which is screening in DIFF’s Cinema of the World selection.

The Hakima’s Tale revolves around a young Arab-American girl, Phoenix Kassim, who does battle with an ancient Blue Jinni that re-emerges after centuries of captivity.

Kingham, who is an executive producer at Abu Dhabi-based TV

production company twofour Arabia where she is working on a series of factual programmes, is also keen to work with young talent in the Gulf region.

She is currently developing young Emirati film-maker Omar Abbas’s first short film, Magnolia Grove. Based on a true story, the story revolves around a young US-based, Emirati-born woman who returns to the UAE under

community and mine. The executive producer of my company, Eva Sayre, saw a small newspaper article four years ago covering a singing competition in a labour camp in the UAE, and she immediately thought this would be the greatest portal to enter labour camps and cover them in a way that’s not polemical.

companies that own the camps, Dubai Film and TV Commission as well as the labourers themselves.

The labour camps are naturally a harsher place than anything we’re used to in Dubai. We got to see the positive and the negative side and understand this unique social institution, which doesn’t exist anywhere else in the world.

Borg exits Abu Dhabi’s twofour54 Wayne Borg, chief commercial officer of Abu Dhabi’s twofour54, is leaving the governmentbacked organisation to relocate to his native Australia.

Borg joined twofour54 in 2008 and was responsible for developing and managing the company’s strategic operations in its early stages. Prior to twofour54 he held the post of executive vicepresident at Universal Pictures International in London.

“I’ve had six wonderful years in Abu Dhabi and felt the time was right to get back to my family in Australia,” Borg told Screen.

During Borg’s tenure, twofour54 established a regional film and media industry hub in Abu Dhabi, encompassing film production and broadcast facilities, training programmes and content development.

Liz Shackleton

tragic circumstances in search of her roots.

As the Dubai producer on Smash & Grab, Kingham secured interviews with the Dubai police force on its successful investigation into the gang’s audacious raid on House of Graff jewellers in Wafi mall in April 2007, which is at the heart of the documentary.

“It was a very sensitive subject here,” said Kingham. “It took a year of phone calls and meetings to bring them around.”

One on one Mahmoud Kaabour, film-maker, Champ of the camp

Siddharth Siva courtesy of Veritas Films

premiered at Burj Park on Saturday and screens today at Mall Of The Emirates.

Award-winning Lebanese filmmaker Mahmoud Kaabour returns to DIFF with documentary Champ Of The Camp, about a Bollywood song and trivia competition in the UAE’s labour camps. He previously attended DIFF with Being Osama in 2005. Champ Of The Camp

Where did you get the idea for this film?

When my parents migrated to the UAE in 1989, I was sent for a summer job at a printing press in an industrial area of Sharjah. At that time, the only place available to me to eat lunch was a labourers’ cafeteria. I used to eat lunch sitting with the labourers and that was the closest I got to them. It baffled me that for the next 20 years of my life in the UAE, I was never offered that proximity to labourers again. I always wondered about this invisible barrier between their

Was it difficult to access the labour camps?

It was borderline impossible but we as film-makers are known to be quite relentless. It took us three years to align the required permits and we finally got the crew into the camps in 2012. We had to keep persuading the parties involved, which are the National Media Council, the

How did the labourers react to being filmed?

The labourers were quite thrilled that they were getting some sort of attention. Many of them were hungry to get a chance to sing and dance to our camera. But it became different for them when they finally watched the finished film and

understood it is both a tribute to Bollywood as well as the lives of people who have built this country.

How did you feel about the free public screening next to the Burj Khalifa?

Any film-maker would be thrilled to have their film open to such a large audience. It was a symbolic, conciliatory moment for the people who live in the UAE because there has been an invisible wall between the labourers and rest of the country for decades. And to see their life story unfold alongside the tallest tower in the world, which one of our characters worked on, is positively symbolic.

Nandita Dutta

December 9, 2013 Screen International at Dubai 5 n

REVIEWS

Features, from page 8

Reviews edited by Mark Adams mark.adams@emap.com

Factory Girl Reviewed by Mark Adams The slickly made Factory Girl (Fatat El Masnaa) may well have the melodramatic trappings of a soap opera, but underneath its story of love, false accusations and recriminations there is a nicely powerful story of a young woman longing for an independence that society is not keen to allow her, with the impressively feisty Yasmine Raees terrific in the lead role.

Veteran director Mohamed Khan (whose credits include Supermarket and Dreams Of Hind And Camelia) brings out the best from his largely female cast, with Wessam Soliman’s script playful and blunt in equal measure, and strong when dealing with the harsh results of cruel rumour that grows out of control. The film, which had its world premiere here at DIFF, is likely to play at other festivals and has the dramatic highs to appeal to liberal-minded Middle Eastern distributors.

Vivacious Hiyam (Raees) is a young worker at a textile clothing factory where her fellow women workers are a verbose and noisy bunch, and quick to make jokes. All are taken by the arrival of new supervisor Salah (Ali), who they regard as something of a hunk.

Hiyam is especially charmed by his brooding looks and wastes no time in gently — and rather ineptly — flirting with him. Hiyam gently forces her way into his life, even visiting the flat he shares with his mother and sister, and she starts to convince herself they could have a relationship, despite

Champ Of The Camp Reviewed by Mark Adams An impressively staged look at the compounds in the UAE that house the substantial migrant worker populations, Champ Of The Camp opts for an unusual take on living conditions by tracking the 2012 Champ of the Camp competition that rewards one lucky worker with a series of prizes.

From 70 camps throughout the UAE, a series of talent events are staged that allows the workers to sing and perform with the hope of being crowned champion. The charm of the film comes, for much of the time, from simply allowing these men to sing — favourites or Bollywood classics — and talk often emotionally about the realities of their lives in the UAE. They admit the conditions are fine but also say it can feel like living in a prison.

Right Track Advertising, which organises the event, stages a series of auditions at the camps, finally letting 2,000 men have their chance for glory before whittling it down to a final involving just six competitors who have to show skills in both Bollywood singing and answering trivia questions.

Winning the final brings rewards in terms of money and prizes but it also acts as an indicator of just how poor are some of the workers. The camps — all male, no families allowed — contain labourers from countries such as India, Bangladesh and Pakistan who come to the UAE to earn as much as

Arabian nights Gala Egypt-UAE. 2013. 92mins Director Mohamed Khan Production companies MAD Distribution, DayDream Art Sales contact MAD Distribution, diff@madsolutions.com Producer Mohamed Samir Screenplay Wessam Soliman Cinematography Mahmoud Lotfy Editor Dina Farouk Music George Kazazian Main cast Yasmine Raees, Hani Adel, Salwa Khattab, Salwa Mohamed Ali, Ibtihal Elserety, Hanan Adel

Dubai Film Festival in brief The Lunchbox

the fact she comes from a lower social cast. When they finally share a kiss she is in heaven, but it is then that her life starts to fall apart.

Her co-workers start to think she is acting strangely and when Hiyam is ill with stomach cramps at the same time a pregnancy-test kit is discovered at the factory, they put two-and-two together and conclude she has had sex with Salah.

And when her period is late, her own mother accuses her of being pregnant. At the same time Salah stops talking to her, eventually admitting they could never marry because of their class divide.

Ostracised by all around her, Hiyam does not defend herself — even when her grandmother brutally pins her down to cut off her long hair. But in a delightful final scene, Hiyam asserts her independence by revealing her short hair as she fulfils a promise to dance at a wedding.

Arabian nights UAE-Leb-Qatar. 2013.

75mins Director Mahmoud Kaabour Production companies Veritas Films, Creative Kettle Sales contact Veritas Films, info@veritasfilms.ae Producer Eva Sayre Cinematography Benjamin Pritchard Editors Alan Mackay, Arwa Merchant Music Ahmed Ghannoum

Dir/scr: Ritesh Batra. India-Fr-Ger. 2012.

104mins. Gala A wistful, elegant love story played out across the streets of Mumbai, The Lunchbox is an unexpectedly aromatic charmer from first-time film-maker Ritesh Batra. Eschewing the pitfalls of what appears, on face value, to be a highly schematic set-up — a lunchbox made by a neglected housewife is delivered to the wrong office-worker, so beginning an unlikely friendship — Batra infuses his film with warmth and humanity, while cameraman Michael Simmonds steps up to deliver delicate visuals of modern Mumbai. Although it has to battle through a difficult final act — characters are required to change their minds and dash about town at the last minute in a slightly-downbeat tonal fog — this is certain to woo international arthouse crowds who have been waiting for an authentic crossover Indian title.

Fionnuala Halligan

CONTACT THE MATCH FACTORY www.the-matchfactory.com

Joe

Dir: David Gordon Green. US. 2013. 117mins.

Cinema Of The World A dark and moody tale of friendship and redemption set against an evocative backdrop of modern-day Texas, Joe is a strikingly well-rounded story of a hot-tempered man trying to deal with his demons. A bearded and engagingly surly Nicolas Cage is impressive as hard-living ex-con Joe Ransom, a man struggling to show restraint in terms of his drinking and propensity for violence, and while there is a left-field kind of honour to how he tries to live his life, Joe and his acquaintances know he can be easily tipped over the edge. His attempts to help a downon-his luck teenager (Tye Sheridan) who suffers at the hands of his drunken and belligerent father (Gary Poulter) turns Joe into a tender-but-tough protector, set on a course towards inevitable violence.

Mark Adams

CONTACT WEST END FILMS www.westendfilms.com

Miss Violence possible to send back to their families. They introduce the camera to their relatively cramped living conditions — dormitory rooms containing bunk beds, outside taps for washing and frugal cooking facilities — but also claim to be quite happy. Some miss their families terribly, but as middle-aged Indian sweeper Dhattu comments with a smile, “We can leave whenever we want.”

It could be argued that the competition is rather patronising, but to a man the migrant workers all seem to relish the chance to sing, and love the competition itself. As event organiser Rupa Vinood adds: “Coming back to the camp and singing allows the men to de-stress and deal with their loneliness, and make them think about their family back home.”

Dir: Alexandros Avranas. Gre. 2013. 99mins.

Cinema Of The World A story of horrific domestic abuse set in an impressively controlled narrative frame, Miss Violence is one of those films you wish you could erase from your mental hard-drive after the screening, so disturbing is its tale of an abusive father’s devious sexual, physical and psychological control over the rest of his family. But at the same time, it is impossible not to acknowledge second-time Greek director Alexandros Avranas’s directorial bravura in making his own firm, cold grasp of his material and story mirror the iron grip of his pater familias antagonist.

Lee Marshall

CONTACT ELLE DRIVER

www.elledriver.eu

December 9, 2013 Screen International at Dubai 7 n

FEATURE FOCUS he recent period of rapid political and economic change across MENA has resulted in wildly different theatrical fortunes from territory to territory.

Saudi Arabia continues to ban movie theatres but neighbouring UAE and Qatar are witnessing a huge increase in screen numbers and multiplexes and a resulting growth in box office, which is spilling over into Jordan and Iraq.

A 16-screen multiplex, a partnership between Ibrahim Taher’s Al Taher for Cinemas, Eagle Films and Selim Ramia & Co, opened in Amman over the summer. Lebanese exhibitor and distributor Empire is planning a 14-screen venue for the Kurdish Iraqi city of Erbil.

In Egypt, total box-office grosses are down compared to last year after nightly curfews led to the cancellation of evening screenings during the Eid Al-Fitr festivities, traditionally a busy time for cinemas. Syria’s film industry is largely in exile. The Maghreb, meanwhile, is characterised by rampant piracy and a reduced theatrical circuit.

The Middle East’s major theatrical distributors are based in the three key hubs of Beirut, Cairo and Dubai. They focus on crowd-pleasing Bollywood titles, Hollywood blockbusters and Egyptian comedies, which are popular throughout the region. There is little space for either local or foreign independent cinema. However there are a growing number of initiatives aimed at promoting local and world cinema titles to MENA audiences.

Last year, a consortium of 20 distributors from around the region joined forces to form MEDIS, creating a sustainable distribution network in the region. The group is meeting during DIFF on December 11. The key issues on its agenda are piracy, collective acquisition strategies, video-on-demand and a film-education policy to nurture future audiences. In the UAE, meanwhile, Gulf Film is launching a new screen dedicated to European cinema at its multiplex in the Ibn Battuta s Mall in January. ■

T

Screen battles Distributors throughout the MENA region face a spectacular range of challenges, including a lack of screens, curfews and soaring piracy. Melanie Goodfellow profiles the major players

Only God Forgives

SCREEN COUNT: THE MIDDLE EAST’S MAJOR THEATRICAL DISTRIBUTORS

Misr International Films MIF

Based in Egypt Distribution territories Egypt Founded by the late legendary film-maker Youssef Chahine, MIF is one of the Middle East’s oldest film and television production companies. MIF distributes its own productions and is a partner in Allied Film Distribution, the Egyptian arm of Beirut-based Empire International, which distributes titles for Columbia Pictures and Buena Vista, and works closely with Italia Film.

The company also manages 60 cinema screens in Cairo and Alexandria and runs the annual Panorama of the European Film Festival. The latest edition ran earlier this month, showcasing 40 new films including Young And Beautiful and Kon-Tiki.

Contact

mif@mifegypt.com

United Motion Pictures UMP Based in Egypt Distribution territory Egypt

UMP is the sole agent and distributor for 20th Century Fox and Warner Bros in Egypt. Its subsidiary, Silver Screen, has shares in circuits in Cairo and Alexandria. Recent releases include Diana and Gravity.

Contact

ump@ump.com.eg

Al Arabia Cinema

Based in Egypt Distribution territories Egypt, pan-Arab Cairo-based Al Arabia distributes Arabic-language and international titles and owns the 150-screen Renaissance chain of cinemas in Egypt and Jordan. Recent releases include Mohamed Moustafa’s The Thief & The Fool, Ahmad Abdalla’s Rags & Tatters and Amr Arafa’s Sameer Abu Elneel.

Contact

sales@arabiacinema.com

■ 8 Screen International at Dubai December 9, 2013

Kuwait National Cinema Company KNCC

Based in Kuwait Distribution territories Kuwait The 60-year-old Kuwait National Cinema Company is the territory’s sole exhibitor, controlling 56 screens in 13 locations.

It distributes films with Dubai-based Front Row Filmed Entertainment. Recent releases include The Hunger Games: Catching Fire and Carrie alongside Egyptian comedies such as Kalby Dalili. Upcoming European releases include Stephen Frears’ Philomena and Vincenzo Natali’s sci-fi thriller Haunter.

Contact

hisham@kncc.com

Eagle Films

Based in Lebanon Distribution territories pan-Arab Beirut-based Eagle Films is one of MENA’s leading distributors, operating across VoD, satellite, pay TV and theatrical. Recent acquisitions include The Disappearance Of Eleanor Rigby, Expiration, Battle Of The Damned and Mega Spider.

Contact

eaglefilms@terra.net.lb

Empire International

Based in Lebanon Distribution territories pan-Arab One of the oldest distributors in the Middle East, Empire International has its roots in a Levantine cinema circuit set up by George N Haddad in 1919. Today, headed by son Mario G Haddad, the company operates across the region with offices in Beirut, Dubai, Bahrain and Cairo. It owns cinemas in Lebanon and has expanded its exhibition activities into Iraqi Kurdistan with the opening of a 14-screen

multiplex in Erbil. The company is the exclusive distributor of Sony Films and 20th Century Fox in the Gulf and Middle East. Recent releases include Carrie, Only God Forgives and Emirati-set Djinn.

Contact

info@empire.ae

Four Star Films

Based in Lebanon Distribution territories pan-Arab This Jounieh-based distribution and exhibition company operates throughout the Middle East. Owned by Hikmat Antypas, the Lebanese company has exclusive distribution deals with Universal, Paramount and Dreamworks, picks up European fare and works closely with Gulf Films. Recent acquisitions include Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s The Young And Prodigious TS Spivet and Anne Fontaine’s Adore.

Contact

info@4starfilms.com

Italia Films

Based in Beirut Distribution territories pan-Arab Founded in the 1950s to distribute Italian films into Lebanon, Beirut-based Italia Films is one of the key buyers of independent European titles for the Middle East. It has offices in Cairo, Dubai and Amman, and runs the Circuit Planete chain in Lebanon. This year’s acquisitions include Blancanieves.

Contact

I.f@italiafilm.com.lb

Phoenicia Pictures International

Based in Lebanon Distribution territories pan-Arab Ameer Fawaz’s Beirut-based Phoenicia Pictures International

Profiles, from page 11

Blancanieves

Diana

buys all rights for distribution across MENA. Recent acquisitions include Blood Of Redemption, Legends Of Oz: Dorothy’s Return, Cottage Country, The Forbidden Girl and Apartment 1303 3D.

Contact

info@phoeniciapictures.com

Shooting Stars

Based in Dubai Distribution territories pan-Arab Dubai-based Shooting Stars was founded in 2004 by Lebanese industry veteran Joseph Chacra, whose family was the longtime agent for Warner Bros in Lebanon. As well as handling the release of all Warner Bros titles in the UAE and GCC region, Shooting Stars has strong links with independent producers and sales companies including Foresight, Wild Bunch, Pathé, Absurda, Independent and Bankside. The company buys through a consortium with home-entertainment distributor Viva Entertainment and TV buyer Teleview. Its eclectic slate has included The Artist, Universal Soldier 3 & 4, Cheri and The Killer Inside Me.

Contact info@shootingstarsuae.com

Jaguar Film International Distribution JFID

Based in Beirut, Dubai Distribution territories pan-Arab Samy E Khoury’s Jaguar Film International Distribution has been operating in the Middle East for 40 years. With offices in Beirut and Dubai, the company focuses on mainstream US fare such as The Last Witch Hunter, A Little Chaos, Step Up 5 and recent pick-up, 12 Years A Slave.

Contact

jaguarfilm1@hotmail.com

Prime Pictures

Based in Dubai Distribution territories pan-Arab The theatrical and home entertainment company Prime Pictures is part of Hammad Atassi and Talaat Captan’s property and exhibition empire. The company owns the CinemaCity chain, with screens in Beirut, Amman, Damascus and Dubai and has exclusive deals with Sony, Hallmark and Icon. Recent acquisitions include Mr Morgan’s Last Love and The Philosophers. Prime is the exclusive sales agent for Paramount/Dreamworks television and VoD in the region.

Contact

beirut@primepictures.com

Falcon Films

Based in Beirut Distribution territories pan-Arab Beirut-based production and distribution company Falcon Films, headed by Rami Sannan, specialises in arthouse titles, distributing them across multiple platforms within MENA. Recent acquisitions include The Past.

Contact

info@falconfilms-lb.com

Gulf Film

Based in Dubai Distribution territories pan-Arab Bought by Qatar Media Services in 2012, Gulf Film is the leading distributor and exhibitor in the Gulf region. By the end of 2013 it will have released around 150 titles, and garnered about 50% of the region’s admissions this year.

The company sub-distributes Paramount and Universal titles for Four Star Films in the Gulf, and is the Middle East distributor for StudioCanal, EuropaCorp, IM Global, Relativity Media and Voltage, to name but a few. In partnership with

Eagle Films and Jaguar Entertainment, it also handles Lionsgate, Nu Image and Summit Entertainment titles. Its exhibition arm, Grand Cinemas, is the largest theatre chain in the Middle East with some 100 screens in the UAE and Jordan and plans to expand this to 200 by the beginning of 2015. Acquisitions at November’s AFM included Sea At War, Fathers And Daughters, Mortdecai, Back Roads, Term Life and The Outsider.

Contact

elly@gulffilm.com

Front Row Filmed Entertainment Based in Dubai Distribution territories pan-Arab

Run by father-and-son team Michel and Gianluca Chakra, Front Row Filmed Entertainment is the go-to company for international independent fare in the Middle East. This year’s acquisitions have included Blood Ties, Cavalry, A Long Way Down and The Selfish Giant. The company also recently signed a Middle East output deal with Exclusive Media, covering its titles up to 2017.

Contact

info@frontrowent.ae

Phars Film

Based in Dubai Distribution territories pan-Arab Dubai-based Phars Film is run by father-and-daughter team Ahmad Golchin and Mahi Golchin-Depala. The company distributes around 350 titles a year, mostly from Bollywood, Iran, the Philippines, the US independent sector and Europe across a variety of platforms. This year’s acquisitions have included Late Bloomer, Careful What You Wish For and Outpost 37.

Contact

info@pharsfilm.com

December 9, 2013 Screen International at Dubai 9 n

Screen International will publish its market-leading dailies at Berlin’s European Film Market

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Rawi screenwriters lab profile

The director of Wadjda (pictured), Haifaa Al Mansour, is a 2009 Rawi alumnus

RAWI projects in Dubai Film Connection

Crescent Moon Dir Naz Sadoughi Language of project Persian

Crescent Moon follows the journey of Ebby Noor, a young provincial man who arrives in the city of Tehran to work for his uncle, an officer in Tehran’s morality police. He is assigned to spy on a government minister and Ebby is forced to test the limits of his loyalties — either to remain faithful to the regime and his corrupt paymasters, or to his conscience and feelings for the man he is spying on.

“It is a coming-of-age drama set against the political backdrop of modern-day Iran,” says film-maker Naz Sadoughi. The film, which is in pre-production, will be shot mainly in Turkey with limited filming in Iran. The London-based, Iran-born Sadoughi has directed TV commercials, and written and directed short-form documentaries for Discovery Channel for more than a decade. She completed an MA in screenwriting from London’s University of the Arts in 2011. She recently directed a short called The Perfect Silence, which will premiere at London Short Film Festival in January.

Budget $3.2m Contact Naz Sadoughi

naz.sadoughi@btinternet.com

Daughters Of Abdul-Rahman Dir Zaid Abu Hamdan language of project Arabic

Beyond the page A coming-of-age drama set in modern-day Tehran and a Jordanian tale of family intrigue are the two projects from Rawi Screenwriters Lab being presented in Dubai Film Connection. Nandita Dutta reports awi Screenwriters Lab is an annual five-day screenplay development workshop, launched by the Royal Film Commission of Jordan in consultation with Sundance Institute’s Feature Film Program in 2005.

Aimed at Arab screenwriters working on their first or second narrative feature screenplays, the lab provides selected writers with a creative environment in which to work under the guidance of experienced creative advisers. This year’s lab took place in Wadi Feynan in southern Jordan over five days in mid-November.

In 2009, Dubai Film Market launched the

R

Rawi Mentor Programme to help Rawi Screenwriters Lab alumni to develop their projects further and network with industry professionals by attending Dubai International Film Festival during Dubai Film Connection (DFC). Two projects from the 2012 lab are being presented at DFC this year, (see sidebar).

Rawi, which means ‘storyteller’ in Arabic, has assisted 66 film-makers since its inception. Haifaa Al Mansour, whose debut feature Wadjda premiered at Venice film festival in 2012 and is Saudi Arabia’s official entry to the Oscars foreign-language category this s year, was a 2009 Rawi alumnus. n

This Jordan-set tale of family intrigue follows Zainab, who is single and works as a seamstress. She must re-unite with her three estranged sisters at the family bookshop in lower-middle class Amman, to find their father who has mysteriously disappeared.

Zainab soon realises she has created a recipe for disaster: her cold, cynical and rich sister Samah argues with Amaal, who is poor, religious and wears the niqab. In turn, they clash with their liberal, stubborn and overly independent little sister Khitam. But they slowly discover their firm father was also a victim of cultural conformity. Only by uniting will they overcome their differences.

“Daughters Of Abdul-Rahman is a universal family drama about women making choices in a patriarchal society,” says filmmaker Zaid Abu Hamdan. “It is an uplifting tale about four very different sisters who have to confront the truth about themselves in the most unlikely of situations, and realise who they truly want to be.” The film will be shot in the Jordanian capital of Amman, with a few scenes in Dubai. “We are now at the funding stage and planning to move to preproduction in summer 2014,” he adds.

Zaha Productions, a company that Hamdan set up in Amman in 2009, will co-produce the film. The script was developed at the Interchange workshop at TorinoFilmLab in 2010 and received a development grant from Doha Film Institute in 2011. It was also selected for the Producers Guild of America’s annual producers showcase competition in 2012.

Jordan-born, California-based Hamdan has made several award-winning short films.

These include Bahiya & Mahmoud, which won the best of festival award at Palm Springs International ShortFest in 2011 and screened at Busan, Dubai and Gulf film festivals among others.

Producer Zaid Abu Hamdan Production company Zaha Productions Budget $750,000 Finance raised to date None Contact Zaid Abu Hamdan zaid.abuhamdan@gmail.com

December 9, 2013 Screen International at Dubai 11 n

DUBAI FILM CONNECTION The fifth annual Dubai Film Connection is spotlighting 16 dynamic new projects being developed by directors from across the Arab world. Melanie Goodfellow and Louise Tutt talk to the film-makers to discover the stories behind the pitches

Mark Lotfy

Rashid Masharawi

Yasmine Chouikh

Ahmed Ibrahim

Dangerous Profiles

Gaza D.C.

Kharouf

Until The End Of Time

Dir Mark Lotfy

Dir Rashid Masharawi

Dir Ahmed Ibrahim

Dir Yasmine Chouikh

Young Egyptian film-maker Mark Lotfy was arrested during Egypt’s January revolution in 2011. Since then he has developed a variety of online avatars in the name of political activism and cultural awareness. “I joined the community of warriors in the virtual war,” is how Lotfy puts it.

Dangerous Profiles is a creative documentary about those warriors. “I decided to reveal the secret world I feel I belong to. I think that uncovering our battles in the Egyptian virtual societies is my duty towards my colleagues in the war.”

The film will look at how warfare has moved online in the digital age and uncover the role of anonymous revolutionaries in the struggle for freedom. Lotfy will also talk to philosophers and media theorists to explore how youth movements are leading to the birth of new ideas.

“The film will show how anonymous revolutionaries confront their adversaries from the US government, the Mubarak regime and Muslim Brotherhood, in virtual wars,” says Lotfy.

He is producing the film with Bassem Maher through their Fig Leaf Studios in Alexandria. The company produces features, shorts, documentaries and visualart projects, while supporting artists and film-makers through technical training and assistance and overseeing various workshops.

There is a US angle to Rashid Masharawi’s Gaza D.C., a drama set against the backdrop of his native Gaza Strip. The storyline revolves around an ill-fated relationship between a young Palestinian man living in one of the Strip’s refugee camps and a US activist who visits with a relief delegation.

When the young woman announces she is staying on in Gaza to get married, her parents are convinced she is being held against her will and turn to the US and Israeli authorities. Events spiral as cultures collide, both within and beyond the Strip.

Masharawi, who grew up in Gaza but has not been able to return for many years, says the project is a way to process what has happened to life there after years of isolation from the outside world. The film will touch on the internal pressures and factional divisions within the densely populated strip of land as well as the external pressure around the Israeli border.

“I was born and grew up in Gaza; I learned about love, pain and anger in Gaza; I experienced disappointments in Gaza. It was there that I learned how to spell my first cinematic words. But my private Gaza changes its look and habits,” says Masharawi. “The city has become estranged from itself and from me.”

The Ramallah-based director, who produces under the Cinepal banner, is teaming with Habib Attia of Tunis-based Cinetelefilms, who co-produced Masharawi’s Palestine Stereo, which is a contender in the Muhr Arab feature selection.

Kharouf, which means sleep in Arabic, is a meditation on the Egyptian revolution. To be shot in black-and-white, it follows a young man called Idris who is poised to leave the country with his pregnant wife until he decides to visit his grandmother, against his wife’s wishes. Torn between the future and the past, Idris helps his grandmother prepare for Eid Al Adha, the annual ritual of sacrificing a ram.

“I am extremely conflicted about events in my country,” Ahmed explains. “The film deals with the reality of sacrifice in the midst of the day-to-day political instability in Egypt. The act of slaughtering the ram, which mirrors the sacrifices of Idris’s choice to leave Egypt or not, also points to the power of ritual and its use as a tool of manipulation in situations of crisis and hardship. At its essence, the film taps into the universal desire for freedom.”

The writer-director studied film-making at New York University and is now based in both Cairo and New York. His short film, Noor, won the best Muhr Arab short at Dubai in 2012. It was produced by Ahmed’s TheQandA Films, the production outfit he runs with Murray Bartlett which is also producing Kharouf.

Ahmed is also working with New Yorkbased Iranian artist and film-maker Shirin Neshat as an assistant director and a segment producer, and he produced and starred in the film installation The King Of Black by Shoja Azari.

Algerian film-maker Yasmine Chouikh has worked as an actress, journalist, TV presenter and festival curator. She has also written and directed several short films including The Door and The Djinn and is now putting together her debut feature, Until The End Of Time.

“The film will be filmed in a single camera position, same places, same angles, evoking a sensation of unending repetition,” says Chouikh of her aesthetic vision for the film.

Until The End Of Time is a love story about Ali, a septuagenarian gravedigger whose quiet, solitary life is disturbed by a woman who comes to visit her sister’s grave for the first time. The two get to know each other during her three days of pilgrimage to the cemetery.

“It becomes the theatre of a platonic love story,” Chouikh explains. “Ali gradually falls in love with this at once bitter and tender but also beautiful, feminine and sensual woman, despite the ravages of time.”

Chouikh is the daughter of renowned Algerian actor and film-maker Mohamed Chouikh, whose acting credits include the 1967 Camera d’Or winner The Winds Of The Aures. As a director his films include The Ark Of The Desert, which screened in competition at Locarno in 1997.

Until The End Of Time is being produced

by Yasmine Chouikh’s Making Of production outfit that she runs with her sister, Karima.

Dangerous Profiles

Gaza D.C.

Kharouf

Until The End Of Time

Producer Bassem Maher Production company Fig Leaf Studios Budget $121,500 Contact Bassem Maher

Producers Habib Attia, Rashid Masharawi Production companies Cinetelefilms, Cinepal Budget $1.5m Contact

Producers Samina Akbari, Ahmed Ibrahim, Murray Bartlett Prod co Samina Akbari, TheQandA Films Budget $200,010 Finance to date $15,000 Contact

Producers Yasmine Chouikh, Karima Chouikh Production company Making Of Budget $1.2m Finance raised to date $65,000 Contact Making Of

bassem@figleafstudios.com

HabibAttia

mh.attia@cinetelefilms.net

Samina Akbari

■ 12 Screen International at Dubai December 9, 2013

saminaakbari@gmail.com

makingofprod@gmail.com

INTERCHANGE The 10 enterprising film-making teams chosen for this year’s Interchange programme are working on projects that span the genres, encompassing comedies, thrillers and sci-fi. Profiles by Melanie Goodfellow and Louise Tutt

Kasem Kharsa

Samir Eshra

Sherif Elbendary

Soudade Kaadan

Nezouh

Dir Samir Eshra

Two Rooms And A Parlour

Project’s country of origin

Dir Sherif Elbendary

Project’s country of origin Syria

I Dreamt Of Empire

Imbaba

Dir-scr Kasem Kharsa Project’s country of origin

Dir Soudade Kaadan

Germany, Egypt, US

Egypt, Austria

I Dreamt Of Empire follows brilliant Egyptian professor Musa who is griefstricken after the death of his son during the 1956 war with Israel. When he finds a way to travel back in time to save the boy, Musa arrives in the past in the body of Israeli soldier Ben. Each time Musa returns to the present, his sense of identity begins to falter as he discovers Ben is taking over his life in Cairo.

Kasem Kharsa, a visual artist and film-maker with several shorts to his credit, says the time-travel storyline is a narrative tool rather than a genre conceit.

“It is more to do with human memory, nostalgia and identity,” he explains.

I Dreamt Of Empire is inspired

by Kharsa’s own family and his grandfather’s loss of his son in the war.

“It starts off with two natural enemies pitted against one another and could easily become a grand political allegory,” says the writerdirector of his project. “But as the story continues we learn Musa’s greatest adversary isn’t his Israeli double, it’s himself. This film is ultimately about a man coming to terms with what he has lost.”

I Dreamt Of Empire is produced by Jessica Landt of Hamburg and Berlinbased Beleza Film. It will be the first feature for the company following a series of short films among other projects.

Imbaba is one of Cairo’s most deprived districts and it is where Samir Eshra has set his debut feature. It is the story of Dina, an educated, sophisticated woman living in modern-day Imbaba, who wants more than the men of the district can offer. However, there is a crippling social stigma attached to the area and when a prospective suitor discovers where she lives, the engagement is called off. Under pressure from her family, Dina finally agrees to marry a man she does not love. Frustrated and despairing, she writes an anonymous letter to a newspaper, provoking a curious response.

Eshra has drawn on his own time living in Imbaba and was inspired by a letter he read in a newspaper. “The woman’s case seemed complicated because her education and career made her part of Egypt’s modern society but she still had to live in Imbaba,” the film-maker recalls. “It perfectly reflected Egypt’s ‘fake society’, which is only interested in appearance and deception rather than honesty and personal qualities. This is the result of the last four decades of corruption, ignorance and economic liberalisation.”

Eshra has made several short films and is working on a 52-minute documentary about human-rights lawyers in Egypt called The Shadow Lawyers, with support from IDFA’s Bertha Fund.

Austrian producer Daniela Praher is producing Imbaba.

Egyptian director Sherif Elbendary’s black comedy Two Rooms And A Parlour takes inspiration from a collection of short stories by the late, celebrated Egyptian writer Ibrahim Aslan, about an elderly widower re-appraising his life following his wife’s death. Veteran actor Mahmoud Abdel Aziz, who was given a lifetime achievement award by DIFF last year, has signed up to play the elderly protagonist.

“I have a long relationship with this work. My graduation film At Day’s End was based on one of the short stories in the collection,” says Elbendary. The short showed in 50 festivals and won 14 awards.

The film-maker is working with journalist and writer Mohamed Salah El Azab on the feature adaptation. “Given what’s going on in Egypt, I want this film to be optimistic. I want there to be a sense there is light at the end of the tunnel.”

Two Rooms And A Parlour marks Elbendary’s first feature-length project.

His credits include an adaptation of Italian writer Dario Fo’s Rise And Shine, and also Curfew, which screened in Official Selection in Cannes 2011 as part of the collective feature 18 Days. Elbendary is working with producer Racha Najdi at Mohamed Hefzy’s independent film production powerhouse Film Clinic. Najdi’s credits include Nadine Khan’s Chaos, Disorder, which won the Muhr Arab special jury prize at DIFF 2012.

Syrian director Soudade Kaadan’s Nezouh offers an unusual take on the country’s civil war through the story of a teenage girl who is personally liberated when her family is displaced by the war.

“The film is about a Syrian family in 2012 but the concept of displacement in wartime is a universal subject,” says Kaadan. “I’m not trying to analyse the Syrian uprising in this film. I’m just talking about the effects of war on ordinary human beings.”

Kaadan, who was born in France but moved back to Syria as child, is living in exile in Lebanon, having left the country in the second year of the uprising that began in March 2011.

“The ‘transit state of being’ is a collective experience shared by all Syrians at the moment,” the director says. “We all now have a home the size of a suitcase. We live detached from all materialistic objects that could be an obstacle to an unexpected return. We choose to be delusional because admitting our childhood home has disappeared forever is not easy.”

Nezouh, which means displacement of soul and people in Arabic, marks Kaadan’s first fiction feature after documentary work including Two Cities And A Prison, Looking For Pink and Damascus Roof And Tales Of Paradise.

Kaadan is developing Nezouh with her sister, Amira, under the Kaf Production banner. Production is planned to take place in Lebanon.

I Dreamt Of Empire

Imbaba

Two Rooms And A Parlour

Nezouh

Producer Jessica Landt Production company Beleza Film Budget $750,000 Contact Jessica Landt

Producer Daniela Praher Prod co Daniela Praher Filmproduktion Budget $700,000 Contact Daniela Praher daniela.praher@gmail.com

Producer Racha Najdi Production company Film Clinic Budget $695,000 Contact Racha Najdi

Producer Amira Kaadan Production company Kaf Production Budget $810,000 Contact Amira Kaadan

info@belezafilm.de

Project’s country of origin Egypt

info@film-clinic.com

akaadan@kafproduction.com

December 9, 2013 Screen International at Dubai 13 ■

Screenings

» Screening times and venues are correct at the time of going to press but subject to alteration

Edited by Paul Lindsell paullindsell@gmail.com

10:30

15:00

FRUITVALE STATION press screening

(US) 84mins. Drama.

Dir: Ryan Coogler.

Cast: Michael B Jordan, Melonie Diaz, Octavia Spencer, Chad Michael Murray, Kevin Durand.

The true story of Oscar Grant, a 22-year-old Bay Area resident. On December 31, 2008, Oscar gets a head start on his resolutions, deciding to be a better son, partner and father. However, his resolve takes a tragic turn when police officers shoot him in cold blood at Fruitvale subway station on New Year’s Day.

12:00 FISH & CAT

(Iran) 134mins. Crime, drama. Dir: Shahram Mokri. Cast: Babak Karimi, Abed Abest, Saied Ebrahimifar, Ainaz Azarhoush, Mona Ahmadi, Neda Jebraieli, Parinza Tayeb.

A sinister, one-shot tale of creepy restaurateurs Babak and Saeed.

BLOODY BEANS

(Algeria, France) 81mins.

Drama. Dir: Narimane Mari Benamer. Cast: Rehab Bakir, Yacine Bennour, Nedjmeddine Benarafa, Bilal Azil, Ghania Aissani.

Recounts the end of the French colonisation of Algeria through the eyes of children.

Muhr Arab Documentary MOE 11

12:30 SANDA

(South Korea) 93mins.

Documentary. Dir: Kim Mi-re. Cast: Lee Haegwan, Son Il-gon, Jang Gyo-soon, Seo Gi-bong.

The daily lives of a group of middle-aged workers at Korea Telecom.

Muhr Asia Africa Documentary MOE 9

DURBAN POISON

(South Africa) 94mins.

Crime, film noir, romance.

Dir: Andrew Worsdale.

Cast: Cara Roberts, Brandon Auret, Danny Keogh, Marcel Van Heerden, Gys De Villiers.

The love affair between South Africa’s version of murderous Bonnie and Clyde — Joline and Pie.

THE REFEREE

(Italy) 93mins. Comedy.

Dir: Paolo Zucca. Cast: Stefano Accorsi, Geppi Cucciari, Jacopo Cullin, Alessio Di Clemente, Marco Messeri.

Cinema of the World MOE 2

15:15 CHAMP OF THE CAMP

Festival 13:00 WUKAN: THE FLAME OF DEMOCRACY

(Singapore) 97mins.

Documentary. Dir: Lynn Lee, James Leong.

Late in 2011, Wukan, a village in southern China, captured international attention when demonstrators

flooded the streets, rebelling against decades of corrupt rule. This film follows the challenges faced by a rural Chinese community after adopting a new political system.

Muhr Asia Africa Documentary MOE 5

Muhr Asia Africa Feature MOE 10

12:15

BIRDS OF SEPTEMBER

(Lebanon, Qatar) 99mins. Documentary.

Dir: Sarah Francis.

A glass van roams the streets of Beirut. It houses a camera that explores the city from behind the glass.

Muhr Arab Documentary MOE 11

Cinema of the World MOE 8

THE UNKNOWN KNOWN

(US) 102mins. Biography, Documentary. Dir: Errol Morris. Cast: Donald Rumsfeld.

Cinema of the World MOE 2

12:45 APACHES

(France) 82mins. Drama.

Dir: Thierry De Peretti.

Cast: Joseph Ebrard, Hamza Mezziani, Francois-Joseph Culioli, Aziz El Hadachi, Maryne Cayon, Danielle Arbid.

Revolves around five teenagers from Porto Vecchio, who sneak into an unoccupied luxury villa where they spend the night.

Arabian Nights MOE 8

BAGHDAD NIGHT

(Iraq, UAE) 15mins.

Family, fantasy, film noir, Horror, mystery. Dir: Furat Al Jamil.

n 14 Screen International at Dubai December 9, 2013

A taxi driver picks up a mysterious woman at a street corner, who asks him to drive her to one of Baghdad’s oldest graveyards. She gives him a small golden bell and warns him not to follow her into the graveyard.

Gulf Voices MOE 6

THE DAY IS GONE

(Iraq, UAE) 27mins.

Social. Dir: Rizgar Husen.

Cast: Deljan Bahjet.

Nasrin, a refugee from Syria, flees to Iraq after the Syrian war. There she begins work as a housemaid, taking Frahad’s position. Angry that he has lost his job, Frahad sets out on a mission to stir up trouble for Nasrin.

Gulf Voices MOE 6

THIS IS MY NIGHT

(UAE) 11mins. Drama.

Dir: Alaa Shaker. Cast: Azal Idrees, Maha Maha, Labiba Laith.

Dreams are destroyed during a war. Young Laila stands up against society and Essam, who is driven by lust and false beliefs.

Gulf Voices MOE 6

13:00 WUKAN: THE FLAME OF DEMOCRACY See box, above

14:15 KAJARYA

(India) 134mins. Drama, Social. Dir: Madhureeta Anand. Cast: Meenu Hooda, Ridhima Sud, Kuldeep Ruhil, Shashi Bhushan, Sudheer Chobeesy.

Follows two characters living in very different Indias, whose worlds collide.

Celebration of Indian Cinema MOE 7

15:45

(UAE, Lebanon, Qatar) 75mins. Music, Social, Creative Documentary.

Dir: Mahmoud Kaabour.

Arabian Nights MOE 12

15:30 HANEEN

(UAE) 15mins.

Documentary. Dir: Nasser Al Yaqobi.

They came to look for work, leaving their country behind, and found themselves in a nation that has become closer than their homeland.

Muhr Emirati MOE 8

MAY IN THE SUMMER

(US, Qatar, Jordan) 100mins. Comedy, drama. Dir: Cherien Dabis. Cast: Bill Pullman, Hiam Abbass, Nadine Malouf, Alia Shawkat, Cherien Dabis.

Muhr Arab Feature MOE 9

UNIFIED HOME

Muhr Asia Africa Feature MOE 10

THE MICE ROOM

(Egypt, UAE) 85mins.

Drama, Fiction. Dir: Nermeen Salem, Mohamed Zedan, Mohamad El Hadidi, Mayye Zayed, Hend Bakr, Ahmed Magdy Morsy.

Cast: Mostafa Darwish, Zeyad Salem, Nihad Yahia, Noura Saafan, Hanan Youssef, Kamal Ismail, Malak Magdy.

Six different characters in Alexandria struggle with their fears and hopes.

Muhr Arab Feature MOE 6

16:00 FATIMA

(Finland) 20mins.

Comedy, drama. Dir: Naima Mohamud. Cast: Eija Ahvo, Joanna Haartti, Yusufi Gazmend, Ilona Valve, Yasmin Heinonen.

Nine-year-old Fatima overhears her parents talking about divorce. Her friend Milla comes up with a plan to make them fall in love again.

Cinema for Children MOE 5

FOR YOUR OWN GOOD

(France) 18mins.

Comedy. Dir: Ibtissem Guerda. Cast: Barish Begbaga, Sabrina Dina, Karim Leklou.

Cinema for Children MOE 5

(Philippines) 102mins.

Comedy, drama. Dir: Leo Abaya. Cast: Eugene Domingo, Yuki Matsusaki, Shamaine Buencamino, Luis Alandy, Rico J Puno.

(UAE) 64mins. Dir: Mansoor Alyabhouni Al Dhaheri. Cast: Abbas Saleh, Jihan Beyrouti, Mohammed Barhoum, Yasmin Khouri, Brooks A Glett.

Testimonials from residents who express their love for the UAE.

Cinema of Asia Africa MOE 1

Muhr Emirati MOE 8

Cinema for Children MOE 5

14:45 INSTANT MOMMY

SAMAR

(Jordan) 22mins.

Documentary. Dir: Mohammad Rahahleh.

Cast: Samar Musa, Ekhlas Musa, Musa Salman, Jaber Musa.

Further DIFF coverage, see screendaily.com

WOODEN HAND

(Tunisia, France) 23mins.

Comedy, family. Dir: Kaouther Ben Hania.

Cast: Yasmine Ben Amara, Shiraz Fradi, Ahmed El Haffiene, Fethi Heddaoui, Zied Kochbati.

Cinema for Children MOE 5

16:45 12 YEARS A SLAVE

(US) 133mins. Biography, drama, Historical. Dir: Steve McQueen. Cast: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Brad Pitt, Michael Fassbender, Bill Camp, Taran Killam, Lupita Nyong’o, Scoot McNairy, Paul Giamatti, Paul Dano, Benedict Cumberbatch.

Based on the true story of one man’s fight for survival and freedom from slavery in the pre-civil war US. Cinema of the World Madinat Arena

18:00 THE BEEKEEPER

(Switzerland) 107mins.

Docudrama. Dir: Mano Khalil. Cast: Ibrahim Gezer, Max Wyrsch, Anita Wyrsch-Gwerder, Barbara Bienz, Nicole Hohl.

Touching story of a beekeeper who lost everything in the TurkKurd war.

Arabian Nights MOE 7

THE PAST

(France, Italy) 130mins.

Drama. Dir: Asghar Farhadi. Cast: Tahar Rahim, Berenice Bejo, Elyes Aguis, Pauline Burlet, Ali Mosaffa.

Following a four-year separation, Ahmad returns to Paris from Tehran when his French wife requests he finalises their divorce.

Cinema of the World MOE 2

STABLE UNSTABLE

(Lebanon, Qatar) 87mins. Drama. Dir: Mahmoud Hojeij. Cast: Ziad Antar, Fadi Abi Samra, Hassan Mrad, Camille Salameh, Nada Abou Farhat, Manal Khader, Diamand Abou Abboud, Husam Chadat,

Monzer Baalbaki, Yara Abou Haidar, Aida Sabra.

Beirut, December 31. Seven people are on their way to visit a psychologist to make sense of the past year.

Chen. Cast: Angeli Bayani, Koh Jia Ler, Chen Tian Wen, Yeo Yann Yann.

A Filipina maid bonds with the difficult young son of a Singaporean family.

Muhr Arab Feature Souk Madinat Theatre

Muhr Asia Africa Feature MOE 9

THUY

THREE

(South Korea) 108mins.

Drama, thriller. Dir: Kim Jae-han. Cast: Ninh Duong Lan Ngoc, Kim Mi-Gyeong, Ye Su-jeong, Myung Kae-nam.

(UAE, Qatar) 11mins.

Drama, horror. Dir: Nayla Al Khaja. Cast: Fatema Al Shroqi, Katerina Bernado, Bader Lamy, Aya Al Ansari.

(US) 84mins. Drama.

Dir: Ryan Coogler.

Cast: Michael B Jordan, Melonie Diaz, Octavia Spencer, Chad Michael Murray, Kevin Durand.

The true story of a 22-yearold Bay Area resident who was shot in cold blood by police at Fruitvale subway station on New Year’s Day.

Muhr Asia Africa Feature MOE 1

Gulf Voices MOE 6

Cinema of the World Madinat Arena

18:15

18:45

Arabian Nights Burj Park

20:30 FRUITVALE STATION

21:00

THE MULBERRY HOUSE

IN BLOOM

THE GREAT BEAUTY

(Egypt, Syria, UK, Yemen, UAE) 75mins.

Biography, family, social, documentary. Dir: Sara Ishaq.

Ishaq returns to Yemen after several years. Arriving at the heart of an emerging revolution, she re-examines her place in Yemeni society.

(Georgia, Germany, France) 102mins. Drama.

Dir: Simon Gross, Nana Ekvtimishvili.

Cast: Mariam Bokeria, Lika Babluani, Zurab Gogaladze.

Two teenage girls grow up in Tbilisi, Georgia, just after the break-up of the USSR.

(Italy) 135mins. Drama.

Dir: Paolo Sorrentino.

Cast: Toni Servillo, Iaia Forte, Carlo Buccirosso, Sabrina Ferilli.

A jaded journalist samples the lavish nightlife of Rome.

Muhr Arab Documentary MOE 11

Cinema of the World MOE 8

GRIGRIS

RED BLUE YELLOW

PILLOW SECRETS

(UAE) 92mins. Dir: Nujoom Al Ghanem. Cast: Nujoom Al Ghanem.

(Morocco, Qatar) 87mins.

Drama. Dir: Jillali Ferhati. Cast: Fatima Harandi, Majdouline Alidrissi, Rhita Belkhadir, Fatima Zahra Banacer.

When she recognises the body of the woman who was her mother, a young woman is drawn back violently to her past.

Muhr Emirati MOE 12

18:30 A DREAM

(Qatar) 16mins. Drama.

Dir: Faisal Al Duwaisan.

Cast: Wiam Abd, Hassan Al Sager, Ahed Hassan, Rabih Rabah.

Gulf Voices MOE 6

CHOLO

(UAE, France) 21mins.

Family. Dir: Muzna Almusafer. Cast: Humodi Chanbe, Mwinyi Hassan.

Gulf Voices MOE 6

EYE & MERMAID

(Qatar) 15mins. Drama, Fantasy. Dir: Shahad Ameen. Cast: Basima Hajjar, Nadine Fadayel, Sarah Al Dorani.

Gulf Voices MOE 6

ILO ILO

(Singapore) 99mins.

Drama. Dir: Anthony

Muhr Arab Feature MOE 5

Cinema of the World MOE 2

(France, Chad) 101mins.

Drama. Dir: MahamatSaleh Haroun. Cast: Souleymane Deme, Anais Monory, Marius Yelolo, Cyril Guei.

Despite a paralysed leg, Grigris wants to be a dancer. But when his uncle falls critically ill, he resolves to work for petrol traffickers.

Muhr Asia Africa Feature MOE 8

JOE

(Egypt) 71mins. Creative Documentary, animation.

Dir: Ahmed Nour.

(US) 117mins. Drama.

Dir: David Gordon Green. Cast: Nicolas Cage, Tye Sheridan.

An ex-con takes a wayward teenager under his wing.

Muhr Arab Documentary MOE 10

Cinema of the World Souk Madinat Theatre

WAVES

20:00 HOMELAND

(France, Morocco) 90mins. Drama. Dir: Mohamed Hamidi. Cast: Jamel Debbouze, Tewfik Jallab, Malik Bentalha, Abdelkader Secteur.

Farid visits Algeria, where he is won over by the extraordinary characters.

Among them is his cousin, a wheeler-dealer who dreams of making it to France.

MY NAME IS MOSTAFA KHAMIS

(Egypt, UAE) 101mins.

Dir: Mohamed Elkaliouby.

The rise and fall of the 1952 civil-rights uprising in Egypt.

Muhr Arab Documentary MOE 11

21:15 ADIOS CARMEN

(Morocco, Belgium, UAE) 103mins. Drama, family, social. Dir: Mohamed

Amin Benamraoui. Cast: Aman Allah Benjilali, Paulina Galvez.

A boy finds friendship in the shape of an exiled Spanish usher at the local cinema.

Muhr Arab Feature MOE 12

THE FERRY

(Egypt) 98mins. Drama, romance, social. Dir: Attia Amin. Cast: Mohamed Aly, Dorra Zarrouk, Hani Adel, Mai Salim, Ahmed Safwat.

Arabian Nights MOE 6

STRAY DOGS

(Taiwan, France) 138mins.

Drama. Dir: Tsai Ming Liang. Cast: Lee Kang Sheng, Lu Yi Ching, Lee Yi Cheng, Lee Yi Chieh, Chen Shiang Chyi.

Muhr Asia Africa Feature MOE 1

21:30 THE HORSES OF FUKUSHIMA

(Japan) 74mins.

Documentary. Dir: Yoju Matsubayashi.

Muhr Asia Africa Documentary MOE 7

DIFF editorial office Press and publicity office, Madinat Jumeirah Conference Centre +971 56 212 6011 DIFF dailies editor and Asia editor Liz Shackleton lizshackleton@gmail.com Group head of production and art Mark Mowbray mark.mowbray@ screendaily.com Reporter Nandita Dutta nandita@dearcinema.com Reporter Melanie Goodfellow melanie. goodfellow@btinternet.com Reporter Pashma Manglani pashma.manglani@ filmfest.ae Reviews editor Mark Adams +44 7834 902 528 mark.adams@ screendaily.com DIFF Young Journalist Award mentor Colin Brown +971 55 608 1303 colinbrown1@earthlink. net Features editor Louise Tutt

SCHEHERAZADE’S DIARY

(Lebanon) 80mins.

Crime, Social, Theatre, Psychodrama. Dir: Zeina Daccache. Cast: The women inmates of Baabda Prison.

Muhr Arab Documentary MOE 10

TRAITORS

(Morocco, US, UAE) 83mins. Drama, music.

Dir: Sean Gullette. Cast: Chaimae Ben Acha, Driss Roukhe, Mourade Zeguindi, Nadia Niaza, Soufia Issami.

Arabian Nights MOE 9

21:45 THE BRAIN THAT SINGS

(UAE) 61mins. Dir: Amal Al Agroobi. Cast: Mohammed Al Tamimi, Fauzia Mohammed, Sanaa Al Tamimi, Saleh Al Tamimi, Marion Tennant, Khalifa Al Ali. Muhr Emirati MOE 5

Sub-editors Sangeeta Chauhan, Paul Lindsell, Adam Richmond, Danny Plunkett Designers Vernon Adams, Serene Makarem, Gina Taylor Advertising Scott Benfold scott.benfold@ screendaily.com Printer Masar Printing & Publishing, International Media Production Zone, Dubai www.masarprint. com Screen International UK office MBI, 101 Finsbury Pavement, London EC2A 1RS, United Kingdom Subscriptions +44 1604 828 706 help@ subscribe.screendaily.com

in association with Chime Consulting

December 9, 2013 Screen International at Dubai 15 n

FESTIVAL DIARY

brought to you by DIFF

BUSY, BUZZY MARKET ATTRACTS VISITORS Exhibitors including film commissions, production companies and AV equipment firms interact with delegates

Namibia Film Commission Filming opportunities in Namibia. Get help with obtaining filming permits as well as 15% VAT refund as additional incentive. Coproduction and training opportunities are available.

Royal Film Commission of Jordan Co-production opportunities with Jordan’s film-makers.

Information on filming in Jordan, incentives including a free public location, police on set and no custom charges for equipment.

Faradees Production services for TVCs, corporate videos, feature and short films and TV series.

Thailand Film Office Filming opportunities in Thailand and information on how to obtain shooting permits.

Advanced Media Training

information on filming locations in Lebanon and information on obtaining necessary permits. The Foundation Liban Cinema has nine films screening at DIFF 2013.

Dubai Moving Images Museum

Agence Algerienne pour le Rayonnement Culturel A wide selection of Algerian titles seeking sales and distribution.

Cultural exchange opportunities are available.

Over 300 rare antiques tracing the history of cinema are on display at the museum located in Tecom, which houses the collection of Akram Miknas, chairman of the Middle East Communications Networks. Get an idea of what to see if you decide to visit the museum.

French Cinema

Documentary Voices

Zoom In Focus

A range of film-making workshops, led by award-winning filmmaker Ross McElwee (SHERMAN’S MARCH and BRIGHT LEAVES), Yemane Demissie of New York University and casting director Nancy Bishop. These will run concurrently with DIFF. Specialised training programmes can be organised, both regionally and internationally.

Organised by the French Embassy, the stand is supported by TV5 Monde, Unifrance and ile de France and aims to facilitate coproduction while seeking sales and distribution. Filming options in France can also be facilitated.

Two feature scripts (BRIDE OF THE NILE and ALEXANDRIA 54 YEAR OF DECEPTION) and a documentary (THE END OF BROTHERHOOD). Partnership opportunities available for all aspects of the films, including financing, production and postproduction services. The firm is also open to selling the rights of one of the films and is seeking a director for another.

The latest on professional 4K video and photography equipment and accessories. Brands available include Sony, G.F.M., Carl Zeiss and Angenieux.

Filmworks

Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT)

Adastra Films

Training options for young Emirati film-makers. Networking opportunities for students.

Filmi, USA

Mile Studios

Consulting services ranging from the sales and distribution of shorts, script development, production and post-production. Filmmakers can visit the stand for advice on their or even bring a clip of their short for evaluation.

Post-production services. Mile Studios has nine films participating at DIFF 2013 (three of which are features).

Dubai Film & TV Commission/Dubai Studio City

twofour54

Pearl Legal A wide range of legal services related to entertainment law with specialists in both UK and UAE law, including intellectual propertyrelated issues, sponsorship agreements, production agreements and crew-hiring agreements.

Foundation Liban Cinema A selection of Lebanese films seeking sales and distribution and co-production opportunities. Interested film-makers can also get

n 16 Screen International at Dubai December 9, 2013

A full-service production company, producing feature films, TV commercials, corporate videos and documentaries.

A rundown on filming in Dubai, including getting permits, support and access to soundstages. Industry professionals can also get information on setting up an office

MAD Solutions An integrated independent studio, offering sales, distribution, marketing and publicity services in addition to content provision and celebrity representation. MAD Solutions has five films participating at DIFF 2013. The MAD Culture division works in providing film education programmes, screenings at cultural and educational institutions, consultation and creation of content.

Doha Film Institute Film financing initiatives for film-makers from across the globe.

Fifteen films screening at DIFF 2013 are being supported by the institute.

Funding opportunities, training and development as well as marketing and distribution of films. Filmi focuses on Emirati films or films that at least have an Emirati element.

A 30% rebate scheme on international TV production spend in Abu Dhabi. The media and entertainment hub offers internationally experienced crew and a dedicated pool of freelancers, postproduction facilities and distribution, playout and media management services.

Canon, UAE The latest cinema series cameras from Canon, including the awardwinning Cinema EOS C500 4K digital camera and the EOS C300.

DUBAI FILM CONNECTION STARTS TODAY The seventh edition of the Dubai Film Connection (DFC), the Dubai Film Market’s co-production market, starts today and will conclude on Wednesday when the winning projects will be announced.

Over three days, the 16 fiction and documentary projects in development that are in this year’s DFC will compete for more than USD100,000 of prize money, including three new sponsorship awards: the Front Row KNCC Award, the CNC Award and the New Century Filmmaker Award. The selected

project teams will also meet with the DFC’s guest list of more than 80 international and Arab film professionals to encourage collaboration on the realization of their feature-length projects. To date, 35 of the projects showcased by the DFC have now been completed, three of which are screening in this year’s film programme. Details of participating projects are in the DFM Projects Dossier, available at the Dubai Film Market.

PROGRAMMERS’ PICKS THE UNKNOWN KNOWN Dir: Errol Morris A mesmerising portrait of Donald Rumsfeld, the largerthan-life figure who served as George W. Bush’s secretary of defence and as the principal architect of the Iraq War.

SANDA Dir: Mi-re Kim For a group of middle-aged Korea Telecom workers, life has become reduced to simply scraping by to survive in the current economy climate.

TODAY at 12:30 MoE 2

TODAY at 12:30 MoE 9

THE REFEREE Dir: Paolo Zucca THE REFEREE looks at the story of one of the messiest football championships with an international referee, a blind trainer and two cousins caught up in a feud, while playing for the same time.

BIRDS OF SEPTEMBER Dir: Sarah Francis A glass van roams the streets of Beirut, housing a camera that explores the city behind the glass while serving as a moving confessional.

TODAY at 15:00 MoE 2

TODAY at 15:00 MoE 11

GULF VOICES 1

The Gulf Voices 1 package features a fascinating mix of stories.

In THREE, the director explores the changes happening to a nine-year-old boy, who suddenly becomes hostile and aggressive towards his family. EYE & MERMAID dives into the fantasy realm as 10-year-old Hanan discovers that her father has a secret: he captures mermaids. Meanwhile, in A DREAM a man becomes increasingly paranoid that his wife is being unfaithful to him. CHOLO explores the connection two young brothers make after finally getting to know each other.

GULF VOICES 1 THREE Nayla Al Khaja

A DREAM Faisal Al-Duwaisan

EYE & MERMAID Shahad Ameen

CHOLO Muzna Almusafer

TODAY at 18:30 MoE 6

December 9, 2013 Screen International at Dubai 17 ■