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Doha Film Institute, Qumra 2016 4–9 March Doha, Qatar
Doha Film Institute is an independent, non-profit organization established in 2010. Its platforms include funding and production of local, regional and international films, educations programmes, film screenings, the Ajyal Youth Film Festival and Qumra, a gathering of international industry.
A space for new voices in cinema
Qumra is an initiative that seeks to provide mentorship, nurturing and hands-on development for emerging filmmakers from Qatar and around the world.
Qumra Master Classes:
Qumra Meetings:
Qumra Screenings:
Master Classes with acclaimed actors and filmmakers. The first edition of Qumra featured Master Classes with Gael García Bernal, Elia Suleiman, Christian Mungiu, Abderrahmane Sissako and Danis Tanović.
Films at various stages of production are selected to benefit from the experience of international film industry experts in bespoke mentorship and business meetings.
A series of screenings featuring films by international masters and recipients of support from the institute.
Connect with us:
DohaFilm @DohaFilm DohaFilm #Qumra16
For more information, please visit www.dohafilminstitute.com
DFI 2015 Qumra Screen Int ad.indd 1
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TODAY
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Barajoun tunes up Spanish animation BY MELANIE GOODFELLOW
Dubai-based Barajoun Entertainment, the animation and VFX studio behind the UAE’s first feature-length animation Bilal, which premieres here at DIFF today, has revealed details of its next project. Based on an original idea by Barajoun co-founder and Bilal co-director Ayman Jamal, the new production will revolve around a Spanish musician, who was active during the Islamic era in Spain around 700AD and continues to influence classical music to this day. “Like Bilal, it is based on a true story and a forgotten hero. This is an approach we like to take at Barajoun,” said Jamal, who declined to reveal the exact identity of the protagonist. US screenwriter Will Csaklos, whose story consultant credits include Finding Nemo and The Princess And The Frog, has just delivered the screenplay. “He was a guru musician who still influences music to this day. I also love the story because it is set at a time when Spain was a centre for the arts,” Jamal added. Pre-production on the feature-length animation is scheduled to start early next year. Bilal recently received a warm reception at Doha’s Ajyal Youth Film Festival and will make its UAE premiere in a red-carpet gala screening here. The film is based on the real-life story of an African slave living 1,000 years ago who heroically secured his freedom thanks to his beautiful voice. Produced entirely in Dubai over a three-year period, it involved some 360 animation and CGI talents from around the world, whose combined credits include 300, Shrek and The Lord Of The Rings. Jamal reports strong interest in the film from European distributors following its Doha screening and six US distributors are looking at the project. “We are planning to take it to Berlin next year so we would hope to have a deal finalised by the end of December,” said Jamal.
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The power of creativity For many years, the United Arab Emirates has offered an unparalleled canvas for global cultural exchange. This creative synergy between various nationalities has given the country its unique identity in the region. Cultural and creative industries are at the forefront of innovation and contributing to the country’s knowledge economy. It is now, more important than ever, for these industries to be nurtured and given the right conditions to develop and thrive. Dubai International Film Festival has demonstrated the power of art and creativity in bridging cultures through its annual programme of the best of Arab and international cinema. On the occasion of its 12th edition, I wish it yet another successful edition.
FORUM EVENTS 11:00 – 12:30 Beyond Digital: global entertainment and media outlook 2015-19 Speakers Philip Shepherd, partner and digital media and entertainment leader Middle East, PwC; Jayant Bhargava, partner and head of digital media and entertainment Middle East, PwC; Medea Nocentini, vice-president, corporate development, OSN; Mohamad Yehya, Majid Entertainment, director of TV projects, Abu Dhabi Media; Dimitri Metaxas, managing director MENA, Resolution Media
DIFF has Room for Tremblay Jacob Tremblay, the young star of Lenny Abrahamson’s Room, which opened DIFF last night, stole the show on the red carpet before the opening ceremony. Pictured here with DIFF managing director Shivani Pandya and chairman Abdulhamid Juma, Tremblay plays a boy who has spent his entire life locked in one room with his mother. The awards season favourite is also drawing praise for Brie Larson’s performance.
MAD Solutions ahead of The Curve, Summer Crowds MAD Solutions has taken pan-Arab rights to seven films in the DIFF line-up, including The Curve and Before The Summer Crowds, which receive their world premieres in the Muhr Feature competition today. The Cairo and Abu Dhabi-based distributor has also picked up two other Muhr Feature titles — Omar Shargawi’s Al Medina, which also receives its world premiere at DIFF, and Mai Masri’s 3000 Nights, which
premiered in Toronto. MAD’s distribution slate also includes Arabian Nights title Love, Theft And Other Engagements, directed by Muayad Alayan, and short films Ave Maria and 5th Floor Room 52. MAD, which deals directly with cinemas across the region, is planning limited releases of up to 20 screens in each territory. “Our strategy is to prolong the life of each film in the cinema, which is easier to manage when you have a smaller
VOX picks up Majid Al Ansari’s Rattle The Cage (Zinzana) » Page 4
Sean McAllister’s accomplished portrait of a marriage affected by war and displacement. » Page 7
President Dubai Civil Aviation Authority Chairman Dubai Airports Chairman and CEO Emirates Group Honorary Chairman DIFF
BY LIZ SHACKLETON
NEWS Prison break
REVIEW A Syrian Love Story
Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum
Neilson Barnard, Getty
A Syrian Love Story, page 7
number of screens,” said MAD CEO Alaa Karkouti. 3000 Nights will be rolled out across three Arab territories over three weeks from February, while Mohamed Khan’s Before The Summer Crowds, which MAD co-produced, will be released day-and-date across seven to eight territories in March. Al Medina and Rifqi Assaf ’s The Curve will be released across multiple territories in the second half of next year.
14:00 – 15:00 Masterclass: film finance as an alternative investment Speaker Michael Bassick, president and COO, Vendian Entertainment
15:30 – 16:30 Money matters: routes to financing Speakers Laura Walker, CEO, AG Capital; Lauren Selig, co-founder and producer, Shake & Bake Productions; Ellen Eliasoph, president and CEO, Village Roadshow Entertainment Group Asia; Julien Khabbaz, head of investment banking, FFA Private Bank. Moderator Paul Miller, producer and partner, Escape Pictures
17:00 – 18:15 Networking session: funds and financiers Open to DFM and DIFF delegates. Attendees Laura Walker, AG Capital; Ellen Eliasoph, Village Roadshow Entertainment Group Asia; Lauren Selig, Shake & Bake Productions; Mohamed Hefzy, Fortress Film Clinic; Aliaa Zaky, Enjaaz; Khalil Benkirane, Doha Film Institute; Maja Rodman, Malmo Arab Film Festival; Fay Breeman, Hubert Bals Fund; Christopher Woodrow, Vendian Entertainment; Paul Baboudjian, Screen Institute Beirut; Intishal Al Timimi, SANAD Fund
News
DIFF picks DIFF programmers look beyond the world premieres and red-carpet galas
THE ENDLESS RIVER Screening in Cinema of the World today, South African thriller The Endless River revolves around the unlikely bond between a white farmer and young black woman who are both affected by violent incidents. Directed by Oliver Hermanus, who won two prizes at DIFF 2009 for Shirley Adams, the film premiered at this year’s Venice Film Festival. “Hermanus reverses the structure of a thriller — it’s not so much about the fear of who is going to kill or be killed, but what happens to the survivors,” says DIFF programmer Dorothee Wenner, who describes the director as “one of the most interesting voices coming out of South Africa today”.
MADAME COURAGE Fresh from winning the best actor prize at Carthage Film Festival, Merzak Allouache’s Madame Courage is the story of a thief who becomes obsessed with a young woman after trying to rob her. “It is about conflicts in the way that men perceive women in Algerian society,” says Arabian Nights programmer Delphine Garde-Mroueh. “The main character is dealing with an oppressive mother and a sister who is a prostitute, but provides the family’s only income.” Non-professional actor Adlane Djemil, who won the Carthage award, heads the cast. “Djemil’s performance adds to the realism of the film’s environment,” GardeMroueh adds.
VOX unlocks Rattle The Cage By Melanie Goodfellow
Regional exhibitor and distributor VOX Cinemas has acquired Arabic-language rights to Emirati film-maker Majid Al Ansari’s Rattle The Cage (Zinzana) ahead of its gala screening at DIFF today. The UAE-based company is set to release the thriller on 50 screens across the region, kicking off with the UAE, Bahrain, Qatar and Kuwait on December 10, followed by Egypt, Iraq and Jordan on December 17 and Lebanon in early 2016. “Zinzana has already played very well in a number of festivals outside the Arab world and received rave reviews from major film publications. We hope it will also find an audience across the
Majid Al Ansari, director of Rattle The Cage (Zinzana)
Middle East. We’re targeting adult audiences across the cultural spectrum,” said VOX’s director of distribution and film content Toni El Massih. VOX Cinemas, which is owned by UAE retail and leisure giant Majid Al Futtaim, is one of the fastest-growing exhibition chains
in the region with 122 screens in the UAE and 154 across the territories. The company opened the region’s largest cinema complex, in Dubai’s Mall of the Emirates, in September. It also branched into acquisition and distribution last year to expand niche programming activities for its circuit.
“Being an Emirati-owned company, VOX Cinemas has always supported Arabic content. With Zinzana we had the opportunity not just to exhibit but also to distribute an Emirati film and start co-operating with Image Nation,” said El Massih. “Image Nation is dedicated to identifying and nurturing Emirati talent. Joining forces with them on a young and talented Emirati filmmaker’s first feature just seemed like a natural step.” Other Arabic-language DIFF titles on VOX Cinemas’ upcoming slate include Hany Abu-Assad’s The Idol, which it will release in the UAE on December 24. » See review, page 7, and director interview, page 11
Movie Pigs platform feasts on Arab cinema By Liz Shackleton
North American audiences will soon have access to a wide range of independent Arab cinema through SVoD platform Movie Pigs, backed by US tech investor Dave McClure. Soft launched at San Francisco’s Arab Film Festival in October, the New York-based platform streams Arabic-language features
and documentaries such as Omar, Paradise Now, Wadjda and 678, along with Egyptian and Syrian movie classics. The platform’s investors also include Hala Fadel, chair of the MIT Enterprise Forum of the panArab region, and Tarek Nasr, managing director of Cairo tech start-up accelerator JuiceLabs. “We focus more on movies that
have global rather than just local appeal, including festival titles, as they appeal not only to Arabs living abroad but also non-Arabs interested in the Arab narrative,” said Perihan Abou-Zeid, who cofounded the company with CTO Hany El Kerdany. “In the US, we’ve found that non-Arabs make up to 50% of the audience for Arab film festivals.”
DFI backs record 17 festival titles By Melanie Goodfellow
Qatar’s Doha Film Institute (DFI) has supported a record 17 titles in the line-up at this year’s DIFF, including Hany Abu-Assad’s The Idol, landmark Emirati feature animation Bilal and France’s foreign-language Oscar hopeful Mustang. A total of 15 DIFF titles were recipients of DFI’s grant scheme for first and second-time works including Mai Masri’s 3000 Nights and Merzak Allouache’s Madame Courage, as well as Mustang and Dégradé, both of which premiered at Cannes earlier this year. “It is tremendously exciting to watch films supported by the DFI take wings and gain the spotlight at international festivals,” said DFI CEO Fatma Al Remaihi.
4 Screen International at Dubai December 10, 2015
“This year, we have the largest contingent of films supported by the Institute screening at DIFF. It underlines the success of our mission to support Arab film-makers and emerging talent to enable them to tell their stories to the world.” DFI-backed world premieres at DIFF also include Abdallah Badis’ The Foreign Son, Mahmood Soliman’s We Have Never Been Kids, Hala Khalil’s Nawara and Mohamed Ouzine’s Samir In The Dust. Two of the films shortlisted for the IWC Schaffhausen Filmmaker Award — Qatari director Khalifa Al Muraikhi’s Sahaab and Saudi director Shahad Ameen’s Scales — were also supported by DFI. The Institute also recently
On its official launch on January 1, 2016, Movie Pigs will also be made available in the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Scandinavia. In the US, the platform has three monthly subscription packages: $6.99 for standard definition and single device usage; $7.99 for HD and two devices, and $10.99 for HD, unlimited devices and early access to some titles.
DIFF, Image Nation build Arab buzz By Melanie Goodfellow
Fatma Al Remaihi
announced Japanese film-maker Naomi Kawase and Argentina’s Lucrecia Martel as ‘masters’ at the second edition of its Qumra initiative, scheduled to take place March 4-9, 2016. It also hosts Ajyal Youth Film Festival, which wrapped on December 5 with Paper Planes, Scarecrow and Walls (Muros) clinching the top prizes.
DIFF and Abu Dhabi media and entertainment company Image Nation have launched a socialmedia campaign to create buzz around Arab cinema. The initiative, supported by a number of Arab film-makers, uses the hashtag #SupportArabCinema. DIFF attendees will be encouraged to pledge support on socialmedia channels and urge people to watch Arab films in cinemas. “Arab films are increasingly made with the same quality as Hollywood productions and are often seen competing on an international level. But for this to continue audiences must go and watch them,” said Image Nation marketing manager Abeer Abu Shmeis.
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Reviews Reviews edited by Fionnuala Halligan finn.halligan@screendaily.com
Fatima Reviewed by Dan Fainaru
Room Reviewed by Tim Grierson A survival tale in which the safe return home ends up as harrowing as captivity, Room is a nuanced, minor-key portrait of trauma that stings slowly. Based on Emma Donoghue’s acclaimed 2010 novel about a young woman and her son held hostage, this intimate drama may not be particularly revelatory, its twists and insights delivered with gentle, melancholy inevitability. Nonetheless, director Lenny Abrahamson has made a deeply moving story about how adults try to explain the world to their children — even when they don’t always understand it themselves. And Brie Larson gives a tremendous performance as a mother who must be strong for her boy, until she suddenly can’t be anymore. Donoghue wrote the screenplay based on her own book, which chronicles the strange odyssey of Jack (Jacob Tremblay), a five-year-old who lives happily in a small shed with his mother, whom he calls Ma (Larson). Told from the boy’s naïve perspective, Room soon establishes they are actually being held captive by a man known as Old Nick (Sean Bridgers), who kidnapped Ma seven years ago and has been sexually assaulting her ever since (Jack, of course, doesn’t realise Old Nick is his father). Room shifts gears at the midway point as Ma hatches a risky plan to sneak Jack out of the shed. The ploy works, and the pair are freed, returning to Ma’s parents (Joan Allen, William H Macy) while Jack begins to discover an outside world he has never known — he grew up believing the whole world was the shed, which he called “room”. Moving from the surreal, sneakily poignant Frank, Abrahamson has made what in some ways is a more conventional, tear-jerking drama, an examination of serious themes that is offset by a swelling, tasteful score from Stephen Rennicks. But within that refined framework, the film-maker stirs understated emotions, his restraint accentuating the inherently combustible subject matter. Throughout, Larson internalises her emotions, and does a superb job of showing a character’s helpless, confused implosion. Newcomer Tremblay eschews cute-kid shtick to play Jack as an open, responsive boy who knows only what his mother has told him.
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Cinema of the World Ire-Can. 2015. 118mins Director Lenny Abrahamson Production companies Telefilm Canada, Film4, Irish Film Board, Ontario Media Development Corporation, Element Pictures, No Trace Camping, Duperele Films International sales FilmNation Entertainment, info@filmnation.com US distributor A24, www.a24films.com Producers Ed Guiney, David Gross Screenplay Emma Donoghue, based on her original novel Cinematography Danny Cohen Editor Nathan Nugent Production design Ethan Tobman Music Stephen Rennicks Main cast Brie Larson, Jacob Tremblay, Joan Allen, Sean Bridgers, Tom McCamus, William H Macy
Like many of his earlier works, Philippe Faucon’s praiseworthy Fatima tackles the fate of North African immigrants trying desperately to find their place in a French society that seems less than enthusiastic to welcome them with open arms or on equal terms. It is probably fair to assume Faucon’s picture is closer to real life than most of the other, more violent portraits of integration, given it is inspired by the account of a Moroccan woman, Fatima Elayoubi, whose book Prayer To The Moon detailed her experiences after following her husband to Europe in the 1980s Morocco-born Faucon is not the first to tackle this issue, nor is Fatima the most original take. But this film deserves attention if only because of its honest restraint — verging at times on the didactic — in dealing with issues that are too often allowed to explode, in movies as well as in real life, into uncontrollable fits of rage. Once in France, Fatima (Soria Zeroual) is abandoned by her husband (Chawki Amari), who still hangs around to appease and care for their two daughters while she cleans homes and offices for a living. Fatima will do anything to help her older daughter, Nesrine (Zita Hanrot), study medicine but is often defeated by her turbulent younger one, Souad (Kenza Noah Aïche), who resists any attempt to calm the rebellious teenage revolt to which she feels entitled. Fatima is separated from her daughters not only by the natural generation gap, but also by the veil she will not surrender, her problems in mastering French and the social pressures that surround her. The language barrier ultimately pushes Fatima into writing down, in Arabic, all the emotions she has bottled inside due to the lack of a common language with her daughters. Faucon’s insistence on working with performers of relatively little experience often results in touching moments followed by bouts of blank text recitations. Zeroual, a cleaning lady herself, looks perfect in the part, but is most effective when she does not have to deliver lines that are not hers. And the same is true, to a lesser degree, with the rest of the cast.
Arabian Nights Fr-Can. 2014. 79mins Director/screenplay Philippe Faucon Production companies Istiqlal Films, Possible Media, Arte France, Rhone-Alpes Cinema International sales Pyramide Films, sales@ pyramidefilms.com Producers Yasmina NiniFaucon, Philippe Faucon, Serge Noël Cinematography Laurent Fénart Editing Sophie Mandonnet Music Robert Marcel Lepage Cast Soria Zeroual, Zita Hanrot, Kenza Noah Aïche, Chawki Amari
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Screenings, page 14
Rattle The Cage Reviewed by Fionnuala Halligan
A Syrian Love Story Reviewed by Fionnuala Halligan Another thought-provoking piece of work from journalist and documentarian Sean McAllister, A Syrian Love Story documents a marriage, a great love story under the weight of politics and forced displacement, surrounded by death and fear. It’s an unexpected film about Syria — for those braced for a Silvered Water, Syria Self-Portrait, this looks at one family whose lives are dissolving and the pain is no less for the fact they survive. This is a very intimate piece, accomplished in the rounded insight it delivers through deft editing and shifts in perspective. It begins when McAllister (The Liberace Of Baghdad) is on a press trip to Syria in 2009; he is approached by Amer Daoud whose wife Raghda Hassan is a political prisoner, leaving him alone to look after their four sons in Tartus, on Syria’s Mediterranean coast. The couple met in prison; she was an activist for freedom in Syria, he was a Palestinian fighter. As the film starts, she is in prison again for writing a book about their love story. Her battle continues. McAllister beds down to become part of the family’s personal history. When the Syrian uprising begins in 2011, Amer seizes the opportunity to ratchet up his demands for Raghda’s freedom, and with some pressure from the US brought to bear, she is suddenly returned home. McAllister is dramatically arrested and footage he has shot of the couple is seized, forcing them to flee to Lebanon and from there to France. But their Syrian love story is far from over. Frail Raghda is caught, as Amer says, between being Che Guevara and a mother. Their boys are embroiled in events over which they have no control, witnesses to their parents’ emotional turmoil. Their youngest son, Bob, is so small he’s walking unsteadily when the film begins but by its end he can no longer remember the country of his birth. Fiercely intelligent teenager Kaka, aware that all the friends they have left behind are now dead, is becoming politicised. Sean McAllister shot this film, which was adeptly edited by Matthew Scholes, over the course of five long years, during which he was imprisoned. He would certainly not be able to make it today.
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Arabian Nights UK. 2015. 72mins Director/ cinematography Sean McAllister Production companies 10ft Films, BFI, BBC Storyville Contact 10ft Films, asyrianlovestory.com Producers Elhum Shakerifar, Sean McAllister Executive producers Hoshang Waziri, Lizzie Francke, Nick Fraser, Kate Townsend, Axel Arno, Mette Hoffmann Meyer Editors Matthew Scholes, Johnny Burke Music Terence Dunn Featuring Amer Daoud, Raghda Hassan
Muhr Emirati
Set entirely inside an unidentified, claustrophobic prison cell in 1987, the UAE’s Rattle The Cage (Zinzana) is a catand-mouse drama with potential appeal for local audiences, although its restricted visual scope could limit international prospects. Produced by Image Nation Abu Dhabi and featuring in a cameo Ali Al Jabri, who was head of the now-defunct Abu Dhabi Film Festival, this directorial debut of young Majid Al Ansari is one of the opening films at DIFF. Al Ansari takes on a familiar, almost stage-bound script by Ruckus and Lane Skye and colours it in with a larger-than-life central performance by Ali Suliman, aiming for a Middle Eastern western in an almost mythical yarn. Rattle The Cage also stars Saleh Bakri as Talal Mohammad, a man who wakes up to find himself behind bars “somewhere in Arabia” in the 1980s (a calendar points to 1987, although this has little effect on what is about to transpire). The local sheriff taunts him: “You like assaulting strangers?” He makes a single phone call to his estranged wife Wafa. His victim (Al Jabri) is bailed out. The sheriff sends a deputy out to find his missing wallet and ID card. So far, so intriguing, but things take a turn for the sinister when “Deputy Dbaan” (Suliman) enters the room and promptly dispatches the sheriff by ramming a letteropener between his ears. Further facts begin to emerge: Talal is a former alcoholic, and the cartoonishly evil Dbaan (he even dances) has an agenda. Soon Talal is forced to strike a bargain in order to keep Wafa, his son Shehab and increasing numbers of prison staff safe from Dbaan’s psychopathic wrath. Setting himself the goal of playing this feature out in such a restricted staging, Al Ansari does well to keep Rattle The Cage hitting its beats through a script that initially holds out promise of mysteries to come but ultimately fails to deliver. The film’s physical limitations put too much in the hands of the actors, and the performances are overly broad to appeal outside the film’s home territories. Technical credits are sufficient for the task at hand, with the odd interesting visual flourish.
UAE-Jor. 2015. 95mins Director Majid Al Ansari Production company Image Nation Entertainment International sales IM Global, Cinetic Media, info@imglobalfilm.com Producer Rami Yasin Screenplay Ruckus Skye, Lane Skye Cinematographer Colin Léveque Editor Shahnaz Dulaimy Production designer Benedikt Lange Music Trevor Gureckis Main cast Saleh Bakri, Ali Suliman, Yasa, Ahd Kamel, Abdullah Bou Abed, Mansoor Al Feeli, Ali Al Jabri
December 10, 2015 Screen International at Dubai 7
FEATURE DIFF JURIES
Meet
THE JURY
DIFF has assembled an eclectic group of international film-makers to take a seat on the festival juries
DEEPA MEHTA
NUJOOM ALGHANEM
The prize-winning DIFF regular returns to the festival this year to sit on the Muhr feature jury. She talks to Stuart Kemp Emirati poet, scriptwriter and award-winning film director Nujoom Alghanem knows how to keep busy. She is in development on an as-yetuntitled narrative feature and in production on a documentary feature. Her duties here as part of the Muhr Feature jury should provide a welcome distraction from her busy schedule. Alghanem says there are two factors that throw up challenges for budding film-makers from the Middle East: “Finding significant stories and characters and/or good actors.” Then there’s the age-old hurdle facing everyone in the film industry: pulling together the funding in a timely fashion. Alghanem notes “the difficulties facing Arab cinema in general because of political and financial pressures” when looking for finance. She has produced more than 10 films spanning fiction shorts and documentaries, and six feature-length documentaries. A DIFF regular, Alghanem’s Nearby Sky picked up the Muhr award for best non-fiction film last year and in 2011 she won the Muhr Emirati award with
8 Screen International at Dubai December 10, 2015
Amal. In 2013, Hamama, her biographical documentary about a 90-year-old female healer who lives in Al Dhaid, Sharjah, won the festival’s Muhr Emirati Special Jury Prize. “Seeing my films accepted by international film festivals gave me a confidence and pride that I could succeed in establishing a cinematic style,” she says. For Alghanem, receiving the best non-fiction award for Nearby Sky was a significant achievement from both a personal and professional perspective “It was the first Emirati film to receive such an award,” she explains. She now hopes the future of film-making in her region will include “tackling stronger content in our films and stepping ahead in discussing more striking social issues in non-typical ways… Expanding the genres to go beyond drama and comedy” is also key, says Nujoom Alghanem Alghanem.
Deepa Mehta (pictured left) has a long association with Dubai. The Oscar-nominated director, India-born, now Canada-based, has often taken her films to the festival. Both Water, her 2005 feature about widows living in an ashram, and her 2002 comedy romance Bollywood/ Hollywood screened here. And as a seasoned festivalgoer, she is well qualified to comment on how DIFF compares both to other Middle Eastern festivals and to those around the world. “DIFF is an accessible festival that showcases some really important Arab Cinema. This is extremely important, especially in the political and cultural climate that is pervasive in the world currently,” Mehta reflects, pointing to the “intimacy which one does not often find in other festivals and this gives participants the opportunity to engage with other filmmakers in a relaxed and informal atmosphere”. Mehta had a film screen at Abu Dhabi Film Festival a few years ago. It was, she felt, a festival with “its heart in the right place” but its reach was more modest than DIFF. Marrakech, where she served as a jury member, was “delirious in its opulence and leaned towards showcasing Bollywood and Hollywood films”. As for Cannes and Toronto, she suggests these are very different but both are hugely respected industry events that can determine the fortunes of a movie. “Positive buzz in either of these festivals can make a film. Conversely a negative one can break it.” Mehta, whose most recent film is Beeba Boys, an action film about Sikh gangsters in Vancouver, is thrilled to be heading the Muhr feature jury. “I love watching movies. Always have,” she says. “My father was a film distributor in India and I grew up on a steady diet of films.” She takes seriously her responsibilities. “Jury duty is hard work,” she admits. “It’s difficult to park one’s personal prejudices and judgments while watching films and then be a part of a decision to choose which film is better than the other. Yet finally the choice for me is always based on a personal, subjective view. The heart invariably triumphs over my critical response.” Mehta and Nujoom Alghanem (left) are joined on the jury by documentary film-maker Tom Zubrycki, Egyptian actor Khaled El Nabawy and Iraqi film-maker Maysoon Pachachi.
Getty
The head of the Muhr feature jury tells Geoffrey Macnab about her long-held affection for DIFF
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ALI F MOSTAFA
One of the UAE’s most exciting talents talks to Stuart Kemp about his films City Of Life and From A To B, and now a new genre title
FRIDRIK THOR FRIDRIKSSON
The auteur tells Geoffrey Macnab he hopes to see films here he can programme for his festival in Iceland As a founder of Reykjavik International Film Festival, veteran Icelandic producerdirector Fridrik Thor Fridriksson has firsthand knowledge of growing a small festival. And as a confirmed cinephile he is thrilled to see how DIFF has flourished. “I call myself a film lover still,” says Fridriksson, whose 1991 film Children Of Nature was nominated for a foreign-language Oscar. “I love to see as many films as I can when I’m not working on my own.” Fridriksson is in Dubai to head up the jury for the Muhr Short and Muhr Gulf Short competitions. He is joined by Emirati film-maker Ali F Mostafa and Tunisian director Hinde Boujemaa.
KIM MAGNUSSON
The Oscar-winning producer and Muhr Emirati juror tells Geoffrey Macnab why Dubai can be more productive than Cannes Danish producer Kim Magnusson was in Dubai last year to give a masterclass on making short films and is delighted to be coming back as head of the jury for the Muhr Emirati competition. He speaks with enthusiasm of the seamless way in which the fes-
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When he sees a film he likes, Fridriksson is always keen to try to get it shown in Iceland and he hopes some of the titles he sees here will end up in Reykjavik next autumn. “Absolutely!” he beams. This is Fridriksson’s first time at DIFF and he is looking forward to catching up with his old friend, Syrian film-maker Nabil Maleh who now lives here in exile because of the Syrian civil war. Meanwhile, the veteran auteur is preparing Black Cliffs, “a crime/love story set in 1803,” he explains. It is based on a novel by Gunnar Gunnarsson that came to the attention of Ernest Hemingway who pronounced it as one of his favourites. Gone are the days when Fridriksson was a one-man Icelandic film industry. As he reflects, at one point he owned the only dolly in the country as well as cameras, lights and trucks. This meant that whenever a film-maker wanted to make a new movie, they had to come to him. “I donated my stuff to some film-makers that I loved,” he says. “I try to find co-producers for their projects. I think I’ve been involved in 70 films.”
tival is organised. For a European, he suggests, the festival can also be very useful, especially if you’re hoping to shoot a film in the region. “I haven’t been to a lot of the Middle Eastern festivals but what I felt, and have also learned from other people, is that this one is really the gateway to the film community [in the region],” says Magnusson, who has been nominated for the best live-action short film Oscar five times, winning twice, for Election Night in 1999 and for Helium in 2014. His feature credits include Anders Thomas Jensen’s directorial debut Men And Chickens and Niels Arden Oplev’s Worlds Apart. Magnusson points to Dubai’s relative intimacy. “You can see a movie, attend a masterclass, do some pitching sessions
UK-born Emirati film-maker Ali F Mostafa broke box-office records for an Emirati film release in 2009 with his debut City Of Life. The drama about a young Arab man and his Indian friend working in Dubai was such a hit it led to the movie’s title being adopted as the unofficial name for the city. The film opened DIFF in 2009, the first by an Emirati film-maker to do so. “I’m proud City Of Life has become the unofficial name of Dubai. Hashtag it to believe it,” Mostafa says. But despite his film’s success and a growing reputation as a film-maker, the London Film School graduate remains mindful of how challenging it is to make films. “Put it this way, in eight years I’ve made two feature films. So it’s challenging. If you’re truly passionate about being a film-maker, you have the patience to keep knocking on doors. If your skin is thick enough to persevere, you’ll become a filmmaker.” His second film, From A To B, was a pan-Arab road-trip movie about three estranged
friends who travel from Abu Dhabi to Beirut in memory of a lost friend. It was presented at Dubai Film Connection in 2012 and went on to open the last Abu Dhabi Film Festival earlier this year and play at international festivals including the BFI London Film Festival in October. The director is in post on his third feature, post-apocalyptic action thriller Worthy. He shot it this year with backing from Image Nation Abu Dhabi, which also supported From A To B. The backing of a genre project by the Abu Dhabi-based production is significant for the region. “[Image Nation] are tapping into the genre film market and that’s never been done before here,” Mostafa says. Mostafa set up Dubai-based AFM Films in 2006, intent on enjoying “the creative freedom to produce and write cutting-edge work”. His short Under The Sun won best Emirates film 2006 at the Emirates Film Competition and in 2007 he was crowned best Emirati film-maker at DIFF. He will sit on the Muhr Short and Muhr Gulf Short juries here at DIFF.
at the co-production market and still be part of the festival,” he says, comparing Dubai favourably with Cannes where he is “lucky to see one film”. He is developing an eclectic slate of features and shorts, both in Denmark and internationally. Magnusson is the executive producer on Anders Walter’s English-language I Kill Giants, which is shooting in Vancouver next year and is produced by Chris Columbus. “It’s all about finding talent,” says Magnusson of his prolific work rate. “I love making movies. And making shorts sometimes gives you a kick because you don’t have the whole machinery that needs to go on with marketing and distribution and all that. You can make a short in three days.”
December 10, 2015 Screen International at Dubai 9
FEATURE IWC SCHAFFHAUSEN FILMMAKER AWARD
Playing for time Three DIFF film-makers are in the running for the prestigious IWC Schaffhausen prize to take their script all the way to the screen. Louise Tutt reports
F
or the fourth year, Swiss luxurywatch manufacturer IWC Schaffhausen is drawing global attention to a trio of exciting Gulf film-makers. In collaboration with Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF), three scripts have been nominated for the IWC Schaffhausen Filmmaker Award. One will win the $100,000 prize to help them complete their feature. They are Qatari director Khalifa Al Muraikhi and his project Sahaab, Saudi director Shahad Ameen with Scales, and from Dubai, Layla Kaylif with The Letter Writer. The projects were chosen by a committee appointed by DIFF. Organisers reveal the number of submissions was
the highest ever this year with a notable rise in entries from Saudi Arabian film-makers. The winner will be chosen by a jury that comprises IWC Schaffhausen CEO Georges Kern, Tunisian film and TV actor Hend Sabry, DIFF chairman Abdulhamid Juma and DIFF artistic director Masoud Amralla Al Ali. Oscar-nominated Palestinian director Hany Abu-Assad ((pic), whose feature The Idol is tured), screening here at DIFF, heads the jury. The prize will be presented tonight (December 10) at
a gala ceremony at One&Only Royal Mirage. It is the first time three, rather than four, scripts have been shortlisted. There were only ever meant to be three in contention, says Dubai Film Market manager Ayesha Chagla. “We had four [previously] only because the selection committee could not decide [between them],” she explains. The three scripts will also be presented to international producers, financi-
ers and distributors attending Dubai Film Connection. Iraq-born, UK-based Maysoon Pachachi was the inaugural recipient of the award at Dubai in 2012, with her script Nothing Doing In Baghdad, about overlapping lives in a Baghdad neighbourhood. Pachachi is a member of this year’s Muhr Feature jury. The following year the prize went to Emirati film-maker Waleed Al Shehhi for his script Dolphins, about an only child dealing with his parents’ separation. The finished film had its world premiere at DIFF in 2014 and opened in the UAE earlier this year. Abdullah Boushahri won last year for The Water, a love story s set during a drought in Kuwait. ■
Khalifa Al Muraikhi (Qatar) Sahaab
Layla Kaylif (Emirates) The Letter Writer Oxford University-educated Kaylif made her name as a music star in Asia, writing, producing and directing her own promo videos. She set up London and Dubai-based Canopus Films in 2014 to make features based on her own scripts. The Letter Writer will be the company’s first feature. It is the story of a boy in 1960s Deira, in old Dubai, who spends his summers working as a professional letter writer for illiterate travellers. Trouble begins when he starts writing letters to the secret love of a local shop owner, only to become infatuated himself. “The story is loosely based on my father’s experience as a young boy working as a letter writer but the actual plot is invented,” says Kaylif. Now at script stage, The Letter Writer is being produced by Alcove Entertainment’s Amina Dasmal and Robin Fox. The team plans to shoot a short film based on the feature in the spring.
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This moving story follows aspiring young falconers as they prepare for a race. When one of them loses his falcon Sahaab in the desert, they must find the bird in time for the contest, prompting contemplations of the meaning of life, love and friendship. Doha-based, US-educated Al Muraikhi is one of the region’s most experienced directors and helmed Qatar’s first feature film, Clockwise, which screened at DIFF in 2011. Al Muraikhi says he was inspired to make a film about falconry due to the long-cherished tradition of the ancient sport in the region. “My sons are falconers,” he says. “We know what falconry means to us.” The script is at third-draft stage and now the director is looking for a producer.
Shahad Ameen (Saudi Arabia) Scales The debut feature script from short-film maker Ameen is a coming-of-age fantasy about a ‘tween’ girl who has a double life as a mermaid. “Scales is the universal tale of a girl trying to find out where she belongs,” says Ameen. “As her two worlds of land and sea, tradition and freedom collide, she must make her choice.” Ameen’s short Eye & Mermaid premiered at DIFF in 2013 and went on to screen at film festivals in Abu Dhabi, Stockholm and Toronto. It won the best Arab short film and the best cinematography prizes at Abu Dhabi International Film Festival in 2014. Based in Jeddah and
Dubai, Ameen studied in London. Scales is being produced by Nadia Ahmad, a producer, actor and TV presenter, well known for hosting the popular Arab talk show Kalam Nawaem. The executive producer of the project is experienced US producer Paul Miller, former head of film financing at Doha Film Institute. “Nadia and I met in Doha as part of Hazawi, the Doha Film Institute programme,” says Ameen. “I was there shooting a short film and she was producing another short. We clicked immediately and knew we wanted to work together on future projects. “I’m very glad Scales will be it, as it deals with the stories and issues we’ve always talked about in our long conversations.”
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Director interviews
Rifqi Assaf
Majid Al Ansari
The film-maker who hails from Jordan and Palestine tells Colin Brown about his debut feature, road movie The Curve
The director talks to Melanie Goodfellow about his ‘kick-ass’ thriller Rattle The Cage, which screens in the Muhr Emirati competition
Rattle The Cage (Zinzana)
The Curve
A
s a road movie about the unlikeliest of companions, Rifqi Assaf ’s The Curve follows an unusual journey. An agoraphobic man living in complete isolation in his VW minivan meets three strangers under odd circumstances and agrees to drive them to their destinations. Crammed in the vehicle, each one comes to see that, though their backgrounds are very different, all at a crossroads in their lives. This trip might be the challenge they need to set them on the right path. To call this personal cinema is something of an understatement: this debut feature, screening in the Muhr Feature competition, was itself a spiritual journey. “It came from my own experience with social phobia, and the loss of my father,” explains Assaf. “I looked for the best metaphor that would portray such loss, and such fear of people, isolation and loneliness. The Curve was my way to heal myself. As a first feature, it was a curve in my own life, one where I put many of my feelings, losses, fears and
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needs. The film represents me on many different levels. “I came up with the idea, and because it was too much for me to dig that deep, I associated with my friend Halim Mardawi to work on the story. Then I wrote the script in 14 drafts.” Financing came via Jordanian producer Rula Nasser (The Imaginarium Films), Egyptian co-producer Mohamed Hefzy (Film Clinic) and, later, French coproducer Xenia Maingot (Eaux Vives). Several funds helped Assaf over the finishing line including Jordan Film Fund of The Royal Film Commission, Arab Fund for Arts and Culture (AFAC), Dubai Film Market’s support programme Enjaaz and the CNC’s world cinema fund. “I entered the production with not much experience and too much confidence, maybe ego,” reflects Assaf. “The production of a feature film humbled me. It was not easy, especially since it’s a road-trip film. But I managed to make the film I wanted — to a large degree — with the help of my great team.”
E
mirati film-maker Majid Al Ansari’s claustrophobic thriller Rattle The Cage (Zinzana) is a landmark moment in the UAE’s drive to build a film industry: it embraces the type of genre film usually associated with US or European cinema. Set in a dilapidated police station “somewhere in Arabia in the 1980s”, the picture co-stars Palestinian actor Saleh Bakri as a man who finds himself in the clutches of a sadistic police deputy, played by compatriot Ali Suliman. Its gala screening in the Muhr Emirati competition follows a premiere at Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas, in September, where one critic described it as “Tarantinoesque”. It went on to screen in the BFI London Film Festival in October. Rattle The Cage is based on a screenplay by US duo Lane and Ruckus Skye, and was originally set in a southern US prison. Al Ansari came across the project while reading scripts at Abu Dhabi production company Image Nation, where he has worked for the last five years. “It
was beautifully written. I loved the fact it was set in one location as well as the polar opposite characters. I immediately thought if we could do this in Arabic and in the region, this would be a kick-ass film,” says Al Ansari, who adapted the work with the Skyes via e-mail and Skype. But the clock was ticking for Al Ansari following the introduction of mandatory military service in the UAE in January 2014 for all men between the ages of 18 and 30 years old. Believing he was on the verge of being drafted, Al Ansari went to Image Nation CEO Michael Garin and head of narrative content Ben Ross and asked to be allowed to direct the film. Four months later, Al Ansari was in pre-production in Jordan. He admits directing seasoned actors Bakri and Suliman was daunting but the atmosphere on set was “collaborative”. He is now gearing up for military service but plans to work on his own scripts at the same time. “I’d like to write and develop my own project tackling issues we have in the region at the moment.”
‘I looked for the best metaphor to portray loss, fear of people, isolation and loneliness. The Curve was my own way to heal myself’
‘It was beautifully written. I immediately thought if we could do this in Arabic and in the region, this would be a kick-ass film’
Rifqi Assaf
Majid Al Ansari
December 10, 2015 Screen International at Dubai 11
FEATURE FESTIVAL OVERVIEW
(Clockwise from main picture) The Idol, Recollection and Going To Heaven. (Inset below) Jaws has a beachside screening
Dubai rides a wave Dubai International Film Festival is a celebration of film-making from throughout the region as well as an important showcase for new projects. Melanie Goodfellow reports
T
he azure Emirati waters lapping at the beaches of Madinat Jumeirah might not seem quite so appealing after this year’s edition of Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF). One of the events lined up for the 12th edition (December 9-16) is a 40th anniversary beachfront screening of Steven Spielberg’s Jaws in the presence of its star Richard Dreyfuss. “Every time I mention this to people they say, ‘Are you sure this is a good idea? People are going to stop swimming’. Perhaps they will for a day or two but I doubt it,” says DIFF chairman Abdulhamid Juma with a laugh. Further films screening in DIFF’s popular sidebar The Beach include Palestinian director Hany Abu-Assad’s crowdpleaser The Idol, followed by a live performance from the young artist
12 Screen International December 10, 2015
who inspired the film, Arab Idol star Mohammed Assaf. The Idol is one of 11 titles in the lineup supported by the Enjaaz post-production and production fund, run by the festival’s Dubai Film Market. Enjaaz has supported more than 100 Arab films since its creation in 2009. This year, DIFF and its accompanying market have much to offer the international industry. “They have really come together this year,” says Juma. “There will be 134 films from 42 countries, 55 of them world or international premieres. I liked to compare that to 2004 when we had only one.” The festival
unites some of the best films of the year from around the world and the international festival circuit with a raft of new titles from Arab film-makers. These include Jordanian director Rifqi Assaf ’s debut feature The Curve; Kamal Aljafari’s Palestinian documentary Recollection, a portrait of Jaffa; the world premiere of Egyptian director Mohamed Khan’s Before The Summer Crowds; and Leyla Bouzid’s Tunisian comingof-age film As I Open My Eyes, which takes place a few months before the Tunisian popular revolution and follows a rebellious 18-yearold girl with rockstar aspirations. French-Tunisian actor Sami Boua-
jila, long-time Rachid Bouchareb collaborator and star of films such as Omar Killed Me and Outside The Law, is the recipient of the Arab lifetime achievement award. Big-screen legends Naseeruddin Shah and Catherine Deneuve will also receive lifetime achievement awards. Emirati breakthrough A record number of features by filmmakers from the UAE are being showcased this year. The 12-title Muhr Emirati competitive line-up includes Majid Al Ansari’s thriller Rattle The Cage (Zinzana), Salmeen Al Murry’s emotional drama Going To Heaven, about a young boy’s search for his recently deceased grandmother in an attempt to escape his unhappy home life, and Humaid Al Suwaidi’s Abdullah, about a young Emirati struggling to
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MUHR FEATURE COMPETITION 23 Kilometres
(UAE-Can-Leb) Dir: Noura Kevorkian
3000 Nights
(Pal-Jor-Leb-Fr-UAE-Qat) Dir: Mai Masri
Al Medina*
(UAE-Den-Jor) Dir: Omar Sharqawi
As I Open My Eyes
(Fr-Bel-Tun-UAE) Dir: Leyla Bouzid
Before The Summer Crowds* (Egy) Dir: Mohamed Khan
Borders Of Heaven
(Tun-UAE) Dir: Fares Naanaa
The Curve*
(UAE-Egy-Fr-Bel) Dir: Rifqi Assaf
El Clasico
(Iraq-Nor-UAE) Dir: Halkawt Mustafa
The Foreign Son*
(Fr-Qat) Dir: Abdallah Badis
Go Home
(Fr-Switz-Bel-UAE) Dir: Jihane Chouaib
Let Them Come
(Alg-Fr) Dir: Salem Brahimi
Nawara*
(Egy-Qat) Dir: Hala Khalil
Parisienne
(Fr-Leb) Dir: Danielle Arbid
Recollection
(Pal) Dir: Kamal Aljafari
Samir In The Dust*
become a musician in the face of opposition from a religious family. Emirati film-maker Layla Kaylif is one of the three nominees for DIFF’s annual IWC Schaffhausen Filmmaker Award, aimed at emerging directors from across the Gulf region. Her project The Letter Writer, about a professional letter writer who falls for the object of his client’s desires, is in the running for the $100,000 prize alongside Qatari film-maker Khalifa Al Muraikhi’s Sahaab and Saudi film-maker Shahad Ameen’s Scales. “The strong Emirati presence is the result of a decade-long strategy,” says Juma. “The efforts of DIFF, Abu Dhabi’s twofour54 and Image Nation and the Doha Film Institute in Qatar are beginning to pay off.” The IWC award also plays its part: the spotlight it turns on the nominees can help those projects to find partners and gain fresh impetus. In addition to the increase in local productions, the UAE is gaining traction as an international production hub thanks to a cash rebate offered by Abu Dhabi and the in-kind hospitality of Dubai. The country has welcomed a slew of international shoots in recent months including Justin Lin’s Star Trek Beyond
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(Alg-Fr-Qat) Dir: Mohamed Ouzine
Skin*
(Leb-Syr-Turk-UAE) Dir: Afraa Batous
Starve Your Dog
(Mor) Dir: Hicham Lasri
We Have Never Been Kids*
(UAE-Egy-Qat-Leb) Dir: Mahmood Soliman
Weight Of The Shadow
(Mor-UAE) Dir: Hakim Belabbes * World premieres
and Jackie Chan’s action comedy Kung Fu Yoga in Dubai, and Brad Pitt’s Afghanistan-set war satire War Machine in Abu Dhabi. Scenes from JJ Abrams’ Stars Wars: Episode VII — The Force Awakens were also shot in Abu Dhabi last year. Building a UAE film industry Following the decision in May to close Abu Dhabi Film Festival to focus government spending on more targeted industry initiatives, Dubai Film Market has become the leading industry event in the region. The co-financing market Dubai Film Connection (DFC) has been reinstated and Abu Dhabi’s SANAD Film Fund is financing a $10,000 award to a DFC project. “We’re really trying to be a platform for the whole region,” says DIFF man-
‘We’re really trying to be a platform for the whole region’ Shivani Pandya, DIFF
aging director Shivani Pandya. “We’ll be announcing more and more collaborations with twofour54 and Image Nation.” In addition to DFC, the market is pressing on with its Dubai Distribution Programme, aimed at encouraging regional distributors to support Arab cinema and there will also be a physical exhibition market. There is also a full
programme of industry talks, panels and masterclasses via the DIFF Forum. These will kick off with PwC’s annual presentation of its Global Entertainment & Media Outlook. Further international speakers at the festival include film-makers Roger Michell and Hany Abu-Assad and Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos. Juma points out the festival was launched 12 years ago in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terror attacks on New York to build bridges and foster understanding between cultures. “Cinema and what we’ve been doing is more important than ever,” says Juma. “Our slogan, ‘Bridging cultures, meeting minds’, is our response to all those people who are doing all those bad things in the name of Islam or the s Arab world.” ■
December 10, 2015 Screen International at Dubai 13
Screenings Edited by Paul Lindsell
» Screening times and venues are correct at the time of going to press but subject to alteration
paullindsell@gmail.com
18:00 THE HIGH SUN
(Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia) Cercamon. 123mins. Drama. Dir: Dalibor Matani. Cast: Goran Markovic, Tihana Lazovic, Nives Ivankovic. Three love stories over three consecutive decades set in two neighbouring Balkan villages burdened with a long history of interethnic hatred. A film about the dangers — and the enduring strength — of forbidden love. Cinema of the World MOE 14 PUBLIC
THE THIN YELLOW LINE
(Mexico) Latido Films. 95mins. Drama. Dir: Celso Garcia. Cast: Damian Alcazar, Joaquin Cosio, Silverio Palacios. Five men are hired to paint the lines on a road. Painting at 1km per hour is time enough to identify the lines between good and evil, laughter and despair, life and death. The challenges they face will change their lives forever. Cinema of the World MOE 05 PUBLIC
ZINZANA (RATTLE THE CAGE)
UAE, Jordan) IM Global, Cinetic Media. 92mins. Crime, thriller. Dir: Majid Al Ansari. Cast: Ali Suliman, Saleh Bakri, Ahd Kamel, Ali Al Jabri, Abdullah Bou Abed, Mansoor Al Feeli, Eyad Hourani, Yasa Jumahh. Despite his best intentions, Talal Mohamed finds himself locked in a holding cell in a sleepy town. He has no ID and a few bruises from mistakes of the previous night. His inability to make bail is the least of his problems, when he is forced to play a madman’s twisted game in order to save the lives of his family. Muhr Emirati Madinat Arena GALA
18:15 DHEEPAN See box, above
Festival 18:15 DHEEPAN
(France) Wild Bunch. 114mins. Drama. Dir: Jacques Audiard. Cast: Jesuthasan Antonythasan, Kalieaswari Srinivasan. To escape the civil war in Sri Lanka, Tamil freedom fighter Dheepan decides to flee and brings with him two strangers — a woman and a little girl — hoping this new ‘family’ will improve his chances
of claiming asylum in Europe. They settle in a housing project outside Paris. They barely know one another but try to build a life together. He works to provide a real home for his ‘wife’ and ‘daughter’, but is confronted by daily violence that reopens his war wounds. Dheepan is forced to revive his warrior’s instinct to protect his new family. Cinema of the World MOE 01 PUBLIC
Erwin intertwine. Bebeth searches for the bodies of her children in the hope of finding a match among the DNA records of those buried in a mass grave. Larry, who lost his wife, consoles himself by joining a group of devout Catholics carrying a life-size cross around the city. Erwin and his brother try to hide the truth about their parents’ death from their little sister. Adding to the loss of the bereaved, a series of events further tests their endurance. Cinema of the World MOE 03 PUBLIC
18:30 FATIMA
(France, Canada) Pyramide International. 79mins. Drama. Dir: Philippe Faucon. Cast: Kenza Noah Aïche, Soria Zeroual, Zita Hanrot, Chawki Amari. Fatima lives in France with her two daughters. Integration is a challenge for Fatima, as she speaks French poorly and is constantly frustrated by her daily interactions with her daughters who don’t speak much Arabic. The girls are her pride and joy, but they are also a source of worry. To ensure the best possible future for them, Fatima works odd hours
14 Screen International at Dubai December 10, 2015
as a cleaning woman. After an unfortunate fall down the stairs forces her to recuperate at home, Fatima begins to write to her daughters in Arabic — all that she has never before managed to express. Arabian Nights MOE 06 PUBLIC
TRAP
(Philippines) Films Distribution. 97mins. Drama. Dir: Brillante Ma. Mendoza. Cast: Nora Aunor, Julio Diaz, Aaron Rivera. In the aftermath of Supertyphoon Haiyan, which ravaged the city of Tacloban in the Philippines, the lives of Bebeth, Larry and
18:45 BEFORE THE SUMMER CROWDS
(Egypt) MAD Solutions. 90mins. Drama, Romance. Dir: Mohamed Khan. Cast: Maged El Kedwany, Hana Shiha, Ahmed Dawood. A story of summertime neighbours and voyeurs, whose characters are the bourgeoisie that swarm the Egyptian north coast. Dr Yehia and his estranged wife Magda arrive at their summer shack, weeks before the seasonal crowds. Enter Hala, their neighbour and recently divorced mother of two. The pre-summer holiday they hope for turns out to
be yet another backdrop to the same frustrations. Muhr Feature Madinat Theatre PUBLIC
BEHEMOTH
(France, China) INA. 90mins. Non-fiction. Dir: Zhao Liang. Cast: Workers from local mines and ironworks, local citizens of the Inner Mongolian Grasslands, Xiao Zhang and fellow workers. In the sunlight, mining is about to destroy the crisp grasslands. In the moonlight at the incandescent iron mine, a drill operator enduring his task struggles to overcome drowsiness. Meanwhile at the coal mountain, a ghostly crowd sorts coal from rock. An endless chain of trucks transport the coal and ore to factories, where another crew toils amid the heat of molten iron, like penitents in hell. In a hospital for veteran miners who for years have inhaled coal dust, each day drags on and death is already in sight. They exist in a living purgatory, but no paradise awaits them. Through these successive labours, we have destroyed a genuine paradise. Cinema of the World MOE 13 PUBLIC
SHERPA
(Australia) 96mins. Adventure, non-fiction. Dir: Jennifer Peedom. Cast: Phurba Tashi Sherpa, Russell Brice, Ed Douglas. In 2013, news channels around the world reported an ugly brawl at 21,000 feet as European climbers fled a mob of angry Sherpas. Determined to explore the events, the film-makers set out to make a film from the Sherpas’ point of view and began filming the 2014 Everest climbing season. Little did they know that they would capture the worst tragedy in the history of Everest… the story of how, in the face of fierce opposition, the Sherpa community united in grief and anger to reclaim their sacred mountain they call Chomolungma. Cinema of the World MOE 17 PUBLIC
19:00 SAVVA. HEART OF THE WARRIOR
(Russia) Highland Film Group. 81mins. Adventure, animation. Dir: Max Fadeev. The story of a 10-year-old boy, Savva, as he sets off to free his village from the vicious hyenas. His www.screendaily.com
Further DIFF coverage, see screendaily.com
journey takes him into a magical world, filled with memorable characters: the white wolf Angee, a hilarious pink creature Puffy, a strange-looking semi-baron Fafl and his passenger, as well as Nanty, the Shaman’s charming daughter. His new friends accompany Savva as he uncovers terrifying secrets and fights against the monkey army. Cinema for Children The Beach PUBLIC
SKIN
(Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, UAE) 85mins. Nonfiction, war. Dir: Afraa Batous. Cast: Soubhi Alshami, Housin Alghajar. Follows the director’s personal journey through vivid memories of two of her closest friends, Hussein and Soubhi, living in politically and socially tiring times. She documents their gradual collapse, which, as she realises later, reflects her own inner collapse. Muhr Feature MOE 04 PUBLIC
21:30 BILAL
(UAE) 113mins. Action, Adventure, animation, drama. Dir: Ayman Jamal, Khurram H Alavi. A thousand years ago, Bilal, a bright-eyed boy with the grand dream of becoming a great warrior, is abducted with his sister and taken to a land far away from his home. Thrown into a world where greed and injustice rule all, Bilal finds the courage to raise his voice and make a change. Inspired by true events, this is a story of a real hero who earned his remembrance in time and history. Cinema of the World Madinat Arena GALA
CEMETERY OF SPLENDOUR
(Thailand, UK, France, Germany, Malaysia) The Match Factory. 122mins. Drama. Dir: Apichatpong Weerasethakul. Cast: Jarinpattra Rueangram,
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Banlop Lomnoi, Jenjira Pongpas Widner. Soldiers with a mysterious sleeping sickness are transferred to a temporary clinic. The space becomes a revelatory world for Jenjira, as she watches over Itt, a handsome soldier who has no family visitors. Jen befriends Keng, a young medium, who uses her psychic powers to help loved ones communicate with the men. Jen discovers Itt’s notebook of strange writings and sketches. There may be a connection between the soldiers’ syndrome and the ancient site beneath the clinic. Magic, healing, romance and dreams are part of Jen’s deeper awareness of herself and the world around her. Cinema of the World MOE 06 PUBLIC
Jihane Chouaib. Cast: Francois Nour, Golshifteh Farahani, Maximilien Seweryn. Nada, a young ballet dancer, leaves Paris and returns for the first time to Lebanon, the country she left when she was a child. She rediscovers her abandoned family house partially destroyed by bombings. The garden is a garbage dump. She decides to settle in this place filled with childhood memories and sets herself a mission: to find the body of her grandfather who vanished during the civil war. Her quest takes her the length and breadth of Lebanon, through legends and secrets. It is an introspective adventure for a young woman in search of her identity. Muhr Feature MOE 01 PUBLIC
THE ENDLESS RIVER
(France, South Africa) Urban Distribution International. 110mins. Drama. Dir: Oliver Hermanus. Cast: Denise Newman, Clayton Evertson, CrystalDonna Roberts, Nicolas Duvauchelle, Darren Kelfkens, Katia Lekarski. A young waitress welcomes her husband home to the small South African town of Riviersonderend (Endless River) after his four-year jail sentence. At first it appears their plans for a new life together are finally being realised. But when the family of a foreigner living on a nearby farm is brutally murdered, the young woman and the grieving widower begin to gravitate towards each other. Trapped in a cycle of violence and bloodshed, the two form an unlikely bond seeking to transcend their mutual anger, pain and loneliness. Cinema of the World MOE 05 PUBLIC
21:45 GO HOME
(France, Switzerland, Belgium, Lebanon, UAE) 100mins. Drama. Dir:
MADAME COURAGE
(Algeria, France) Les Asphofilms. 89mins. Drama. Dir: Merzak Allouache. Cast: Adlane Djemil, Lamia Bezouaoui. Omar, an unstable and lonely teenager, lives in a slum in the suburbs of Mostaganem. He is addicted to an infamous psychotropic, nicknamed Madame Courage: Artane tablets that are popular among young Algerians, for their euphoric effect of invincibility. Omar is a specialist in snatching. One morning, he goes downtown to indulge in his usual petty crimes. His first victim is a young girl called Selma, walking with her friends and prominently wearing a gold necklace. As he snatches, their eyes meet. Arabian Nights MOE 17 PUBLIC
22:00 THE CURVE
(UAE, Egypt, France, Jordan) 81mins. Drama. Dir: Rifqi Assaf. Cast: Fatina Laila, Ashraf Barhoum, Mazen Moadam. Radi lives in his VW minivan and hears a shrill scream in the distance. He
switches on the lights of his ‘home’. He soon finds himself on a road trip that introduces him to some memorable characters: Laila, the screaming woman and a recently divorced Palestinian/ Syrian travelling back to Damascus; a Lebanese artist whose car has broken down; and a Jordanian policeman. Together, they realise they all have a lot more in common than they would have imagined. Muhr Feature MOE 14 PUBLIC
OUR EVERYDAY LIFE
(Bosnia & Herzegovina, Slovenia) 89mins. Drama. Dir: Ines Tanovic. Cast: Emir Hadzihafizbegovic, Uliks Fehmiu, Jasna Ormela Bery. The Susic family lives out an everyday Bosnian story. The father Muhamed is employed in a reputable company; mother Marija is retired; son Sasa was in the army and lives with his parents; and the daughter Senada lives in Slovenia. Their life begins to fall apart due to Muhamed’s disappointment after his company is sold on the stock exchange, Sasa’s negligent attitude towards work and family and Marija’s breast-cancer diagnosis. Cinema of the World MOE 13 PUBLIC
ROOM
(Canada, Ireland) FilmNation Entertainment (NYC). 118mins. Drama. Dir: Lenny Abrahamson. Cast: Brie Larson, William H Macy, Joan Allen, Tom McCamus, Sean Bridgers, Jacob Tremblay. The extraordinary story of Jack, a spirited five-yearold who is looked after by his loving and devoted Ma. She dedicates herself to keeping him happy and safe, nurturing him with warmth and love, playing games and telling stories — all inside a windowless 10-by-10-foot space, which
Ma has euphemistically named ‘Room’. Ma has created a whole universe for Jack within Room. As his curiosity about their situation grows and Ma’s resilience reaches its breaking point, they enact a risky plan to escape, ultimately bringing them face-to-face with what may turn out to be the scariest thing yet: the real world. Cinema of the World Madinat Theatre PUBLIC
22:15 A SYRIAN LOVE STORY
(UK) 10ft Films Ltd. 76mins. Non-fiction, drama, war. Dir: Sean McAllister. Cast: Amer Daoud, Raghda Hasan. Amer met Raghda in a Syrian prison cell 15 years ago when she was placed in a neighbouring cell. Over months they communicated through a tiny hole they had secretly made in the wall, fell in love, married upon their release and started a family. The poignant story of a family torn apart by the war. Arabian Nights MOE 04 PUBLIC
DARK IN THE WHITE LIGHT
(Sri Lanka) Film Council Productions. 82mins. Drama, psychodrama. Dir: Vimukthi Jayasundara. Cast: Suranga Ranawaka, Ruvin De Silva, Steve De La Zilwa. A young Buddhist monk embarks on a quest for spiritual truth. A student, wanting to become a doctor, tries to test his limits. An organ dealer grows his business in a climate of general indifference and Colombo’s humidity. A surgeon, accompanied by a servant who functions as his driver, heals by day and rapes women at night. In the form of a philosophical tale, the film interweaves various stories of fraying bodies on the threshold of pain, between life and death. Cinema of the World MOE 03 PUBLIC
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