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Heritages
Memento roots for Aractingi’s Heritages Memento Films International (MFI) has picked up Philippe Aractingi’s creative documentary Heritages, which is screening in DIFF’s Muhr Arab Documentary competition. The semi-autobiographical film explores the origins of the conflicts that have forced Aractingi’s family to repeatedly flee wars in his native Lebanon. It combines directed scenes with personal video diaries, old family photos and Super-8 reels. Paris-based MFI previously sold Aractingi’s Under The Bombs, set against the backdrop of the 2006 Lebanon War, which won best feature and best actress (Nada Abou Farhat) at DIFF 2007. Melanie Goodfellow
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Alfons takes to road with Mostafa’s A To B BY NANDITA DUTTA
Egyptian comedian Shadi Alfons will join Saudi stand-up comic Fahad Albutairi in the cast of Emirati film-maker Ali F Mostafa’s road movie A To B, which starts shooting in February. Alfons is best known for Egyptian comic Bassem Youssef ’s satirical TV show The Program (El Bernameg), while Albutairi has become a huge star through YouTube show La Yekthar, which draws millions of viewers. A To B follows three friends on a road trip from Abu Dhabi to Beirut in memory of their long-lost friend.
Born and raised in Abu Dhabi, the protagonists are of Saudi, Egyptian and Syrian origin. The third lead role in the film is currently being cast. The film is the first major panArab co-production, bringing together talent and producers from across the region. Mostafa’s AFM Films is producing with Egyptian producer Mohamed Hefzy, Lebanese producer Paul Baboudjian and Saudi producer Mohammed Al Turki. Abu Dhabi’s twofour54 is backing the film. “This is the first film to include so many different nationalities
from the Middle East region in the cast and crew. It will open endless opportunities for co-production within the Arab world,” said Mostafa. “It is a comedy but there’s an important message behind it,” said Al Turki, who makes his foray into producing Emirati films with A To B. Currently in pre-production, the film will start shooting in February in Abu Dhabi, Saudi Arabia and either Jordan or Lebanon. Mostafa’s credits include the 2009 drama City Of Life, which won him the Best Emirati Filmmaker award at DIFF that year. Getty
A delightfully made drama with subtle comic elements » Page 7
FEATURES Net returns How premium VoD is creating a new platform for film-makers in the region » Page 8
Collective spirit Egyptian film-makers are out in force at DIFF, despite challenges at home » Page 12
FORUM EVENTS 9:30 - 10:30 How to tackle piracy with Euromed Location The Forum Room Panelists Valerio Caruso, Euromed; Samer Abdin, Istikana; Hachemi Zertal, Cirta Films; Mohamed Layadi, MEDIS Network
11:00 - 12:00 What are the broadcasters doing to support film? Location The Forum Room Panelists Meinolf Zurhorst, ZDF/ Arte Film Department (Germany); Ted Baracos, MIPTV (France); Lina Matta, MBC (UAE); Sarah Al Jarman, Dubai One Channel (UAE); Julie Baines, Dan Films (UK)
12:30 - 13:00 What are you buying? Part one
DFM ups ante at Cannes’ MIPTV
Location The Forum Room Guest Khulud Abu Homos, OSN Interviewer Vida Rizq, Aflamnah
BY MELANIE GOODFELLOW
Dubai Film Market (DFM) is expanding its presence at MIPTV by participating in an official stand at the content market in Cannes (April 7-10, 2014) for the first time. DFM will share it with DIFF, Dubai Media City and Dubai Film and TV Commission, which was an exhibitor on its own last year. “Our ultimate goal is to encourage producers from the region to go to MIPTV to use it as a platform to showcase their work to all the content buyers there,” said DFM manager Samr Al Marzooqi. MIPTV and DIFF will continue the initiative that began last year, showcasing three documentaries from this year’s Muhr Arab Documentary section in the MIPTV library. DFM has also struck a deal with MIPTV to offer special packages to first-time attendees from the Middle East.
REVIEWS Stable Unstable
Iraqi director Mohamed Al Daradji (third left) with six student film-makers with short films in DIFF’s Iraqi Legacy: Children of the Future programme. (Left to right) Omid Khald, Luay Fadhil, Al Daradji, Yahya Al Allaq, Ahmed Yaseen, Yasir Kareem and Sajjad Abbas.
Marking grabbed by tale of Tamim murder BY MELANIE GOODFELLOW
UK film-maker Havana Marking is developing a documentary about the murder of Lebanese pop star Suzanne Tamim in Dubai in 2008. “It’s early days and we’re investigating access to various parties. It’s very complex but if we can pull it off it will be amazing,” said Marking. The director is attending DIFF this week with documentary Smash & Grab: The Story Of The Pink Panthers, which is screening in the Cinema of the World section. The BBC’s international feature
documentary strand BBC Storyville is part-funding the project. Marking, who produces under the Roast Beef Productions banner, is looking for additional funding, preferably from the Middle East. US-Egyptian producer Jehane Noujaim, whose Oscar-shortlisted The Square was associate produced by Roast Beef, is executive producing the project. Tamim was found with her throat slit in her Dubai apartment in 2008. Egyptian businessman and politician Hisham Talaat
Moustafa was convicted in a trial in Cairo in 2010 of paying a hitman $2m to kill the singer. He is serving a 15-year sentence. “The murder was real tabloid fodder. Everything has been said about Tamim from all angles, but I want to tell her story properly,” said Marking. Marking is also close to signing a deal with UK producer Christian Colson, optioning her Smash & Grab interviews for a fiction feature on the Pink Panther gang to be directed by Danny Boyle.
14:00 - 14:30 What are you buying? Part two Location The Forum Room Guest Layaly Badr, Rotana Studios Interviewer Vida Rizq, Aflamnah
15:00 - 16:00 VOD in the Arab world Location The Forum Room Panelists Carlos Tibi, icflix; Cliff Nelson, My-HD; David Hanson, OSN
16:30 - 18:00 Networking session: meet the funders Location The Forum Room Participants Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie; Royal Film Commission, Jordan; Hubert Bals Fund; National Cinema Centre (CNC), France; Sharjah Art Foundation; French Institute; Final Cut In Venice
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NEWS
Kajarya
Bouchareb readies Enemy Way By Melanie Goodfellow
Anand lines up Kotha No. 22 Indian film-maker Madhureeta Anand is working on a new feature Kotha No. 22, that explores sex, celibacy and prostitution. Currently in preproduction, the film is expected to start shooting in April 2014. Produced by Delhi-based Starfire Movies, the story revolves around three prostitutes in a red-light district of New Delhi and a documentary film-maker who is following them. The film will be shot on real locations. Starfire Movies also co-produced Anand’s Kajarya, which receives its world premiere in DIFF’s Celebration of Indian Cinema section, with Kolkatabased Overdose Joint. Kajarya follows a woman in a village in northern India who murders unwanted female infants, and a journalist who writes about her. “In the same vein as Kajarya, [Kotha No. 22] will be a combination of fiction and documentary. It will feature nonactors and newcomers,” said Anand. “I have been spending a lot of time in the brothels to understand the real nature of the prostitutes’ world.” Nandita Dutta
French-Algerian film-maker Rachid Bouchareb is close to completing post-production on his upcoming drama Enemy Way, starring Forest Whitaker and Harvey Keitel. Whitaker plays a former prisoner and Islamic convert who is pursued by a vengeful police officer played by Keitel in the film, which is a strong contender for Cannes selection in 2014. The picture was filmed in the US state of New Mexico for nine weeks this spring. Algeria’s Agence Algérienne pour le Rayonnement Culturel (AARC) is also hoping the film will be a contender for the 2015 Academy Awards. Bouchareb’s Outside The Law was among the
Enemy Way
final five films nominated in the foreign-language category of the 2011 Oscars. Paris-based Pathé International is handling sales on the film, coproduced by Algeria’s AARC and
Tassili Films, France’s Pathé Cinema, France 2 Cinema and Solenzara, Belgium’s Scope Invest and the US’s Taghit LLC and Cohen Media Group. AARC has become a key player
in the Algerian film industry following a 2012 law sanctioning the cultural body to support local cinema. Inspired by Swiss-French writer and film-maker Jose Giovanni’s 1973 picture Two Men In Town, starring Jean Gabin and Alain Delon, Enemy Way is the second film in Bouchareb’s trilogy focusing on relations between the US and the Arab world, which kicked off with Just Like A Woman. Bouchareb is due to shoot the third feature in the trilogy in Cuba in 2014. He has just finished writing the screenplay in collaboration with Algerian writer Yasmina Khadra, who also worked on Enemy Way and Ziad Doueiri’s The Attack.
Indie generation plans to make Alexandria great By Melanie Goodfellow
Cairo may be the traditional hub of the cinema industry in Egypt but an independent scene is growing in the country’s second city, Alexandria. The founders of this nascent indie scene are at DIFF this year with their first feature-length picture The Mice Room, which is competing in the Muhr Arab Feature competition. The film, collectively directed by Nermeen Salem, Mohamed Zedan, Mohamad El Hadidi, Mayye Zayed, Hend Bakr and Ahmed Magdy Morsy, was coproduced by Alexandria-based
The Mice Room team
production companies Fig Leaf Studios and Rufy’s. Fig Leaf founder Mark Lotfy explained the indie hub was the direct result of a series of workshops held by the Jesuits Cultural Centre from 2005-12.
The Mice Room was shot over a three-and-a-half year period for just $3,500. The group plans to make another feature in the same mould but each member is also working on individual projects. Lotfy is also participating in Dubai Film Connection (DFC) this year with his project Dangerous Profiles, which explores how political activists in Egypt have created online avatars as a means to confront entities such as the deposed Mubarak regime, the US government and the Muslim Brotherhood in the virtual world. Other joint Fig Leaf and Rufy’s projects include Zedan’s docu-
mentary I Have A Picture, a history of Egyptian cinema through the personal story of an octogenarian who has worked as an extra since the 1940s. It is being presented at the inaugural edition of Dubai Docs. Rufy’s is also developing Ahmed Nabil’s feature documentary The City Will Pursue You, a portrait of Alexandria, and a biodoc about Egyptian actor Mohsen Mohieddin. It is also working on feature projects by two The Mice Room directors: Salem’s On The Road and Magdy Morsy’s Kitsch. » The Mice Room, review page 7
One on one Kaouther Ben Hania, film-maker, Challat of Tunis style and is screening in the Arab Muhr Feature competition.
Tunisian writer and director Kaouther Ben Hania is back at DIFF with her second feature, Challat Of Tunis, following the documentary Imams Go To School, which screened here in 2010. Challat Of Tunis is a fiction feature shot in a documentary
Is Challat Of Tunis inspired by real events? Yes. In the summer of 2003, a man on a moped prowled the streets of Tunis with a razor blade in his hand. He was on a mission to slash the derrieres of women strolling along the city’s sidewalks. Unlikely stories about this mysterious, terrifying figure were passed from neighbourhood to neighbourhood. The thug, known as a ‘challat’, was never caught. Why did you choose to make it as a fictional feature but in a documentary style? I started writing a documentary
project about the Challat story many years ago. I wanted to understand what really happened but I quickly realised it’s not possible to ask the police questions in a dictatorship. So in 2009 I started writing it as a fiction feature and a year later the Tunisian Revolution took place and I was able to start a real investigation to find out more about what happened. I got some interesting elements and rewrote my story a dozen times to incorporate these. It’s now set after the revolution and is about a woman determined to clear up the mystery of Challat at any cost. I wanted to make a film with humour and one that was a profile
of Tunisian society as seen from the inside, where private and public life are still coming to grips with the search for emancipation. Why motivated you to make Challat Of Tunis? Since its independence in 1956, Tunisia has prided itself on being alone in the Arab-Muslim world in its positive treatment of women. But for me, all this was only written on paper. The relations between men and women are still archaic in a way. But because of the dictatorship, all these subjects were hidden. No-one talks about the problems. This wall of silence is a heavy burden to me and I want to regain my right to speak out as a citizen to say what I
think of machismo, of disinformation and the dictatorship. How easy and enjoyable is it to be a film-maker in Tunisia today? After the revolution, there were many interesting documentaries made by young film-makers. We had a real thirst for our own reality, to understand it. Now we are in a democratic transition and in a very fragile situation. The future is not that sure but we continue filming. Filming is always enjoyable but financing films, bureaucratic obstacles and the disappearance of Tunisian movie theatres is not that enjoyable. Every finished film is a miracle. Louise Tutt
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REVIEWS
Features, from page 8
Reviews edited by Mark Adams mark.adams@emap.com
Stable Unstable Reviewed by Mark Adams A delightfully made drama — with some rather subtle comedy elements — Stable Unstable (Talih Nezil) is a classy and impressively structured film that uses the old gambit of the psychiatrist’s chair as a way of telling human stories in the context of different patients, each struggling to find some kind of balance in an unstable country. The film, which had its world premiere at DIFF, is elegantly staged by writer/director Mahmoud Hojeij, who avoids fussy camera movements and instead opts for static set-ups that let his talented performers do their best work. While never flashy or overly dramatic, it is a well made and intriguing film that deserves further festival exposure. It is set on December 31 in Beirut, as seven very different people visit their psychiatrist (Salameh), each trying to look forward to a better year to come. The psychiatrist, whose face is not revealed until a scene late on when he sits on his own couch with his wife, is shown from behind, facing the patients, probing them about their feelings and trying to offer advice. Their problems are all different — one woman wants to know why she shouldn’t love two people at the same time; one man angrily stalks the room; a couple barely talk to each other; and a mother has issues with her son — but the subtext is relating to issues within their own country, though this aspect is handled with weary restraint. The scenes inside the psychiatrist’s office are set
The Mice Room Reviewed by Mark Adams An impressively made collaborative feature directed by six film-makers — Ahmed Magdy Morsy, Hend Bakr, Mayye Zayed, Mohamad El Hadidi, Mohamed Zedan and Nermeen Salem — in Alexandria in Egypt, The Mice Room (Odet El Feran) rarely feels like a clash of styles, instead impressively detailing six different people living their lives in the bustling city. A lack of star names, its rather freewheeling structure and little link between the subplots may hamper broad distribution, but this collaborative film — made on an almost zero budget, with cast and crew volunteers and with the directors all working as cinematographers or assistant directors on their colleagues’ films — belies its smallscale origins, and hints at strong futures for its group of young film-makers. The stories do not intersect, but have a link in that all of the leads share an underlying sense of concern about their home city, which they seem to wander burdened by fears or confusion…some more than others. Amr (Salem) returns to meet his father on his death bed but is not sure how to show his true feelings; Moussa (Ismail) spends his day afraid of crossing a street; and Dahlia (Saafan) on her wedding day, seems lost in worries about her off-white
Muhr Arab feature Leb-Qat. 2013. 87mins Director/screenplay Mahmoud Hojeij Production company/ sales Abbout Productions, www.abboutproductions. com Cinematography Philippe Van Leeuw Editor Gladys Joujou Music Charbel Haber Main cast Camille Salameh, Fadi Abi Samra, Nada Abou Farhat, Hassan Mrad, Diamand Abou Abboud, Manal Khader, Husam Chadat, Yara Abou Haidar
Dubai Film Festival in brief Ant Story
alongside a series of nicely judged vignettes, as various people use the lift in psychiatrist’s building. Some are patients while others range from men singing in the empty elevator to girls planning to attend a party. The sub-strands rarely interweave, but simply present a series of ordinary people doing their best to deal with the issues in front of them. The climax of the film is New Year itself and a party the psychiatrist and his beautiful wife Manal (Khader) are attending. She hates having to present a well-groomed and polite image to his friends, and when he makes a comment about her always checking her make-up, she turns it into an argument that she should be herself at the party. She proceeds to let down her hair and talk to other men, leaving the psychiatrist to face the only real drama of the film as he has to ‘fight’ just a little to win back his wife.
Muhr Arab feature Egypt-UAE. 2013. 85mins Directors/writers/ producers Ahmed Magdy Morsy, Hend Bakr, Mayye Zayed, Mohamad El Hadidi, Mohamed Zedan, Nermeen Salem Production companies Rufy’s, Fig Leaf Studios, Enjazz Sales Rufy’s, contact@ rufysstudio.tk Cinematography Islam Kamal, Mayye Zayed, Mohamad El Hadidi Editor Islam Kamal Music Anna Drubich Main cast Hanan Youssef, Mostafa Darwish, Noura Saafan, Nihad Yahia, Zeyad Salem, Kamal Ismail, Malak Magdy
Dir: Mostofa S Farooki. Bang. 2013. 93mins. Muhr AsiaAfrica Feature Struggling young graduate Mithu (Noor Imran Mithu) dreams of making it big in the city of Dhaka, but his chance comes only when he buys a stolen mobile phone that belongs to actress Rima (the delightful Sheena Chohan). Desperate that Mithu does not reveal a private video on the phone, she agrees to support his involvement in a pyramid finance scheme… but things come to a head when he asks her to pose as his girlfriend. Low-budget, rough around the edges and with a plot that loses focus at times, Ant Story is at its best when Mithu indulges in The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty-style fantasies. Mithu may be something of a fantasist, but he starts to push the boundaries a little too hard as he tries to live up to the lies he has created. Mark Adams
CONTACT Mostofa S Farooki privilegedkid@gmail.com
The Past
Dir/scr: Asghar Farhadi. Fr-It. 2013. 130mins. Cinema Of The World Iranian film-maker Asghar Farhadi, who lifted a deserved best foreign-language film Oscar for the remarkable A Separation, delivers another gripping drama of ethics, love and loyalty with The Past, starring Bérénice Bejo and Tahar Rahim. What’s missing is the pressure and jeopardy of the Iranian judicial, political and religious background that made A Separation’s ballet of accusal and counter-accusal more than just a family affair. Central to the story, once again, is a keen feel for the way children are manipulated and damaged by the crazy stuff we adults do, and it is this sensitivity, more than anything else, that saves the bones of highconcept melodrama from poking through the screen too obtrusively. Lee Marshall
CONTACT MEMENTO INTERNATIONAL www.memento-films.com
Habi, The Foreigner
marriage. Meanwhile a young girl (Magdy) discovers her grandmother’s decay through her play time; Rawya (Youssef) starts sleeping late after her husband dies and discovers an exciting new life at night; and finally Maha (Yahia), packing to leave the country, starts questioning how she may change when she moves away. As is the nature of such films, some strands are always more involving than others. And there are moments of gentle of humour (especially when a young girl spills a bag of crisps over a man in prayer) and elements of subtle drama, but at heart the film is a snapshot of various lives all of which share a certain unease, and is all the better for not trying to offer up a grand dramatic moment.
Dir: Maria Florencia Alvarez. Arg-Bra. 2013. 91mins. Arabian Nights A delightfully off-beat and charming film, Habi, The Foreigner (Habi, La Extranjera) stars young Martina Juncadella as 20-yearold Analia, who travels from a small Argentinian town to the bright lights of Buenos Aires to sell crafts from her village. There she accidentally attends a Muslim funeral, participates in the ritual and finds herself receiving some of the dead woman’s possessions. This gentle girl starts to examine her own sense of identity and is drawn to the world of Islam, eventually adopting the name of Habiba Rafat. A thoughtfully challenging film made with a sense of grace. Mark Adams
CONTACT MPM FILM gmail.com
pierremenahem@
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Feature Focus The Imposter
How to triple the gross Premium video-on-demand is beginning to help independent and local film-makers find an audience in a region dominated by free-to-air broadcasters and internet portals. Colin Brown reports n the football-crazed Arab world, the countdown to next summer’s World Cup provides a perfect sales window for regional pay-TV operators to rush out high-definition product packages and all-you-can-eat banquets of on-demand viewing in a bid to bolster subscriptions. But it may take until Qatar hosts the region’s first ever World Cup in 2022 before premium TV commands the same level of consumer adoption as seen in the US or Europe — by which time television itself may have been eclipsed as the medium of choice. The geographic expanse and socio-economic disparities are so great across the Middle East and North Africa that television viewing across this region is still very much dominated by free channels delivered mostly through satellite dishes. According to Arab Media Outlook, just 8% of Arabspeaking households pay for television packages from the likes of OSN, Al Jazeera or Abu Dhabi Media — a low percentage that sets a natural limit to how much movies can depend on Arab pay-TV as one of their financial lifelines. Even in the wealthier enclaves of the region, where households have the resources to pay monthly subscriptions, there is no end to the freely available diversions competing for attention. Saudi Arabia, for example, has the highest number of YouTube views in the world per internet user, followed by Egypt, Morocco and the UAE, according to Google. Averaged out, every single Saudi resident watched the equivalent of seven YouTube videos every day last year — with three quarters of that activity carried out on smartphones.
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Such massive uptake has not gone unnoticed. The Rotana media conglomerate is among the companies to have launched internet platforms that offer thousands of hours of Arabic-language video content across computers, tablets and mobile devices. That this is being offered for free, on an advertising-supported basis, throws a gauntlet down to those smaller web portals that have been relying on subscriptions for their premium offerings, including their prized films.
Reaching 400,000 homes It is against this backdrop that the nascent Arab VoD marketplace, seen as independent cinema’s potential saviour from the DVD doldrums, is now playing out. For an independent distributor such as Gianluca Chakra, CEO of Front Row Entertainment, the creation of a Premium VoD window for his titles not only helps address piracy but also the problem of high theatrical turnover in the UAE. “There are seven to 10 films released weekly and many of the theatres want to show the exact same films,” Chakra says. “As a result, titles that need word-of-mouth to build their audience, are removed from theatres after just two weeks. By the time people hear about the film, it isn’t available anymore in cinemas. The solution we found was to launch these titles on a premium basis — almost the same price of a cinema ticket — and the results are showing. These are films that may get one screen in cinemas to showcase their work but can reach roughly around 400,000 people in their homes.” Documentary features stand out among the VoD surprise success stories so far.
‘Titles that need word-of-mouth to build their audience are removed from theatres after just two weeks’ Gianluca Chakra, Front Row Entertainment
“We’ve released titles such as Marley and The Imposter day-and-date in cinemas and on premium VoD where the theatrical results were good — based on one screen — but where the VoD revenues tripled those cinema grosses,” says Chakra. “Their combined revenues are close to what would be seen at an average cinema, depending on the location, for a blockbuster.” Front Row created this window with OSN, the pay-network. Intigral, the content aggregator associated with STC (Saudi Telecom, the Arab world’s largest telecoms giant) is among those working closely with Front Row to secure up-to-date releases. So too is ondemand!, the London-based content aggregator for both DU (the telecom operator in the UAE) and Q-TEL (the telecom operator in Qatar). Also active is Etisalat, the UAE’s biggest telecom operator that owns a stake in Saudi Arabia’s second largest phone company, Mobily. Chakra acknowledges some VoD providers still need persuading when it comes to prioritising independent titles over those from Hollywood. For this reason he is excited by the prospect that Apple — whose UAE corporate office in Abu Dhabi has been busy recruiting — is preparing to let independent distributors from the region offer their titles for sale and rent on the Arab version of the iTunes digital storefront. “This would mean the only true medium for independent releases and emerging film-makers will definitely be on iTunes,” he suggests. “Maybe their launch could teach a lesson to the remaining VoD providers within the region to start following in their footsteps.”
Screenings, page 14
How well Arab feature films will stand out in this new world of endless choice is anyone’s guess. Arab drama series remain the most reliable source of employment for storytelling talent in the region. Known collectively as ‘musalsalat’, these serialised Arab melodramas are similar in style to Latin American telenovelas, except they often revolve around historical epics about Islamic figures or love stories involving class conflict and intrigue. Many more are being made now, and at greater cost, in a bid to compete against the overwhelming popularity of Turkish soap operas on Arab television. The number of series produced for Ramadan — the ratings pinnacle — climbed to 160 in 2012, double the number made in 2010. According to the Pan Arab Research Center, the amount spent in 2012 for Ramadan television advertising exceeded $420m, more than a fifth of the entire Arab television advertising market for that same year. Not surprisingly, given their commercial allure, average production budgets have shot up, rising from an average $200,000-$500,000 per series just three years ago, to between $2m-$4m. Omar, MBC’s hugely popular 2012 Ramadan series on the life of the second Caliph, one of the Prophet Muhammad’s best companions, is said to have cost $53m in total. (Omar is not to be confused with Hany Abu-Assad’s Palestinian drama of the same name, which was the opening-night film at DIFF.) In all, $1.2bn is spent each year producing and acquiring content for the estimated 650 Arab TV channels across the region, according to Nabil Kazan, CEO of pan-Arab TV consultancy K & Partners. Of that, $400m is spent producing programming including Ramadan drama series and reality shows. Another $550m is spent licensing sports rights and $250m acquiring imported content including Hollywood movies and Turkish serials, which can cost up to $100,000 per episode to buy. Chances are those figures will keep climbing. “New channels are mushrooming at a rate of one per week,” says Kazan, with 154 launched since the Arab Spring. And that was last year. To put that number into perspective, there are 21 television channels that show only movies in the Arab-speaks ing world. n
Marley
Q&A: Fadi Ismail, O3 Productions produces local pan-Arab and regional drama series in-house. He is the executive producer of Omar, the biggest Arab historical drama series ever produced. Headquartered in Dubai, MBC Group was the first private free-to-air satellite broadcasting company in the Arab World when it launched in 1991. MBC boasts the top four most watched TV channels in the UAE.
As the general manager of O3 Productions, a subsidiary of Middle East Broadcasting Centre (MBC) Group, Fadi Ismail selects, buys and distributes Turkish, Indian, Korean and other drama content, adapts scripted telenovela formats and
As one of the key stakeholders in the region’s media industry, how do you rate local feature films produced out of the six Gulf countries (GCC) in terms of their appeal to broadcast networks like your own? TV exposure and TV promotion might make a difference and allow GCC films to enjoy a level of popularity that is missing. One of the issues for any TV network when it comes to airing a particular genre is consistency in quality and in volume. Another challenge is stars: where are the Gulf stars in films? A TV network might experiment with a film here and there, but none have a regular, dedicated slot. For that you need to have a predictable quality and volume as well as a mix of fresh faces and established stars.
A few years ago, MBC co-produced The Circle, a crime drama by UAE film-maker Nawaf Al Janahi that premiered at Dubai’s Gulf Film Festival in 2009 before playing at DIFF. Despite such attention, Emirati features have been unable to make back their production costs so far. How do you think GCC can build a viable business model for locally made features? It’s not going to be easy. They will have to go a step higher in quality, especially in terms of storytelling and production values. And then they have to aim for a full cycle of windowing, which means theatrical release and then pay-TV, free-to-air, plus digital etc. The entertainment in GCC is TV based and not cinema based in terms of how we consume Arabic fiction and drama. From what we understand, MBC Group is planning to produce or co-produce feature films soon. Do you anticipate any GCC film projects being part of those initial film-production plans? We are styling options and strategies based on appeal and ability to reach the widest possible audience. Nothing is final.
December 11, 2013 Screen International at Dubai 9 n
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UAE BOX OFFICE FEATURE
The Lone Ranger
Riding to the rescue Hollywood films of every stripe can take the UAE box office at a canter. But specialist titles, except for Bollywood films, tend to fall at the first hurdle and are increasingly pinning their hopes on VoD. Colin Brown reports ver wonder why the Middle East is often one of the first international territories to be sold when new film projects are unveiled to buyers at Cannes or American Film Market (AFM)? Well, just listen to what Ryan Kavanaugh, CEO of Relativity Media, had to say at last month’s AFM film finance conference: “We have seen growth in Europe and in the Middle East — massive growth. We’re seeing it 10 times as much from the Middle East in the last three years.” Led by the UAE, the Gulf states are one of the world’s most fiercely competitive film-watching regions, one where the three hungriest distributors — Gulf Film, Italia Film and Front Row Entertainment — can funnel as many as 600 titles to pay-TV networks between them in a year. Just weeks ago, Relativity announced it was extending its Middle East distribution partnership with Gulf Film, under a multi-year agreement that covers rights across all media in the region for Relativity-produced and acquired titles as well as third-party pick-ups sourced through its international sales agency. When Relativity first started striking similar output deals across the world, it was able to cover as much as 50% to 70% of in-house production budgets through those collective agreements. Now, as those deals are being renewed amid revenue jumps in territories such as the UAE, Turkey and South Korea, “We are now over 100% in many cases,” marvels Kavanaugh. Ever one to stay ahead of the industry’s
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growth curves — Relativity was the first US studio to bypass the premium cable window in the US when it struck a 2010 deal with VoD platform Netflix to stream its films just months after their DVD release — Kavanaugh has hatched plans to create a “Relativity Middle East”. The aim of this regional hub is to partner with local Arab producers to create a pipeline of original film, television and digital entertainment content.
Playing catch-up That Gulf Film is now fully owned by Q Media, which itself works closely with Doha Film Institute, opens up intriguing possibilities, perhaps even as a much-needed co-producing or gap-financing entity in the Arab world. Certainly, the Arab film-making world could benefit from a studio powerhouse that is plugged into the local exhibition circuit where Gulf Film is a major player through its Grand Cinemas chain. While the UAE box office as a whole continues to climb, particularly with ever more resplendent multiplexes popping up in the country’s shopping malls, the major beneficiaries of this remain the Hollywood studios and the larger US independents such as Relativity and Lionsgate (which has just supplied Gulf Film with The Hunger Games: Catching Fire). Specialised films, however, struggle to gain access to — and,
‘We have seen growth in Europe and in the Middle East — massive growth. We’re seeing it 10 times as much from the Middle East in the last three years’ Ryan Kavanaugh, Relativity Media
(Left) Fast And Furious 6
above all, stay on — theatre screens amid this booming box office. Other than the occasional buffoonish comedy from Egypt, such as this year’s Tattah and Samir Abu El Nil, most Arab films have to pin their hopes on VoD as their primary viewing mechanism, as do many specialised titles from the US or Europe. That leaves Bollywood as pretty much the only consistent indie box-office performer in the UAE, an anomaly that is a function of the UAE’s large migrant populations. If anything, the latest digital exhibition technologies have made matters worse for smaller films. “The introduction of the VPF [Virtual Print Fee] model has certainly limited the release of much smaller films,” says Front Row Entertainment chief Gianluca Chakra. “Whereas before we were able to make prints travel around the region, now that 35mms are way more expensive, loads of smaller films don’t see the light of day in cinemas.” On the mainstream side, the UAE box office remains robust and, at times, delightfully quixotic. Although missing the record-breakers of 2012, hits led by Fast And Furious 6 and Iron Man 3 have been consistent enough that the overall tally was running 16% ahead as of the end of November compared to the same period last year. Look at some of films that overperformed in the UAE relative to others this year — After Earth (141,000 admissions), The Hangover III (195,000), White House Down (200,000), Snitch (105,000), The Smurfs 2 (222,000) and, yes, The Lone Ranger (110,000) — and you realise why the region has become Hollywood’s new best friend forever. There’s always a chance that even a lukewarm s genre film can catch fire here. ■
December 11, 2013 Screen International at Dubai 11 ■
The Mice Room
Face forward
A new generation of Egyptian film-makers are at DIFF to showcase the films they are making despite — or perhaps thanks to — the ongoing upheaval at home. Melanie Goodfellow reports
gypt’s independent cinema scene swept into DIFF last year on the crest of the country’s revolutionary wave. Producers and directors were brimming with projects and plans to reform their country’s film industry. A year on and few of these plans have been pushed through or many projects completed. It has been another tumultuous 12 months for the country, which saw the Muslim Brotherhood-backed president Mohamed Morsi deposed and a new military-backed government installed. However, Egypt’s independent film-making community remains remarkably upbeat about its prospects. The outlook is better, they say, for 2014. “It has been difficult but it’s looking more promising,” says producer and actor Amr Waked, cofounder of Cairo-based production house Zad Communication alongside Salah Al Hanafy. In spite of the protests, violence and curfews of recent months, Zad is completing post-production on Ibrahim El Batout’s organ-trafficking thriller The Cat after a brief hiatus over the summer due to the political troubles. El Batout’s previous feature, Winter Of Discontent, is Egypt’s Oscar submission this year. Zad Communication plans to shoot veteran filmmaker Ossama Fawzy’s Rosy Black, based on a script by Mostafa Zekry, early next year. “It’s sort of an Arabic Tim Burton film,” says Waked
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■ 12 Screen International at Dubai December 11, 2013
The company has two further productions in development: Atef Hetata’s The Exile and Ahmad Maher’s In Which Land You Die, for which Zad is looking for an Italian production partner. “In the past, Egypt had maybe one independent production a year. We’re going to start seeing three to four productions coming through,” suggests Waked. “We’re finishing The Cat, there’s Ossama’s film and Mohamed Khan’s Factory Girl, which premiered at DIFF. These are films that can be exported, with gravity and international potential, rather than just the local comedies we used to produce in the past.” A major change for the better, says Waked, has been the decision by Egypt’s Ministry of Culture to set up a small fund for independent film production. He says: “After the January revolution, the Ministry of Culture opened the door and decided to fund more than 10 films. For the first time, the state has acknowledged it has a role to play in the country’s film industry.” Producer Mohamed Hefzy of Film Clinic, the company behind Ahmad Abdalla’s ground-breaking 2010 film Microphone and more recent Rags & Tatters, following a prisoner released at the beginning of the revolution, is also hopeful about the future. Hefzy was appointed a member of the powerful Egyptian Cinema Industry Chamber in September.
‘For the first time the state has acknowledged that it has a role to play in the country’s film industry’ Amr Waked, producer and actor
He is using his position to lobby for even more support for Egypt’s fledgling independent scene. “I am hoping we can do more at a political level,” he explains. “The chamber recently had a meeting with the prime minister [Hazem Al Beblawi]. We told him about our problems such as piracy, how we lack government support and the need to remove legislation that prevents foreign productions from coming to Egypt. “He engaged in the conversation and said he would set up meetings with the five or six ministers related to the problems we have in the industry. We have set up a committee and are hoping to meet with the ministers shortly. It’s a step in right direction.”
Down the road Like Zad, Film Clinic is pushing on with its productions in spite of the political instability. The company is presenting Sherif El Bendary’s Two Rooms And A Parlour at DIFF’s Interchange cofinancing event. It is also working on the Cairo-set 3D horror picture Site 146, Ali F Mostafa’s panArab road movie A To B and has just finished Amr Salama’s Excuse My French. Not everyone is so upbeat. Low-budget director and producer Hala Lotfy, founder of the filmmaking collective Hassala Productions, expresses frustration that many of the reforms and initiatives
EGYPTIAN FILM INDUSTRY FEATURE
FESTIVAL FAVOURITES: EGYPT AT DIFF The country is also well represented in the Muhr Arab documentary competition. Jehane Noujaim’s The Square (Al Midan) captures the early days of the revolution. It made its world premiere to much acclaim at Sundance Film Festival in January. Further documentary titles at DIFF include Salma El Tarzi’s Underground On the Surface, about three young musicians determined to gain social acceptance for their brand of underground music, and Mohamed Elkaliouby’s My Name Is Mostafa Khamis, which is about a worker who was executed after a series of workers-rights protests in 1952. Chadi Abdel Salam’s 1969 classic The Mummy (aka The Night Of Counting The Years), which recently topped DIFF’s list of 100 greatest Arab films, is screening in the Arabian Nights section, as is Attia Amin’s contemporary drama The Ferry.
Egyptian films have a strong showing at DIFF this year. Two films are competing in the Muhr Arab feature competition. Mohamed Khan’s gritty melodrama The Factory Girl mixes professional actors and amateur extras against real-life backdrops. Khan’s wife and long-time collaborator Wessam Soliman co-wrote the script about a young, single woman whose friends and family turn against her when she appears to fall pregnant. It is the first film in five years from Khan, a member of the so-called ‘1980s generation’ that included Yousry Nasrallah. The Mice Room is the first feature from Fig Leaf Studios, the nascent Alexandria-based film collective. It follows six different characters living in modern-day Egypt.
announced last year, including the creation of a breakaway cinema union and the launch of an independent screen network, have failed to materialise. “We need to learn to work together more,” says Lotfy, who won praise last year for Coming Forth By Day. “We have the seeds for something great but we’re not getting it together. It’s not only the fault of the situation. We’re all focused on our personal projects but these collective initiatives are important too.” The cinema union’s draft manifesto called for more independent screens, an end to Egypt’s strict shooting-permit system, a cap on talent wages and increased support for young talent. “We all need to sign up for the manifesto, not just film-makers at Hassala. It won’t mean anything otherwise,” she says. On the production front, Hassala is busy. The company is working on 12 feature-length documentaries. Projects in post-production include
Mohamed Khan’s The Factory Girl
‘We have the seeds for something great but we’re not getting it together’ Hala Lotfy, director
Abdullah Al Ghaly’s Cairo-Arehebat, exploring the Egyptian-Libyan film-maker’s split cultural identity; Cinema Wahbi from Syria’s Nidal al Dibs, about an abandoned cinema theatre; and Nesrine El Zayat’s On The Stairs, focusing on the debate around the veil. The production collective is also developing a series of storytelling workshops for the inhabitants of an impoverished village in northern Egypt. One thing Lotfy is optimistic about is Cairo’s burgeoning independent cinema scene. She cites the creation of several new collectives such as the short-film focused Rahala and the all-female Plateau 84. The film-maker also notes a growing hub in Egypt’s second largest city, Alexandria, led by companies such as Fig Leaf Studios and Rufy’s. That collective produced The Mice Room, which is premiering in DIFF’s Muhr Arab feature competition. It follows six different characters living in Alexans dria as they struggle with everyday fears. ■
DISTRIBUTION CHALLENGES A major headache for Egypt’s independent film sector is the inability to secure cinema screens. Zad co-founder Amr Waked says the production house had to pay for the release of Winter Of Discontent into a handful of Egyptian theatres earlier this year. “Our distributor told us very plainly they were not going to put a penny into our film,” Waked explains. “They gave us the screens but we paid for all the marketing, advertising and prints. We had to put in the same amount as the original movie budget to get it out. We had the resources to do that but 90% of independent film-makers would not be able to do a quarter of what we did.” Meanwhile, Film Clinic’s Mohamed Hefzy experimented with a day-and-date style release on Rags & Tatters in November. In co-operation with local distributor MAD Solutions and exhibitor Al Arabia Cinema, the film was released on seven screens ahead of an encrypted showing on Orbit TV. The theatrical release was intended to create publicity for the broadcast but was surprisingly successful for an independent film, generating revenues of $30,000 over two weeks. “The success of Rags & Tatters confirms the readiness of the Egyptian film market to accept different genres of films,” said Al Arabia Cinema co-founder and CEO Isaad Younis.
The Square (Al Midan)
December 11, 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
Travers’ Mary Poppins, he makes them a promise — one that takes him 20 years to keep.
12:45 MY NAME IS MOSTAFA KHAMIS
(Egypt, UAE) 101mins. Dir: Mohamed Elkaliouby. Explores the events of the 1952 Egyptian uprisings, and how the Egyptian workers’ movement was successfully quelled until February 1968, when their voices rose once again.
Cinema of the World Madinat Arena
16:15 WAVES
(Egypt) 71mins. Creative Documentary, animation. Dir: Ahmed Nour. Muhr Arab Documentary MOE 10
Muhr Arab Documentary MOE 6
18:00
13:00
CHALLAT OF TUNIS
ABUSE OF WEAKNESS
(France, Belgium) 104mins. Drama. Dir: Catherine Breillat. Cast: Kool Shen, Isabelle Huppert, Laurence Ursino, Christophe Sermet, Ronald Leclercq. A con-man takes advantage of a film-maker as she recovers from a stroke. Cinema of the World MOE 10
Festival 15:30 TRAITORS
(Morocco, US, UAE) 83mins. Drama. Dir: Sean Gullette. Cast: Chaimae Ben Acha, Driss Roukhe, Mourade
15:30
Zeguindi, Nadia Niaza, Soufia Issami. A punk rocker agrees to take part in a drugsmuggling operation. Arabian Nights MOE 8
WAR REPORTER
(Tunisia) 74mins. Documentary. Dir: Mohamed Amine Boukhris. Cast: Eyad Hamad, Ahmed Bahaddou, Nassim Boumzar, Nicolas Gariga, Remi Ochlic. January 2011. Events in Tunisia triggered massive uprisings throughout the Arab world. It was a historic moment that could not be missed by the journalists on the ground. Muhr Arab Documentary MOE 5
14:45 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
15:00 OMAR
(Palestine, UAE) 97mins. Drama. Dir: Hany Abu Assad. Cast: Adam Bakri, Waleed Zuaiter, Leem Lubany, Samer Bisharat, Eyad Hourani.
Omar, a young baker, is accustomed to dodging surveillance bullets when visiting his secret love, Nadia. But occupied Palestine knows neither love nor clear-cut war. Omar is suddenly transformed into a freedom fighter. Muhr Arab Feature MOE 2
15:15 GAS IS OVER
(Kazakhstan) 17mins. Drama, Family. Dir: Askhat Kuchinchirekov. Cast: Duman Ibragimov, Elaman Aldabergenov, Ondasin Besikbasov, Ozat Jumaliev. Muhr Asia Africa Short MOE 9
JUST FOR ONE DAY
(Turkey) 23mins. Drama, fantasy, romance. Dir: Ismail Tunc Sahin. Cast: Bora Cengiz, Pinar Tuncegil. Muhr Asia Africa Short MOE 9
THIN ARMS
(India) 9mins. Family, Experimental. Dir: Sandeep Ray. Cast:
n 14 Screen International at Dubai December 11, 2013
Shipra Ray. An octogenarian woman undergoes treatment for a debilitating medical condition. Muhr Asia Africa Short MOE 9
THUY
(South Korea) 108mins. Drama, thriller. Dir: Kim Jae-han. Cast: Duong Ngoc Lan Ninh, Kim Mi-gyeong, Ye Su-jeong, Myung Kae-nam, Cha Seung-ho. Muhr Asia Africa Feature MOE 7
TRAITORS See box, left
THE MULBERRY HOUSE
(Egypt, Syria, UK, Yemen, UAE) 75mins. Biography, family. Dir: Sara Ishaq. The director returns to Yemen after several years. Muhr Arab Documentary MOE 11
15:45 GABRIELLE
(Canada) 104mins. Drama, comedy, romance. Dir: Louise Archambault. Cast: Gabrielle MarionRivard, Melissa Desormeaux-Poulin, Alexandre Landry, Benoit Gouin, Isabelle Vincent, Veronique Beaudet. Cinema of the World MOE 6
16:00
TWAAGA
SAVING Mr BANKS
(Burkina Faso, France) 31mins. Drama, fantasy, animation. Dir: Cedric Ido. Cast: Sabourou Bamogo, Harouna Ouderaogo, Sidiki Diarra, Parfait Oubda.
(Australia, US, UK) 125mins. Biography, comedy, drama, family. Dir: John Lee Hancock. Cast: Tom Hanks, Colin Farrell, Emma Thompson, Jason Schwartzman, Rachel Griffiths, Paul Giamatti, Bradley Whitford, Annie Rose Buckley, Ruth Wilson, BJ Novak, Kathy Baker, Colin Farrell. When Walt Disney’s daughters beg him to make a movie based on their favourite book, PL
Muhr Asia Africa Short MOE 9
THE WAY BACK
(South Korea) 23mins. Drama. Dir: Kim Halla. Cast: Ha Sung-gwang, Lee Seung-ho. Muhr Asia Africa Short MOE 9
(Tunisia, France, Canada, UAE) 89mins. Social. Dir: Kaouther Ben Hania. Cast: Jallel Dridi, Moufida Dridi, Mohamed Slim Bouchiha. It’s summer 2003 in Tunisia. A man on a moped prowls the streets of Tunis, with a razor blade in hand. Known as Challat, he is on a personal mission: to slash the derrieres of women strolling along the city’s sidewalks. Muhr Arab Feature Madinat Theatre
ON MY WAY
(France) 116mins. Drama, comedy. Dir: Emmanuelle Bercot. Cast: Nemo Schiffman, Catherine Deneuve, Gerard Garouste, Camille, Claude Gensac. Cinema of the World MOE 12
UNFORGIVEN
(Japan) 135mins. Action, crime, drama, historical. Dir: Lee Sang-il. Cast: Ken Watanabe, Akira Emoto, Koichi Sato, Yuya Yagira, Shioli Kutsuna, Eiko Koike. Japanese remake of Clint Eastwood’s classic western. Poverty leads Kamata to abandon his resolve to bury his sword and, once again, he finds himself ensnared in a life of violence. Cinema of Asia Africa MOE 2
18:15
Radjamuda, Rugaiyah Albaar. Muhr Asia Africa Short MOE 8
THE DEVIL’S LAIR
(South Africa) 82mins. Dir: Riaan Hendricks. Set in a world where conflicting forces struggle to regulate the illicit drug market in Cape Town, infamous for one of the highest murder rates in the world. Muhr Asia Africa Documentary MOE 6
KWAKU ANANSE
(Ghana, Mexico, US) 25mins. Fantasy, Experimental, Creative Documentary. Dir: Akosua Adoma Owusu. Cast: Jojo Abot, Koo Nimo. Muhr Asia Africa Short MOE 8
MINESH
(Denmark, Germany, South Africa) 12mins. Drama, social. Dir: Shalin Sirkar. Cast: Tristan De La Cruz, Randolph Adriaanse, Rochelle Grainger, Athenkosi Mabele, Thembaletu Menziwa, Lutho Kula, Nkosana M Cekisa. Muhr Asia Africa Short MOE 8
OUR HOME WE CAN NOT WALK TO
(UAE) 54mins. Social, War, documentary. Dir: Darin Al Baw. Four sisters, who live in the conservative Palestinian camp of Nahr El Bared in Lebanon, contract a strange illness at the age of 25. Arabian Nights MOE 5
THE POOL MAN
(Taiwan) 32mins. Comedy, Drama. Dir: Kaidi Zhan. Cast: HungPo Wei, Vicci Pan, XiaoGuo Jia. Muhr Asia Africa Short MOE 8
THE BACKYARD
(Indonesia) 12mins. Drama. Dir: Yusuf Radjamuda. Cast: Jay
SHEPHERDESSES
(Somaliland) 10mins. Documentary. Dir:
Further DIFF coverage, see screendaily.com
Amina Souleiman. Cast: Sahra Cige Diiriye, Faadumo Isma’il.
documentary. Dir: Errol Morris. Cast: Donald Rumsfeld.
Arabian Nights MOE 5
Cinema of the World MOE 7
TO REPEL GHOSTS
(Ivory Coast) 21mins. Biography, drama. Dir: Philippe Lacote. Cast: Abdoul Karim Konate, Adelaïde Ouattara, Alexandre Desane, Amedee Soumahoro. Muhr Asia Africa Short MOE 8
18:30 THE MORPHINE MELODY
(Morocco) 58mins. Drama. Dir: Hicham Amal. Cast: Hassan Badida, Yasmina Bennani, Hicham Bahloul. Muhr Arab Short MOE 9
MY BROTHER
(Denmark) 27mins. Drama. Dir: Ulaano Salim. Cast: Zaki Youssef, Fouad Ghazali. Centres around two friends who find themselves caught up in a world of crime in Copenhagen. Muhr Arab Short MOE 9
SPEED OF LIGHT
Social. Dir: Dalila Ennadre. Each night, the voice of Casablanca takes us to the door of one of her inhabitants, revealing what binds her to that character.
Mohamed Bastaoui, Amal Ayouch, Mohammed Khoyi.
(Iraq, UK, Hungary) 10mins. Animation, Drama, family, war. Dir: Meedo Ali. Cast: Saif Salh.
Muhr Arab Documentary MOE 10
Muhr Arab Short, Iraqi Legacy: Children of Future MOE 1
(France, Germany, India) 104mins. Drama. Dir: Ritesh Batra. Cast: Irrfan Khan, Nimrat Kaur, Nawazuddin Siddiqui. A lunchbox delivered to the wrong office-worker is the start of an unlikely friendship.
(Spain) 85mins. Biography, Drama, Social. Dir: Ernesto De Nova, Francisco Araajo. Cast: Hassan Ben Oudra. After 13 years in Spain, Hassan finds himself unemployed and decides to return to his home in Morocco.
18:45 CHILDREN OF WAR
CHILDREN OF GOD
(Iraq, UK, Hungary) 10mins. Drama, Family, Social. Dir: Ahmed Yassin. Cast: Amir Hadi, Hawara Alkhuza. Muhr Arab Short, Iraqi Legacy: Children of Future MOE 1
(Iraq, UK, Hungary) 9mins. Drama. Dir: Mohanad Hayal. Cast: Samir Mohamed, Azhar Ali, Atia Al Daradji. Iraqi Legacy: Children of Future MOE 1
LIPSTICK
(Iraq, UK, Hungary) 9mins. Comedy, drama. Dir: Luay Fadhil. Cast: Sabah Husham, Wathik Husham, Heba Sabah. Iraqi Legacy: Children of Future MOE 1
Muhr Arab Short MOE 9
NESMA’S BIRDS
(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. Seven patients visit a psychiatrist in an attempt to put the past year behind them. Muhr Arab Feature MOE 11
(Iraq, UK, Hungary) 8mins. Drama, family, social. Dir: Najwan Ali, Meedo Ali. Cast: Fatimah Sah. Iraqi Legacy: Children of Future MOE 1
WAR CANISTER
(Iraq, UK, Hungary) 11mins. Drama, family, social. Dir: Yahya Al Allaq. Cast: Ahmad Hisham, Ashraf Hisham, Safana. Iraqi Legacy: Children of Future MOE 1
WALLS AND PEOPLE THE UNKNOWN KNOWN
(US) 102mins. Biography,
THE LUNCHBOX
Muhr Asia Africa Feature Madinat Arena
20:00 RED BLUE YELLOW
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
(Egypt) 8mins. Drama, sci-fi. Dir: Youssef Alimam. Cast: Youssef Alimam, Hany Eissa.
STABLE UNSTABLE
19:30
(Morocco, UAE, Algeria, France, Qatar) 90mins.
(UAE) 92mins. Dir: Nujoom Al Ghanem. Cast: Nujoom Al Ghanem. Najat Makki is a pioneering Emirati female artist, recognised not only for her talent but also for the role she plays in society. Muhr Emirati Burj Park
21:00 BEHIND THE FLICKERING LIGHT (THE ARCHIVE)
(Indonesia) 155mins. Documentary. Dir: Hafiz Rancajale. Cast: Hafiz Rancajale, Mahardhika Yudha, Fuad Fauzi, Haji Misbach, Yusa Biran, Nani Widjaja, Riri Rira, Seno Gumira Adjidarma, JB Kristanto. Muhr Asia Africa Documentary MOE 6
HOW I LIVE NOW
(UK) 101mins. Action, Drama, Thriller. Dir: Kevin Macdonald. Cast: Saoirse Ronan, George Mackay, Tom Holland, Harley Bird, Anna Chancellor.
Muhr Arab Feature MOE 7
21:15 HASSAN’S WAY
Arabian Nights MOE 5
THE SQUARE
(US, Egypt) 90mins. Documentary. Dir: Jehane Noujaim. Cast: Khalid Abdalla, Ahmed Hassan, Ramy Essam, Magdy Ashour, Ragia Omran, Aida Elkashef. These young Egyptian revolutionaries are armed with cameras, social-media and videos posted on YouTube, supplemented by a resolute determination to liberate their nation. Muhr Arab Documentary MOE 11
MISS VIOLENCE
(Greece) 99mins. Drama. Dir: Alexandros Avranas. Cast: Themis Panou, Giota Festa, Christos Loulis, Reni Pittaki. When a young girl jumps to her death, the police and social services investigate the apparent suicide. The girl’s family insists it was an accident but her younger brother unintentionally reveals clues during the investigation. Cinema of the World MOE 12
21:30 THE LOST VOICE
Cinema of the World Madinat Theatre
(Belgium, Iraq) 20mins. Drama. Dir: Bavi Yassin. Cast: Darina Al Joundi, Muhanad Mukhtar, Bavi Yassin.
SOTTO VOCE
Muhr Arab Short MOE 8
(Morocco, UAE) 94mins. Historical, drama. Dir: Kamal Kamal. Cast: Ahmed Benaissa, Khaled Benaissa, Jihane Kamal,
CONDOM LEAD
(Palestine) 14mins. Drama. Dir: Arab Nasser, Tarzan Nasser. Cast:
Maria Mohammedi, Rashid Abdelhamid. Muhr Arab Short MOE 8
TROUBLED WATERS
(Lebanon) 25mins. Drama, Social. Dir: Toufic Khreich. Cast: Camille Salameh, Rodrigue Suleiman. Muhr Arab Short MOE 8
PLAYTIME
(Kuwait) 19mins. Drama, Family, fiction. Dir: Hamad Al Tourah. Cast: Husain Abul, Rachel Batty, Tamara Qabazard, Tom Batty. Muhr Arab Short MOE 8
PARADISE
(Mexico) 104mins. Romantic Comedy. Dir: Mariana Chenillo. Cast: Daniela Rincan, Andres Almeida, Camila Selser. Cinema of the World MOE 1
PARTICLE FEVER
(US) 99mins. Documentary. Dir: Mark Levinson. Cast: David E Kaplan, Nima Arkani-Hamed, Savas Dimopoulos, Monica Dunford, Fabiola Gianotti. Cinema of the World MOE 9
21:45 THE BIG HOUSE
(Yemen) 5mins. Docudrama. Dir: Musa Syeed. Cast: Yaseen Mansour. Arabian Nights MOE 10
HALF OF A YELLOW SUN
(UK, Nigeria) 109mins. Drama. Dir: Biyi Bandele. Cast: Thandie Newton, Chiwetel Ejiofor, John Boyega, Joseph Mawle, Anika Noni Rose. Cinema of Asia Africa MOE 2
SLIMANE
(Spain) 67mins. Drama. Dir: Jose A Alayan. Cast: Moha Kezza, Souilam El Maadari, Said Allal, Slimane Larhroti. Arabian Nights MOE 10
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 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
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December 11, 2013 Screen International at Dubai 15 n
FESTIVAL DIARY
brought to you by DIFF
The Lunchbox’s Dubai Film Connection Two business leaders from the emirate behind new wave of Indian film; working with director Ritesh Batra on his second film Tonight’s Indian gala film, THE LUNCHBOX, traces back a special link to Dubai. Two of the film’s producers, Arun Rangachari and Sunil John, are longtime residents and business leaders in the city, and are already working with the director Ritesh Batra on his second feature. Rangachari, chairman and CEO of Dar Capital Group, whose Dar Motion Pictures produced THE LUNCHBOX, described turning director Ritesh Batra’s script into a film as one of the easiest decisions he’d ever taken. “Dar is a four-and-ahalf-year-old production house in Mumbai and we’ve made about 10 films so far. We were in Cannes with four films [out of which THE LUNCHBOX and MONSOON SHOOTOUT are in this year’s DIFF programme]. I got into this business out of a love for cinema and a desire to make content-driven film without subsidising film. THE LUNCHBOX was clearly an Indian film for an international audience,” he said. Starring Irrfan Khan (LIFE OF PI, which opened DIFF 2012), the film had its world premiere at Cannes and won the Critics Week Viewers’ Choice Award. It was also screened at the Toronto International Film Festival and is at DIFF in the Muhr AsiaAfrica Feature competition. It was commercially released in India in September across more than 400 screens, where it collected more than USD3 million in the first three weeks of business. Sony Pictures Classics owns the North American rights for distribution. “Dar’s track record is enviable and it has an interesting portfolio. Big budget, heavyweight films, smaller, indie projects and even 3D horror,” said John, chief executive officer of ASDA’A Burson-Marsteller and partner and director at Dar Motion Pictures. “Ritesh’s script found us. It had already won several awards as a script, but at the time, big studios wouldn’t have touched it. For us, it was a calculated risk, since we were working with an off-beat subject and a first-time director,” he added. Dar now has its eyes set on the Middle East’s market. “We wanted to establish ourselves in India, which we’ve done and as we’ve lived and worked in Dubai for so long, we definitely want to do more out here. DIFF has done a lot to bring out great films to Dubai and I think it’s the right time to sustain that momentum throughout the year,” Rangachari said. Dar’s distribution arm bought THE LUNCHBOX’s Middle East rights and will release the film across the UAE’s screens later this month.
PROGRAMMERS’ PICKS STRAY DOGS Dir: Tsai Ming Liang STRAY DOGS highlights the hardships faced by an unemployed father and his two children as they wander the streets of modern-day Taipei.
THE MULBERRY HOUSE Dir: Sara Ishaq Things are changing in the Sana’a house when Sara returns to Yemen as she sets out redefining her relationship with her father and grandfather.
TODAY at 14:45 MoE 1
TODAY at 15:30 MoE 11
CHALLAT OF TUNIS Dir: Kaouther Ben Hania A moped rider prowls the streets of Tunis, razor blade in hand, with a mission: to slash the derrieres of women.
BEHIND THE FLICKERING LIGHT Dir: Hafiz Rancajale A tribute to Indonesian legend Haji Misbach Yusa Biran, the famous archivist who founded Southeast Asia’s first film archive – Sinematik Indonesia.
TODAY at 18:00 MT
TODAY at 21:00 MoE 6
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Broadcasting across various platforms Cinema and television may have once been competitors, but communication platforms today share a symbiotic relationship that is hard to ignore. To this end, the Dubai Film Market will host Broadcasters’ Day for the second consecutive year to provide a platform that encourages interaction between broadcasters and film-makers. Broadcasters’ Day, a Forum initiative, includes a line-up of panel discussions that discuss and explore pressing issues of the day such as piracy in the region, broadcasters’ support to filmmakers, VOD as well as talks on how buyers select films for their TV stations. “We want to give a space to promote collaboration among regional broadcasters, film-makers and international sales agents. As a film festival, we’re always looking for more opportunities for film-makers,” said Jane Williams, director of the Forum and Dubai Film Connection. She explained that the event, which had an extremely successful debut last year, offers broadcasters the opportunity to acquire films that are being produced in the region. “Ongoing discussions play a vital role in the production and financing of films.” With the key focus on the diversity of content viewing platforms, she said, “The world is expanding when it comes to TV and broadcasting in general. With so many people keeping up with the news in the region, television watching has gone through the roof. As a result, there has been a proliferation of channels and there is a desire for more content and more platforms. VOD is becoming essential and people understand this.”
BROADCASTERS DAY PANELS How to tackle piracy 09:30-10:30 Euromed Audiovisual and panelists from the MENA region will engage in an invigorating discussion on piracy and its impact in the Middle East and introduce new databases that may help in the fight against piracy. What are the broadcasters doing to support film? 11:00-12:00 Join panelists representing Arte Film, MipTV, MBC, Dubai One and Dan Films (UK) in what promises to be an insightful session that explores the need for increased support from broadcasters in promoting independent film. What are you buying? 12:30-13:00; 14:00-14:30 Two split sessions that will offer invaluable insights on what buyers consider when selecting non-Arab and Arab films for their stations. Speakers include representatives from OSN and Rotana Studios. VOD in the Arab world 15:00-16:00 A discussion with leading industry experts from MBC, My-HD, OSN and icflix on VOD in the region and whether there really is a market for these new platforms in the Arab world.
SEEN & HEARD: AHMED NOUR, WAVES “Not all documentaries are made for TV,” says Ahmed Nour, the Egyptian director of WAVES, a creative animation-documentary screening this year at the festival. “People have a certain image in the Arab world, based on what they’ve seen on television. When they get the chance to see a creative documentary, they think it’s fiction.” Zeina Sfeir, a Lebanese film-maker and film talent manager at DIFF, says that in cinema today, “there are no limits or borders between fiction and documentary.” When talking about WAVES, which focuses on the city of Suez in Egypt, she says, “What I liked about this movie is that it is a very personal story and then it
moves towards the biggest story of Egypt now. There is a sense of nostalgia here, reflected in the animated part of the film, where he uses child-like drawings to highlight his past. This is a piece of art that all people who like to watch nice films will enjoy.” Nour says that it’s essential to change the idea people have of documentaries. “Distributors just dismiss documentaries by saying ‘people don’t go to documentaries’ without even watching the film. They need to at least give it a chance.” WAVES is screening today at 16:15 MoE 10
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