We should consider ourselves lucky, the UAE hosts a number of different film festivals each year. However, unlike some of the more well-known ones, the Gulf Film Festival focuses much more on local talent and looks almost exclusively at movies made in or about the Gulf. As a result, there are no plush or pricey gala showings – all of the film screenings are free and open to the public. Because of this, as well as the lack of superstar limelight, it is the films themselves that shine the brightest.
The Gulf Film Festival arrives in Abu Dhabi this Thursday, kicking off a weekend of brave new regional cinema and best of all, it’s free to everyone.
The best in professional and student cinema from the Gulf nations, Iraq and Yemen, as well as a selection of the world’s finest short and children’s films will be screened, free for the public, in the UAE capital, thanks to a new partnership between the Sultan Bin Zayed Centre for Media & Culture and the Gulf Film Festival.
The Festival, the home of bold, innovative and experimental cinema from the Gulf will unspool at the Abu Dhabi Theatre until Saturday April 14. The weekend of documentaries, features and shorts marks the first time the five-year-old Dubai-based Festival will run simultaneously in multiple Gulf cities, and its first foray into the UAE capital Abu Dhabi.
‘This is where you come to be taken into the filmmakers’ homes,’ says GFF PR manager Mildred Fernandes.
‘GFF is extremely bold and brave. We give the filmmakers the space to show what they want. Here it’s less about quality of production and more about what the filmmakers are trying to say. You have Emirati filmmakers dealing with things you’d never expect. You see the region through the eyes of its people, and it’s completely not what you’d expect.’
‘There is a much friendlier atmosphere at GFF – there’s no real competitiveness,’ adds Fernandes. ‘This is the only platform that filmmakers from this region have, the only chance to get their films seen and to meet other filmmakers.’
Despite the low-key nature of GFF, it’s still an internationally recognised festival that attracts media from across the region, and sometimes further afield. Screenings are split into six competitions, with awards for best local feature, short and documentary, best student short and documentary, and an international competition – yet for most filmmakers the honour is simply appearing.
The Abu Dhabi showcase will open on Thursday night with Tora Bora, a Kuwaiti feature film by director Walid Al Awadi that revolves around a brainwashed young man’s decision to join extremist forces in Afghanistan, and his parents’ agonized search for him. The film will also launch the festival in Dubai.
Tora Bora, which is competing in the Festival’s Gulf competition, is one of six Kuwaiti films shortlisted for the fifth Gulf Film Festival. The film, which debuted at the Cannes Film Market and screened to critical acclaim in Kuwait, will make its UAE premiere at the Festival.
The Festival will also screen between 50 and 80 films in Abu Dhabi, from those shortlisted for its Gulf competition, Gulf student competition and also out of competition segments.
Qatar
The science fiction flick Lockdown by Mohammed Al Ibrahim and Ahmed Al Baker, is the story of Mishal and Rashid, whose road trip goes awry when they encounter a group of zombies. Awesome.
A Falcon, A Revolution by students Jassim Al Romaihi and Md Rezwan Al Islam, previously won the Best Film Made in Qatar at the Doha Tribeca Film Festival 2011, and the third place for Promising Filmmakers at the Al Jazeera International Documentary Film Festival 2011. The docudrama narrates the experience of the Egyptian revolution through the eyes of a Bedouin who speaks of how falcons and governments are similar, his philosophy being that ‘if you keep them in check, they will do what they are supposed to do, if you let them misbehave, they will’.
Oman
The film Carefully Selected Oranges by Abdullah Khamis, tells the story of a middle-aged crippled father who buys carefully selected oranges for his children. As he waits to cross the road, there’s an unexpected twist to the tale.
Panda, directed by Jassim Al Nofaly and an Oman-Kuwait co-production, follows husband to be Ziad, who is getting married in a few hours and has to bid farewell to the most important thing in his life: the panda that has been his lifelong companion.
Saudi Arabia
One Man’s Tricycle, directed by award-winning filmmaker Fahmi Farouk Farahat, is a documentary about Dr. Hosam Almulhim, who trades his car for a human powered vehicle as his daily mode of transportation.
KSA In Their Eyes by Khalil Nabelsi documents the experiences and aspirations of five foreigners from different nations and cultures who live in Saudi Arabia.
Kuwait
Wonderland A True Story, a multiple-award winning short by Kuwait’s Dana Al Mojil will compete in the Festival’s shorts competition. An adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland set in Kuwait, the adventure fantasy highlights the similarities between the social and political situation in modern Kuwait and in the fictional Wonderland.
I Wish We Were Dancers by Mohammed Walid Ayyad, is a silent film that is also a celebration of grace, portraying the life of a girl with multiple sclerosis who is confined to a wheelchair but nonetheless has vivid dreams of becoming a ballerina.
Bahrain
Gouli Ya Helou is a docudrama by Mohamed Janahi about a blind poverty-stricken musician, whose life is being researched by a young university student. Mohammed Jassim’s experimental movie, The Last Drop of Oil follows the trail of a man who conserved a barrel of oil a long time ago. He recalls the place where he hid it but is surprised to find that it is empty.
UAE cinema
Here are some films to look forward to from the UAE:
Hani Kichi’s The Legend, follows what happens when a mermaid falls victim to her own curiosity and breaks the ultimate law of the sea.
Sarah Alagroobi’s The Forbidden Fruit looks at the lives of two young Emiratis who go out of their way to enjoy a Westernised lifestyle, far removed from traditions, only to face an unexpected predicament.
Hani Al Shaibani’s Rahma’s Heaven, a drama that follows Ousha, who in her last days is looking for a solution to the problem of her disabled daughter.
Luay Fadhil’s Record takes place at a bus station, and revolves around the conversation between a suicide bomber and a victim to be.
Moustafa Zakaria’s allegorical fable Pillars follows a divorced couple who try to deal with change: he tries to restore his self-worth after realizing his failings while she is
determined to move forward after realizing she has a purpose.
An intense psychological drama, The Grave by Ebrahim Al Rasbi also makes its world premiere at GFF. The film is about a young man who must battle a psychological trauma as he is forced to carry food for patients who suffer from an infectious disease, until the inevitable happens.
Faisal Al Moosa’s The Skipping, meanwhile, is a comedy about a group of boys who decide to skip school, which triggers a series of surprising events – including the president getting involved.
The guilt of crime unintentionally committed is the theme of Death Circle, a powerful short by Tariq Alkazim and another world premiere. A mentally ill boy and his brother go hunting; the expedition takes a rather unexpected turn when they kill a man accidentally. Shell-shocked and wanting to hide the crime, they decide to bury the body but things happen which test the two boys.
Films from Iraq and Yemen
Ja’far Abd al-Hamid’s feature film Mesocafe, also in competition, explores the life of an Iraqi underground blogger who travels to London to campaign against UN sanctions on his country and highlight their consequences on the nation.
Cassette also looks at something seldom examined – the minds of Iraqi soldiers. After charting how they react to the strife around them, Melak Abd Ali Mnahi’s short film transfers the pain onto the canvas of a painter, and weaves dreams of a new life.
Hidden Fences, a short documentary by Samer Alnamri, explores the lives of a marginalised people who face discrimination and are victims of violence. Their plight, often unknown to the world and seldom discussed in any developmental forums, is presented from the perspective of a Yemeni writer, who portrays their lives in his novel.
For more details on the screening schedule for the Gulf Film Festival in Abu Dhabi, visit gulffilmfest.com or timeoutabudhabi.com. Opening night is invitation only – please contact Time Out Abu Dhabi for info on how to get your invitations. All other films are free and open to the public; all non-English films are subtitled in English.
