Abu Dhabi needs this festival. The Abu Dhabi Athority for Culture and Heritage was recently screening films like Norbit and Mr Bean, while at the cinemas the limited (and censored) schedule included films that had gone straight to DVD in most other countries. If Saadiyat Island is set to become a centre for culture with a Louvre, a Guggenheim and Maritime museum, it seems a glaring omission that the best Abu Dhabi is able to do with the most popular art form on the planet is screenings of Eddie Murphy in a fat suit and Rowan Atkinson falling over. But that’s all about to change. In fact, the Middle East International Film Festival is about much more than just showing films that we might otherwise struggle to see. ‘It’s part of a greater goal for Abu Dhabi and the Authority for Culture and Heritage of supporting the arts and cinema,’ explains festival director Jon Fitzgerald. ‘There is a focus on discovery and fostering emerging talent.’
The New York Film Academy is set to open a flagship branch in Abu Dhabi in January next year, but this festival will mark the start of a serious film-making ambition for the capital, most notably through the InCircle Pearl Grant. The initiative means a major film will be born out of this festival, with 100 submissions from over 25 countries having been narrowed down to a group of film-makers with their idea ready to pitch to the visiting experts. The winner will have their project funded and Adrienne Briggs, the conference director, told Time Out that there is no set limit on the cash they’ll inject. It is hoped that the grant will expose emerging talent to high-level industry decision makers and facilitate financing for talented film-makers from around the world.
‘Pitch programmes and helping to finance the winner are unique opportunities, and the level of support is astonishing,’ Jon says. ‘There are over 3,000 film festivals now and it’s really important to set yourself apart, and I think these prizes and the idea of the film financing circle are extraordinary – I’ve never seen anything like that. There are major players coming over to share their wisdom and help to educate the local audiences and financial communities in the region. You have panel discussion, workshops and so on at other festivals, but we’ve developed a unique model.’
The major players include David M. Thompson, the head of BBC films and Michael Ryan, the co-chairman of Handmade Films, as well as attorneys, financiers, agents, distributors and bankers. Organisers have said there is another ‘very big name’ joining, but were keeping his identity under wraps at the time of going to press.
Significantly, this month also sees the release of The Kingdom, the Jamie Foxx thriller that was partly filmed in Abu Dhabi (doubling as Saudi Arabia), and although there are disappointing rumours that it may not get a release in this country due to its political nature – or may have scenes cut as Syriana did – it is nevertheless another endorsement from Hollywood. The UAE is more than on their radar as a filming location, and soon as a talent base as well.
‘One of the reasons that the film commission is going to have an impact is because this region is getting the attention of Hollywood,’ emphasises Jon. ‘There’s a lot of talent here and a lot of room for growth. There are also a lot of resources, so you take the interest in talent, the resources to develop that talent, and you bring in the professionals and put them together, and a film festival is a great place to anchor that. I see the festival as the central piece of all the other elements, be it the commission, funding or the film school that will soon be out here. We really want to support emerging directors and find the next Quentin Tarantino, Steven Soderbergh or Marc Forster. It’s important to the region and to the festival. We’re supporting cinema and we can really help to build a cinema industry here.’
While the slew of Vietnam War films saw places like the Philippines (Apocalypse Now, Platoon, Hamburger Hill, Born Of The Fourth Of July) and Thailand (The Deer Hunter, Good Morning Vietnam) being utilised as alternative locations to Vietnam itself, so the UAE is a perfect setting for desert-based movies. It’s safe, there are tax incentives, five star hotels for the talent and desert on the doorstep. In fact, Time Out was told that the 35 VIPs who will be panellists will be taken out to the desert and shown locations that could be used for future film production, including the dunes at Liwa.
In the short-term, however, it will simply be great news for film fans. Over 700 films have been narrowed down to 50 that will be screened during the week, from blockbusters to shorts. ‘We’re trying to present a diverse slate of films,’ Jon assures us. ‘This is a community that hasn’t had an international film festival before, and you go to the cinema here and there aren’t a lot of subtitled films playing from other countries, so there is an educational aspect too.’ The fact that every film showing on general release here is subtitled (in Arabic) and from another country in a strange way actually proves, rather than disproves, his point – because the films on general release in the UAE are nearly all mainstream, American, done-by-numbers movies.
MEIFF hopes to bring something a little bit more to the table. ‘We’re showing films that we know will be crowd pleasers and some lighter fare as well as films that would be considered art house,’ says Fitzgerald. ‘We want a diverse slate of film, because there’s such a diverse audience here, so there’s something for everyone.’ And when asked if they will all be shown in their correct state and not censored in any way, Jon frowns and replies ‘Yes, absolutely,’ as if it wouldn’t be any other way. ‘We’re not going to ask anyone to change or cut their movie, we’d never do that. We rate each film on the direction, the story, the acting, the production values and thinking of it in terms of our section layout.’
It’s hoped that MEIFF can have a positive knock-on effect on regular cinema in the city. Although that may take some time, if recent events are an indicator. Distributors have told Time Out that in the past they have had access to some great films but feared that nobody would come to watch them as the film market in UAE is centred around the low-brow and lots of CGI. Jon believes a festival can help change the mindset.
‘What a film festival can do to a community, especially one that doesn’t have an art house presence, is to teach about the positive nature of foreign cinema,’ he says. ‘If we’re seeing 90 per cent Hollywood movies in the cinema in Abu Dhabi now, then that’s because it’s all they’re getting. But if a festival comes into town and brings all these films from all over the world, and somebody comes to see a movie and they enjoy it and experience another culture or a new art form and like it, then perhaps the cinemas will be affected by that. Film festivals bring movies to places that otherwise wouldn’t find distribution.’
Those who’ve been to the Dubai International Film Festival only have to listen to the chattering voices at the buffet table to hear two common themes of conversation: how amazing Dubai is, and then who’s working with whom on new projects. The festival succeeds on two scores – as a successful promotional tool for tourism and as a significant meeting place for those in the industry. The latter is the most important one, as the UAE is fast becoming a player in the film industry, but for now it looks set to be a great week of viewing.
Abu Dhabi, meet Hollywood – this could be the start of a beautiful friendship.
