All eyes on are on Abu Dhabi as a host of celebrities, film veterans, directors and producers from around the world descend on the city for the second annual Middle East International Film Festival (MEIFF) which began on Friday.
The red carpet is being rolled out and the anticipation is rising for fans, film enthusiasts and the curious who are all hoping to catch a glimpse of the many A-listers scheduled to make an appearance at the 10-day festival.
Held at the Emirates Palace Hotel until October 19, the event kicks off with a glitzy opening night gala ceremony with a screening of The Brothers Bloom directed by Rian Johnson and starring Adrien Brody who is confirmed to walk the red carpet on his first visit to the UAE.
Esteemed American director and choreographer Otis Sallid, who choreographed the 69th Annual Academy Awards in 1996, was putting the finishing touches on the opening and closing night stage performances as tabloid! went to print.
Lee who was expected to appear at the festival, returned home early yesterday for a family emergency.
Sallid's work in the Spike Lee films School Daze, Do The Right Thing and Malcolm X positioned him amongst the most notable producer/director/choreographers.
Competition sections include world premiere screenings and highlight up-and-coming films making a splash on the festival scene.
MEIFF is a celebration of cinema, dedicated to bringing a diverse slate of international films to the local community and to introducing filmmakers from around the world to the region.
The stars:
An array of celebrities are confirmed for the event including Sir Ben Kingsley who will attend the special presentation screening of the award-winning film Ghandi on Saturday, October 11 at 1.30pm at Emirates Palace Hotel.
The film, which has been dubbed into Arabic will have its first local premiere at an international film festival giving the dubbed film global outreach.
Directed by Sir Richard Attenborough, Ghandi was a critical and box-office success when it made its original worldwide debut in 1982 - winning eight Oscars at the 1983 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Leading Actor and Best Director.
Sir Ben is one of the few men to have won all four major motion picture awards, with Academy Award, Bafta Award, Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild Award wins throughout his career. He was named a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2000 and was knighted in the 2001 New Years Honours list.
An all-female power quartet of Susan Saradon, Jane Fonda, Catherine Deneuve and Yusra will join Laila Alawi for the Cinema Verite/MEIFF 2008 panels to be held on October 14 and 15 concentrating on socially conscious cinema.
The Insitute Cinema Verite is in an exhibition/screening space dedicated to social and humanitarian issues, located in Paris near the Opera Bastille and helps finance socially conscious films on a yearly basis.
Other red carpet A-listers include Antonio Banderas, Melanie Griffith and Adrien Brody. Emirati stars and arab stars, who will rub shoulders with the big Hollywood players, include Samira Ahmad, Ahmad Al Jasmi, Bilal Abdullah, Dr Habib Guloum and Ashjan, as well as Yusra, Elham Shaheen, Hussain Fahmy, Kahled Saleh, Jamal Soliman, Sherif Munir, Hala Sedki, Fat'hi Abdul Wahab, Latifa, Saloom Haddad, Libliba, Khaled Al Nabawy and Safeya Al Emary, Mohammad Heneidi, Solaf Fawakhirji, Haifa Hussain, Sa'ad Al Faraj, Abdul Hussain Abdul Rida, Dawood Hussain and Duraid Lahham.
The films:
The Wackness
Luke Shapiro wants to beat depression and connect with a member of the opposite sex before moving on to college.
Fortunately, he is able to strike a deal with a psychiatrist (Ben Kingsley), who trades him therapy sessions for drugs. The film won an audience award at Sundance Film Festival this year.
A Christmas Tale
Junon (Catherine Deneuve) and Abel (Jean-Paul Roussillon) are parents of three grown-up children, and when Junon is diagnosed with the same cancer that killed their first-born Joseph at the age of seven, the family is forced to come together to find a donor.
Un Conte de Noël was chosen for the Sélection officielle at Cannes this year.
Maradona
Maradona is a vibrant, free form documentary celebrating the life of Argentinean football star Diego Maradona. Directed by two-time Palm d'Or winning filmmaker Emir Kusturica, the film uses archival footage of political rallies and Maradona's most famous goals in tandem with home movies and new animation to discuss a range of topics.
Miracle at St Anna
Chronicles the story of four black American soldiers who are members of the US Army as part of the all-black 92nd Buffalo Soldier Division in Tuscany, Italy during World War II.
Directed by Spike Lee, the film explores a deeply inspiring, powerful story drawn from true history, that transcends national boundaries, race and class.
Easy Virtue
An American woman (Jessica Biel) with a failed marriage under her belt and an Englishman (Ben Barnes) get swept up in a whirlwind romance in the South of France that ends with a shotgun wedding.
The consequences come when they travel to Britain to face his family, headed by Colin Firth and Kristin Scott Thomas. Stephan Elliot adapts and directs the Noël Coward play.
Middle of Nowhere
Dorian (Anton Yelchin), a restless troublemaker, is shipped off by his foster parents to the small-town home of his uncle for the summer.
Grace, brainy and strong willed discovers that her selfish mother, Rhonda (Susan Sarandon), has decided to invest in her younger sister Taylor's future as a teen beauty queen, rather than Grace's as a medical student.
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Just as New York City was the backdrop in Woody Allen's Manhattan, Barcelona is the setting for the romantic adventures of Vicky and Cristina.
These two young Americans spend a summer in Spain and meet a flamboyant artist (Javier Bardem) and his beautiful but insane ex-wife (Penelope Cruz).
Vicky (Rebecca Hall) is straight-laced and about to be married. Cristina (Scarlett Johansson) is a sexually adventurous free spirit. When they all become amorously entangled, the results can only be described as chaotic.
Discussions and workshops
Tuesday, October 14, 4.30pm, Emirates Palace Auditorium
Spotlight on Lebanon with Catherine Deneuve and the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) followed by a debate about humanitarian concerns in Lebanon.
Catherine Deneuve will speak about her experience in Lebanon while filming Je Veux Voir directed by Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige.
Host of the debate: Joel Soler, Founding President, Cinéma Vérité Institute
Wednesday, October 15, 3pm, Emirates Palace Auditorium
Spotlight on Women with Susan Sarandon, screening of Shape of Water followed by a debate on Reel Women Power.
Participants: Majida Abdi (Producer), Yamina Benguigui (French-Algerian director and Deputy Mayor of Paris responsible for Human Rights), Director Kum Kum Bhavnani, Carole Bouquet (French actress, social activist), Lisbeth Savill (entertainment lawyer), Laila Ulwi (Egyptian actress), Yousra (Egyptian actress).
Ceremony Cinema Verite/MEIFF 2008, 9.30pm, Emirates Palace Auditorium
Ceremony dedicated to intercultural understanding including the Cinema Verite/MEIFF Lifetime Achievement Award to actress and activist Jane Fonda
Participants: Jane Fonda, Carole Bouquet (French actress, social activist), Yamina Benguigui (French-Algerian director and Deputy Mayor of Paris responsible for Human Rights), Susan Sarandon.
Monday October 13, 10am, Emirates Palace Conference Hall
Panel on the book Cinema and Television After 11 September
Moderated by the book's translator Thaer Deeb
Sunday, October 19, 11am, Emirates Palace Conference Hall
Special Conference on 60 Years Since the Division of Palestine moderated by Kais Al-Zubaidi with the participation of filmmakers whose films were screened in the Palestinian Retrospective on the division.
Sunday, October 19, 12.15pm, Emirates Palace
Q+A with Paul Schrader and short film filmmakers
The gala screenings
The Brothers Bloom: Friday, October 10, 8.30pm, Emirates Palace Hotel
Orphan Brothers, Stephen (Mark Ruffalo) and Bloom (Adrien Brody) were mentored into highly skilled con men and have established the working formula.
Even through their success Bloom wants out, but Stephen talks him into one more job. Their mark is an innocent, lonely New Jersey heiress named Penelope (Rachel Weisz); the mission is to get her to invest in a scheme involving smugglers, antiquarian books and cave chambers under Prague Castle.
Body of Lies: Sunday, October 19, 7pm, Emirates Palace Hotel
Roger Ferris (Leonardo DiCaprio) is the best man US Intelligence has on the ground. In operations that take him around the globe from the Middle East to Washington, Ferris' next breath often depends on one person - CIA veteran Ed Hoffmon (Russell Crowe). To lure a terrorist out into the open, Ferris will have to penetrate his murky world.
The extras:
Youssef Chahine (1926-2008) Exhibition - Saturday October 11, 2pm, Emirates Palace Gallery
MEIFF honours one of the greatest Arab directors of all time, Youssef Chahine, with an exhibition of his life in photographs.
The Egyptian director, who passed away in Cairo in July, directed more than 40 films over the course of his career, making him a leading voice of Arabic cinema for more than half a century.
The exhibition is comprised of 100 rare photos and artifacts. A number of stars who worked with Chahine over his prolific career are expected to attend the exhibition's opening as well as his niece, filmmaker Marian Khoury and nephew, Gabi Khoury, manager of his production company.
Tickets:
Although the tickets are either free or just Dh10, don't be fooled as all guests MUST still pick up a paper ticket before watching any screening at all venues.
Get your tickets online, by phone or in person. Call 02–6815270 from 12noon to 10pm daily or order online at www.meiff.com
