Entertainment | Film & Cinema
Celebrate success
The electric atmosphere of the red carpet is set to bring the Emirates Palace to life again as the Middle East International Film Festival draws to a close.
- By Kelly Crane, Staff Reporter
- Published: 23:55 October 17, 2007
- Image Credit: Supplied picture
- Tommy Lee Jones in a scene from In The Valley of Elah.
The electric atmosphere of the red carpet is set to bring the Emirates Palace to life again as the Middle East International Film Festival draws to a close.
Academy Award-winning director Paul Haggis will grace the carpet, along with celebrity actors Jake McLaughlin and Frances Fisher - two of the stars from his latest offering, in the Valley of the Elah, which will close the festival tomorrow night.
First person
On March 5, 2006, Haggis became the first person in the history of the Academy Awards to write two back-to-back Best Picture Winners - Crash and the previous year's winner, Million Dollar Baby.
The closing night gala at MEIFF starts from 6pm with the official awards ceremony followed by the screening of In the Valley of Elah, starring Tommy Lee Jones, Charlize Theron, Susan Sarandon, Jake McLaughlin and Frances Fisher, among others.
After the film, guests will be directed to the palace terrace for a glamorous party including drinks, canapés, entertainment and fireworks.
Born in Ontario is 1953, Haggis, who has also been a guest speaker at the Film Financing Circle (FFC) - a separate branch of the festival looking at finance in the film industry in the Middle East and beyond - says he is looking forward to people from the region watching his latest film.
The plot follows model solider Mike Deerfield who is reported missing on his first weekend back after a stint in Iraq. When Hank Deerfield, a retired Army Sergeant, and his wife Joan get the call with the disturbing news they set about finding their son. Emily Saunders, a police detective in the jurisdiction where Mike was last seen, reluctantly helps him in his search. As the evidence grows, her missing person's case begins to look more and more like foul play.
It isn't long before Saunders finds herself in a fight with the military brass as she and Hank struggle to keep control of the investigation. But when the truth about Mike's time in Iraq finally begins to emerge, Hank's entire world is challenged and he's forced to re-evaluate long-held beliefs to solve the mystery behind his son's disappearance.
This thought-provoking drama, named after the location of the Biblical battle between David and Goliath, is beautifully executed in its search for meaning in the chaos of the Iraqi war.
Inspired by true events, it is based on the case of Specialist Richard R Davis, who returned from the war-torn nation four years ago and three months later was found dead with at least 33 stab wounds, his body soaked with lighter fluid and burned.
Paul Haggis
Crash, a movie Paul Haggis co-wrote, directed and produced, was nominated for six Academy Awards, and on that evening he took home both Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay Oscars. Just weeks prior, the cast of Crash won SAG's highest award for Best Ensemble, and Paul and Bobby Moresco won Writers' Guild, BAFTA and Critics' Choice Awards for Best Original Screenplay. Paul was also nominated for the Director's Guild Award, and the film received a number of other honours, including a Golden Globe nomination and the Grand Prize at the Deauville Film Festival. Upon its release in May 2005, Crash proved to be one of the very few independent hits of the year; with a $6.5 million (Dh23.8 million) budget, and to date has taken in over $55 million (Dh201 million) domestically.
Paul's career in film began in 2000, after years of success in TV, when he optioned the short story and wrote the script Million Dollar Baby on spec. Once Paul's producing partner got the script to Clint Eastwood, Million Dollar Baby became a reality. In 2004, Eastwood shot Paul's first draft without any changes, and less than a year after having first read the script, Million Dollar Baby was in theatres. The picture went on to win four Academy Awards.
Frances Fisher
Frances Fisher began her career by apprenticing at the Barter Theatre in Abingdon, Virginia. She spent 14 years based in New York City, playing leads in over 30 productions of plays by such noted writers as John Arden, Noel Coward, Emily Mann, Joe Orton, Sam Shepard, William Shakespeare, Jean Claude Van Italie, Eudora Welty and Tennessee Williams.
Awards
She won a Drama Desk Award - Best Ensemble for the American Premiere of Caryl Churchill's Three More Sleepless Nights, played in the American premiere of Judith Thompson's The Crackwalker and originated roles in Elia Kazan's The Chain and Arthur Miller's last play, Finishing the Picture.
Trivia
Paul Haggis was originally going to direct Million Dollar Baby (2004). He was in the middle of directing Crash when Clint Eastwood asked to direct the film after being offered the lead. Haggis agreed.
He had a heart attack during the filming of Crash. He returned to directing two weeks after the event. Haggis moved to LA aged 22.
He was nominated for an Oscar for writing three years in a row: 2005, 2006, and 2007.
Get involved
Tickets to the closing night celebrations and screening are available online at www.meiff.com or at the main box office at Emirates Palace Hotel.
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