Dubai: Humanising the stories of the Middle East through film will help bring peace to the region, according to Queen Noor Al Hussain, who is a member of the Cultural Bridge panel at this year's Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF).
"Cinema is like so many other tools at our disposal," she told Gulf News. "It can be used for good and it can be used for evil and I've seen it used for both. Having spent time in the Balkans, Africa and of course the Middle East I have seen communities suffer where media was used to stir up hatred. But I've also seen it do such good and we need more of that. We haven't seen enough of the humanising impact of cinema and that is what will make a difference."
The widow of the late King Hussain of Jordan was in Dubai to join Julia Bacha, director of Sunday's Cultural Bridge gala film Budrus, Hollywood producer Mike Medavoy and MIT Professor Rebecca Saxe, to head the annual panel, which followed a screening of Budrus, a documentary examining non-violent protest in Palestine.
Queen Noor plays an active role in promoting international understanding of Arab and Muslim culture and politics and relations with the West.
- Full interview in tabloid! tomorrow
