Entertainment | Film & Cinema
'The film festival will become huge'
Foreign journalists covering DIFF are impressed with the second edition of the event, saying it is fast becoming one of the most important movie gatherings of the Middle East and Asia.
- By Daniel Bardsley, Staff Reporter
- Published: 23:31 May 3, 2009
Overseas journalists covering the second Dubai International Film Festival have said the event is fast becoming one of the most important movie gatherings of the Middle East and Asia.
However, some doubt whether it will ever be able to rival such longer-established film festivals as Cannes and Toronto.
Ashley Ratnavibhushana, editor of Sri Lankan film quarterly Cinesith and president of the Sri Lanka Film Critics Forum, said the festival was "hugely important in the Middle East because this region does not have many film festivals".
He said: "After two or three more years this will become one of the major festivals in Asia and the Middle East."
He added that it was important that people from all of Dubai's expatriate groups were encouraged to attend film showings.
"There are some Sri Lankan films, but although there are many Sri Lankans in Dubai, I think only a few of them are coming to see the films in the festival," he said.
Really interested
Elizabeth Drachman, an American working for the Los Angeles-based Hollywood Reporter, said she was impressed that so many films about Arabs and made by Arabs were being shown.
"They are not really interested in the Western perspective on Arabs which is great - why should they be?" she said.
However, she criticised organisers for choosing to show some films that are several years old.
She added that it would be tough for DIFF to become a truly global event as it was based in a region where filmmakers are said to have less freedom than they do in other parts of the world.
"I think however that the festival could certainly become huge in the Arab world because it's in Dubai and Dubai knows how to promote itself," she said.
Big stars
Sherif Awad, an Egyptian who is film editor of Egypt Today, said he thought DIFF was attracting bigger Hollywood stars than the long-established film festival in Cairo.
"Here they have some very good contemporary stars but in Cairo it tends to be veteran and retired actors," he said.
He added that if a strong film industry develops in Dubai then the festival will grow significantly as it will then become a place for producers, directors and other film industry big-hitters to strike deals each year.
Not propaganda
Jack Roberts, a London-based freelance journalist who is writing for a UK magazine, said: "The organisers have done a good job of selecting films that don't fall into the trap of being propaganda."
Ashok Motwani, managing editor of US and Indian-based Diaspora News Network, said it was difficult to judge how well the festival was doing in only its second year.
"You have to wait five years before you can tell if they are going to get into the big league. Certainly the films they are showing here this year is impressive," he said.
A selection of review will be printed in Tabloid. write2tabloid@gulfnews.com |
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