Florence Pia G. Yu, News Editor - Web
Ang Babaeng Humayo (The Woman Who Left)
Genre: Drama
Showtime: December 9, 8.45pm, at Mall of the Emirates.
“Director Lav Diaz’s film about a woman’s quest for revenge after being framed for a crime recently won the Golden Lion prize at the Venice film festival, plus it stars two of the Philippines best actors: John Lloyd Cruz and Charo Santos.”
The Road to Mandalay
Genre: Drama
Showtime: December 9, 2.42pm, at Mall of the Emirates.
“Nope, this one isn’t about Rudyard Kipling’s poem or boxing, but it promises to be just as gripping. I can’t wait to find out what happens to the two immigrants who fall in love in the Thai capital.”
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
Genre: Action
Showtime: December 14, 8pm, at Madinat Arena.
“Star Wars, a band of rebels hatching a plan to steal the first Death Star and in 3D! This is a film spin-off instalment of the Star Wars saga that I just can’t miss.”
Manjari Saxena, Deputy tabloid! Editor
Only Men Go To The Grave
Genre: Drama, Muhr Emirati
Showtime: December 10, 10.30pm, at Madinat Theatre; December 12, 10.15pm, at Mall of the Emirates.
“You’ll get involved with a blind woman’s estranged daughters as they struggle not only to deal with her sudden death but also to unravel the secret she died with. You’ll learn not just about the lives of the women in the post Iraq-Iran war era but watch buried family tensions rise to the surface as the girls start to question everything about their mother’s life.”
The Cinema Travellers
Genre: Creative documentary
Showtime: December 11, 9.15pm, Mall of the Emirates; December 12, 2.30pm, at Mall of the Emirates.
“Shirley Abraham and Amit Madheshiya’s documentary explores the age-old tradition of roaming cinemas, when tents were pitched in remote villages of India, specifically the western state of Maharashtra in this case, and how the release of a new film in the village would become a grand affair for the dwellers. I’m sure what will capture the viewers’ interest is not just the ‘stuck-in-time’ quality but also the enthralled faces of the moviegoers in the film, the ancient equipment and make-shift screens, often just a piece of dirty white cloth.”
House Without Roof
Genre: Drama
Showtime: December 12, 9.30pm, Mall of the Emirates; December 14, 2pm, at Mall of the Emirates.
“Partake in the nerve-wracking journey of three siblings who were born in Kurdish Iraq but raised in Germany and need to return to their ancestral village to bury their mother next to their father, who was killed during the war. The film is an emotional journey about connections between the three siblings as well as their extended Kurdish family. Alan, Jan and Liya are forced to explore their homeland and their identity, all while discovering themselves.”
Marwa Hamad, Staff Reporter
A Monster Calls
Genre: Fantasy, drama
Showtime: December 11, 9.30pm, at Madina Arena.
“Oh man, what’s not to love here? Fantasy! Monsters! Childhood angst! A kid tries to deal with his mother’s terminal illness — and a school bully — by calling on a massive humanoid yew tree, voiced by none other than Liam Neeson. I’ve got the tissues ready.”
The Worthy
Genre: Thriller
Showtime: December 9, 6pm, at Madinat Arena; December 12, 6.15pm, at Mall of the Emirates.
“I’ve been following Ali Mostafa’s career over the past few years and I thoroughly enjoyed 2015’s From A to B, a dramedy road trip flick interspersed with sobering doses of reality. It’ll be interesting to see him take on a completely new genre with The Worthy, a post-apocalyptic, Arabic-language thriller about the survival of the fittest.”
One More Time with Feeling
Genre: Documentary
Showtime: December 9, 6.15pm, Mall of the Emirates; December 14, 8.45pm, at Mall of the Emirates.
“Art as a form of healing is an incredibly personal and interesting concept to me. Nick Cave, an Australian musician, tragically lost his 15-year-old son last year after he fell from a cliff. Cave was in the middle of recording an album called Skeleton Tree at the time. This documentary, shot over the course of 10 days, picks up from there.”
Don’t miss it!
Diff runs from December 7 to 14. For tickets and schedules, go to diff.ae.
