Muscat: Ninety countries will have entries in the Muscat International Film Festival (MIFF) but Dr Khalid Al Zadjali, Chairman of the Oman Film Society (OFS), rues lack of full-fledged government support.

“We get only 20 per cent of the cost of the MIFF from government. The rest we raise with our individual efforts,” he said during a media briefing to announce the seventh edition of the festival which will be held from March 24-31.

To question he said the government was aware of the growing interest in cinema in the country. “No one seems to be concerned. We need a person in the government who would care for cinema as an art.

He urged the government to support in creating a centre for making films. “First the government will have to come forward with the support then only we can go to the private sector,” he said in reply to another question.

He further said that even the cinema hall owners and exhibitors don’t support the festival. “We pay rent for each cinema screened for the festival at local cinema halls.”
However, he enthused that the festival had grown in stature. “We had a total audience of 600 for the first edition. Now we have over 10,000 coming for the entire festival,” he pointed out.

This year, a retrospective will be held on Sir David Lean, who is best remembered for big screen epics such as ‘The Bridge on the River Kwai’, ‘Lawrence of Arabia’, ‘Doctor Zhivago’ and ‘A Passage to India’. “We will have Omar Sharif and Victor Banerjee, who have acted in Sir Lean’s films lending their insight into the glorious past and revealing nuggets of information of a bygone golden film era,” said Dr Zadjali.

The opening and closing ceremonies of the festival will be held at the Grand Hall of the Sultan Qaboos University (SQU).

Dr Zadjali noted that around 90 countries including the US, the UK, France, Japan, China, India, Egypt, Morocco, Syria, Egypt, Iran, are participating and over 20 film personalities from Hollywood, Hindi and Malayalam film industries and the Arab World will be honoured.

Stand-up comedian and well-known Korean TV personality, Wonho Chong, who is fluent in five languages, including both English and Arabic, will host both the opening and closing ceremonies and the red carpet events.

“We will be honouring Hayat Al Fahad (a Gulf-based actress), Hameedo (Moroccan star), Shaikh Abdullah Bin Shuwain Al Hosni (Oman), he added.

He said that the organisers have also invited the Egyptian star Najla Fateh and are
awaiting her confirmation.

“From India, we have Mohan Lal (Malayalam movie star) and popular directors Priyadarshan and Major Ravi. We will also be bringing Dhanush (current young singing sensation and actor from the South),” he said.

He also pointed out that the MIFF also aimed at enhancing and encouraging the existing local (domestic) filmmakers. As part of this, the Oman Film Meet (a group of Omani filmmakers) which has entered its sixth year in existence will be merged with this year’s MIFF.

“It will be a part of the festival, and it will serve in bringing together local filmmakers, showcasing local talents, which will help of assistance to the filmmakers,” he said.
Nancy Ajram (Arab singing sensation), Tito Seif (belly dancer), Lucky Ali (Hindi soul singer), Sivamani (Indian percussionist), Isha Sharvani and Daksha Seth dance troupe, Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia (flautist from India), Salah Al Zadjali (Omani singer), the Malaysian dancer Ramli Ibrahim and the Sutra Group, plus dance performances from the Medo Group, will be some of the highlights of the live performances during the Festival.

Meanwhile, he also gave details of the second Omani feature film, Aseel, which will be unveiled at a special screening for diplomats.