A high five for the Gulf Film Festival

As the curtains came down on the fifth Gulf Film Festival on Monday night with a glittering award ceremony at the Crowne Plaza, Dubai Festival City, experts praised the quality of entries and hoped for greater diversity in themes in future editions.

"There has been impressive participation from across the Gulf region," said jury member Jamal Mattar of the entries to the festival, which aims to promote cinema in the Gulf. "Compared with the past years, there has been a strong improvement in the quality of the movies and the scripts."

Prizes and awards worth over half a million dirhams were presented by Shaikh Mansour Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, in categories including International Competition — Shorts, Gulf Competition Students — Shorts, Official Gulf Competition — Shorts, and Official Gulf Competition — Feature.

Best Director, Best Feature

Iraqi director Akram Hidou's Halabja — The Lost Children, about a man returning to Iraq after 21 years in search of his family, won the Best Director and Best Feature in the Official Gulf Feature category.

"As long as the film conveys what I wanted it to and touches the audience, I am happy. The award is secondary," Hidou said after the ceremony.

Estonian director Ulo Pikkov won the Best Director for his movie Keha Malu (Body Memory) in the Official International Shorts Competition.

"This is totally unexpected for me and it feels really nice. This is the most important award for me as it will give me the courage and determination to continue working on future projects," he said.

First timer

Another first timer at the GFF was Rezgar Hussain whose movie Paysikl (Bicycle) is about a poor boy who dreams of owning a bicycle and sells scrap metal to save for it.

Paysikl won two awards for Best Script and Best Short Film in the Official Gulf Shorts competition. "This feeling is totally new for me. It was very hard to make the movie as we had to train the children for 15 days with the script but it was well worth the effort," Hussain said.

Kuwaiti film Tora Bora, about a young man's struggle with extremism and his opposing family, which opened the festival, also won two awards at the ceremony — a Special Jury Prize in the Official Gulf Features competition and Special Mention for actor Kais Nashef.

"We got the opening night as well as the closing. We got two awards here for the movie and the fact that Tora Bora was the opening film of the festival makes it three awards for us," said director Walid Al Awadi.

At the award ceremony, attended by Arab and Gulf film celebrities, a special recognition was given to veteran Kuwaiti actor Sa'ad Al Faraj.

The six-day festival saw 155 films from more than 40 countries, including 39 films from the Cherries of Kiarostami programme, a result of the 10-day masterclass conducted by renowned Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami last year.

Complete list of winners

New York Film Academy Abu Dhabi Aspiring Filmmaker Award:
Eman Al Suwaidi
Aisha Abdullah

Official Gulf Student Shorts Competition:
Best Emerging Talent: Fatima Abdullah Al Nayeh for Rithath Al Hayat

Best Director
Melak Abd Ali Mnahi for Cassette

Second Prize
Sabr Al Melh produced and directed by Mohammad Ebrahim

Third Prize
Dhahirat Al Qamboa'a produced by Abdul Rahman Al Madani

Special Jury Prize
Smile Again, produced and directed by Hashem Al Efari

Best Short Film
En Let Brise, produced and directed by Rania M. Tawfik

Official International Shorts Competition
Best Director Ulo Pikkov for Keha Malu

Second Prize
A Fábrica, produced by Antonio Junior and directed by Alysson Muritiba

Special Jury Prize
Al Hesab, produced by Hala Galal and directed by Omar Khalid

Best Short Film
Sedaye Baran, produced and directed by Jalal Saedpanah

Official Gulf Shorts Competition
Special Mention: Lamha directed by Nayla Al Khaja
Special Mention: Al Arabana directed by Hadi Mahoud
Special Mention: Sogha for her role in Jannat Rahma directed by Hani Al Shaibani

Best Script
Rezgar Hussain for Paysikl

Best Director
Dana Al Mojil for Bilad Al Ajaeb — Kissa Waqae'a

Second Prize
Aswar Khafiya, produced and directed by Samer Al Namri

Third Prize
Huna London, produced and directed by Mohammad Buali

Special Jury Prize
Bilad Al Ajaeb - Kissa Waqae'a, produced and directed by Dana Al Mojil

Best Short Film
Paysikl, produced by Fikri Barosh and directed by Rezgar Hussain

Official Gulf Feature Competition
Special Mention: Kais Nashef for his role in Tora Bora

Best Director
Akram Hidou for Halabja — The Lost Children

Third Prize
Man Yek Mozdore Sefid Hastam, produced by Hussain Humayonfar and directed by Taha Karimi

Special Jury Prize
Tora Bora, produced and directed by Walid Al Awadi

Best Feature Film
Halabja — The Lost Children, produced and directed by Akram Hidou

Second Prize
Amal, produced and directed by Nujoum Al Ganem