Films about Palestine life dominate festival shortlist

Dubai: Tales from Palestine, narratives highlighting community concerns and personal stories set against societal upheavals have made it to the shortlist for the Muhr Arab Documentary Awards at the Dubai International Film Festival, which begins next week.

Erfan Rashid, Director of Arab Programme at DIFF said that the 14 finalists, chosen from several submissions from the Middle East and beyond, are evocative of the trials, tribulations and bittersweet facets of every day life in the Arab world.

"The plight of the Palestinian people continues to serve as an inspiration for filmmakers and the short-list has six stories with powerful Palestinian story-lines. As art forms that shed light on true social and community issues, documentaries call for bold creativity and the shortlist is representative of this," Rashid said.

World premiere

Among the finalists is the world premiere of Fix Me by filmmaker Raed Andoni, which explores the collective and individual psyches of modern day Palestinians. Suffering headaches, Andoni consults a psychologist, leading to a course of 20 therapy sessions. Inspired by his own psychological excavations, Andoni develops the concept to apply to modern-day Palestine, a project that inspires this witty, personal and compelling film.

Fear and resistance against oppression is the main theme of Zahara, a highly anticipated new film by celebrated actor-director Mohammad Bakri. Zahara has all the passion of Bakri's award-winning 2002 documentary, Jenin Jenin, plus a beautifully lyrical narrative that covers the breadth of recent Palestinian history.

The life and times of the late Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish is the focus of As The Poet Said, a world premiere from director Nasri Hajjaj. He tours the cities and towns the poet lived in, meeting contemporaries, writers and lovers of his work and overlaying the mosaic of memories and reflections with readings of Darwish's works throughout.

Director Samir Abdullah pulls no punches in Gaza On The Air, a world premiere, which documents in graphic detail the January 2009 bombardment of Gaza, when a group of Palestinian journalists and cameramen risked their lives to covertly film scenes of the destruction, intended for news broadcast around the world. Gaza On The Air is a bold, uncompromising tribute to the men and women of the media. For Little Wings, film maker Rashid Masharawi visited Baghdad to meet the children forced to work around the city, drawing parallels between them and youngsters in Gaza. The film presents a world in which everyone, no matter how young, has to struggle to survive. Masharawi's deep sense of identification with the children's traumas makes for a deeply affecting and authoritative document of the local situation.

More Iraq subject matter is in evident in Collapse by Hadi Mahood, which looks at how the country's cultural institutions were destroyed after the fall of Saddam Hussain's regime in 2003. It is also a record of the proceedings that trapped the educated at home and their suffering in exile. Back to One's Roots by director Bilal Yousuf, which narrates the story of a young Palestinian whose two brothers were killed during their services in the Israeli army. The Sudanese entry by Taghreed Elsanhouri, Mother Unknown, is an absorbing portrait of the Mygoma orphanage and young, unmarried mothers of Khartoum.

Quality viewing

• What: The sixth Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF)
• When: December 9-16
• Where: Cinemas, Madinat Jumeirah. Events to be held around Dubai

Did you visit last year’s festival? How was the experience? Which movie would you most like to watch this year?