Independent cinema is making another strong showing at this year's Dubai International Film Festival.
While big name and big budget films will undoubtedly steal the limelight at DIFF, dozens of other small time productions will be keeping audiences equally enthralled.
And like 2005, this year's DIFF features countless high quality films, which have already achieved, or are well on the way to achieving, cult status.
The diversity and breadth of the DIFF selections means many award-winning independent filmmakers will get the opportunity to see their movies screened in the Middle East for the first time.
It may also be the only opportunity the public gets to see these films in a cinema — unless of course they go on to win a major award elsewhere, like Paradise Now did in 2005.
‘Must watch' agenda
Among the films sure to garner attention at DIFF are a rare glimpse of Romanian artistry, a Korean cult classic which wowed Cannes and the return of a critically acclaimed documentary maker.
Corneliu Porumboiu's 12:08 East of Bucharest will be high on the ‘must watch' agenda of world cinema fans, after it won the Caméra d'Or award at Cannes.
The story is a satirical look — through the eyes of three very different men — at the direction that Romania has taken since the fall of Ceaucescu.
Significant splash
Another Cannes favourite, which is making its Middle Eastern debut in Dubai, is The Host — the latest in a long line of critically acclaimed south-east Asian movies.
And while this Korean B-movie style horror/comedy about a fish-like mutant that swallows humans is unlikely to follow the long line of Asian films being re-made by Hollywood, it still made a significant splash, when it played at Cannes.
Staying in Asia, one of China's brightest directorial stars, Jia Zhang-ke, will also have his touching film Still Life featured at DIFF.
Set amongst the massive Three Gorges Dam, the film explores the lives of two people working in the shadow of the enormous project, and how they react as the world changes around them.
The film won the prestigious Golden Lion award at the Venice Film Festival.
Captures the cracks
Beirut Diaries is one of the most talked about films of the year, and is the latest in a long line of high quality films from noted documentary maker Mai Masri.
The starting point is the spontaneous reaction of hundreds of thousands of young people during what has popularly been termed ‘The Cedar Revolution'. The film then expertly captures the cracks, as they begin to appear in the Lebanese unity.
Richard Linklater's fictional adaptation of the best-selling book Fast Food Nation will also be worth a watch, as will African films Early in the Morning and Jezile and films from the sub-continent such as Shame and Outsourced.
In short, if you are a fan of independent cinema, you should clear your diary, switch off your phone and feast (both on popcorn and excellent cinema). There really is something for everyone, if you open your mind.
What does independent film mean?
An independent film (or indie) is one which has been made without major studio backing or money.
Indie films tend to be – because of their lower budgets - more character and story driven with less emphasis on special effects.
Some of the biggest hit films of recent years have been independent films – including Four Weddings and a Funeral and Pulp Fiction.
Other indie films include:
The Usual Suspects
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Se7en
Before Sunset
The Big Lebowski
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
Fargo
Donnie Darko
Reservoir Dogs
