Dubai: Arada has teamed up with Sharjah Media Arts for Youth and Children to bring Sharjah International Film Festival for Children & Youth (SIFF) to Aljada, the Emirate’s most exciting new destination.
The partnership between the two organisations will see a carefully curated selection of films by Arabic directors being screened on a monthly basis at Movie Nights at Aljada, the megaproject’s drive in cinema.
Founded in 2013, SIFF is the first film festival in the Middle East that is dedicated to children and youth, and is managed by FUNN, an organisation established by the Government of Sharjah under the patronage of Her Highness Sheikha Jawaher Al Qasimi, wife of His Highness, the Ruler of Sharjah. The festival is designed to showcase the very best in filmmaking that is for, by and about children and young people, as well as raising their media literacy and creativity.
Sheikh Sultan Bin Ahmed Al Qasimi, Chairman of Arada said, “This is the first stage in our partnership with SIFF and matches perfectly with Arada’s wider plan to create communities that engage and inspire their residents. Sharjah has already been named as the world’s first Child-Friendly City by UNICEF, and we are proud to be working with SIFF to enrich the existing family-friendly landscape in the Emirate.”
The partnership will kick off at 8pm on Thursday August 20, and entry to the cinema is free on a first-come, first-served basis. For the opening night, SIFF has selected three short films that can be enjoyed by all ages.
Kuwaiti director Meshal Alhulail’s 33-minute film Our Neighbour Bu Hamad is based on Khaled’s discovery that his eccentric next-door neighbour is working on a teleportation device that has the potential to throw his world into chaos.
Directed by Kuwait’s Yousef Al Bagshi, Sandarah is a seven-minute animated tale about a simple young photographer who is forced to join the army to invade another country, but then finds himself in a weird and confusing situation that compels him to take a fast and decisive decision.
Violin, helmed by Saudi director Abdulaziz Al Shalahi, is a 38-minute film that tells the story of Khalid, who finds himself confronting an internal conflict for mixing his religious beliefs with his daily life.
Further screenings will take place every month, with details available on Movie Nights at Aljada’s website. Visitors to the cinema will be allocated specific parking spaces, depending on the size of their car, and will be able to access to the movie by tuning their car radios to 87.7 FM.
