With only two more days to go, Gulf Film Festival is offering film-lovers in Dubai free access to an eclectic selection of films tomorrow, Tuesday, April 13.
At the third edition of the Gulf Film Festival, held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Majid Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Dubai Culture & Arts Authority (Dubai Culture), today viewers can catch up with classic tales, horror stories, a large selection of films from Europe and a rich showcase of student talent.
A must-watch is The Ever Restless Man, directed by Koutaiba Al-Janabi, featuring Khalil Shawki who was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award at GFF this year. Shawki was a pioneer of Iraqi cinema and television and left Iraq at the age of 70. The docudrama profiles a man, who refuses to be stopped by regimes, exiles, foreign languages and foreign environments. The film will be screened at 3.15 pm at Grand Cinema 10, at Dubai Festival City.
UAE director Maher Al-Khaja’s The Curse of The Devil will be screened at 6.15 pm at Grand Cinema 10 and on April 14, 3.45 pm at Grand Cinema 9. In the movie, a group of journalists go to an island to explore the ‘Red Area’ known as the ‘Kingdom of the Elves’. When the group disappears it whips up a media frenzy as newspapers, magazines and local TV channels arrive on the island to search for the missing persons. The island witnesses an intense battle between the humans and djinns.
Also on horror trail is Hidden Evil by Saudi Arabian director Mohammad Helal to be screened at 9.15 pm today at Grand Cinema 5 and on April 14, 6.15 pm at Grand Cinema 10. The film is about three families who live together in a villa. The villa is built over the ancestral graves of one of the families and is haunted with ghosts. The families unite to discover the secrets behind their haunted home.
Make Me Perfect, an Emirati documentary, by director Shadmehr Rastin (3.30 pm, Grand Cinema 8)Â follows Sean McLennan – a 9-year old boy diagnosed with autism – in his house and in Dubai Autism Center. The documentary shows the important role supportive parents and professional play.
Saudi Arabian entry Doll by Reem S. Al-Bayyat is an experimental drama about the marriages of minors, made with more than 4,000 still shots. Aseela’s childhood is yet to begin. The doll is
already shaking. The film will be screened today, 9.30 pm at Grand Cinema 8 and on April 14, 3.15 pm at Grand Cinema 10.
Emirati director Muneer Ibrahim’s To Fly a Dream documents the outstanding work of one of the country’s falcon centres, where these magnificent birds are bred, trained and looked after.
Today’s film showcase includes shorts by Francois Vogel, whose films are being screened in the In Focus segment of the festival, as well as acclaimed films from Europe.
The festival, to conclude on April 14, is supported by Dubai Culture and held in association with Dubai Studio City. More details on the festival are available online at www.gulffilmfest.com.
