DUBAI: Dubai’s sixth international film festival rolled out the red carpet on Wednesday with a mix of Bollywood, Hollywood and Arab celebrities. The event will feature 168 films from 55 countries, with some being shown for the first time.
Amitabh Bachchan, 67, the Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) honoree of the Lifetime Achievement Award this year said he had no plans for the Arab film industry as yet but was open to fresh ideas.
“The DIFF is of very recent origin compared to the history of cinema, but it in a short span the festival has entered an arena that has been dominated by the Western film industry,” he said.
Describing that he feels honored and humbled with the DIFF 2009 Lifetime Achievement Award, the legendary Indian actor said the Middle East is emerging as one of the largest territories for Indian cinema overseas. Bachchan said that the appeal of Indian films to global audiences is because “our cinema offers poetic justice in three hours. You walk away from an Indian cinema with a smile on your lips and dried tears on your cheeks.”
Celebrating the honor for Bachchan, DIFF is screening two of his path-breaking films: “Black” (Friday at noon at Cinestar 1, Mall of the Emirates) and “Silsila” (Tuesday at 5 p.m. at Cinestar 1). The DIFF will also host the global premiere of the musical “Nine.” The day’s crowning glory is the World Premiere of Indian film “Rocket Singh, Salesman of the Year” (7 p.m. on Thursday at Madinat Arena), which stars the young and dashing Ranbir Kapoor.
These movies mark the coming of age of Arab filmmakers, said DIFF Artistic Director Masoud Amralla Al Ali. “They stand proud despite being screened alongside some of the heavyweight productions,” he said.
A surefire pick of the day is “Un Prophete” (A Prophet), a French production directed by Jacques Audiard, about a young man sent to a French prison where he becomes a mafia kingpin. A critics’ favorite and toast of Cannes film fest, the film will be screened at 7.15 p.m. at First Group Theatre in Souk Madinat Jumeirah.
Already the talk of the town is Peruvian entry “The Milk of Sorrow,” the story of Peru’s civil unrest in the 1980s and winner of the coveted Golden Bear for Best Picture at the 2009 Berlin Film Festival, It is directed by Claudia Llosa Bueno. The film will be screened on Thursday at 3.30 p.m. at Cinestar 7 followed by two more screenings on Dec. 13 at 10 p.m. at Cinestar 9 and on Dec. 16, at 7 p.m. at Cinestar 11.
