Fifth Gulf film festival Twenty-nine examples of the best of contemporary Gulf professional and student cinema from the 5th Gulf Film Festival will arrive in the UAE capital this weekend, from April 12 to 14, at the Abu Dhabi Theatre on the corniche .
The free weekend of documentaries, features and shorts marks the first time the five-year-old Dubai-based Festival will run simultaneously in multiple UAE cities, and its first foray into the UAE capital.
The Abu Dhabi screenings are organized in partnership with the Sultan Bin Zayed Centre for Culture and Media, and will open on Thursday, April 12 at 8 pm, with the Kuwaiti feature film Tora Bora, which also opened GFF 2012 in Dubai. The weekend screenings will include Gulf student films, Gulf shorts films and a feature film daily.
The lineup for Friday, April 13, includes: At 3 pm, seven films will be screened that have been selected from the Official Gulf Student Short competition of GFF. These include three Emirati films - Life Spray by Fatema Abdulla Al Nayeh; Cats by Marwan Alhammadi; and London in a Headscarf by Mariam Al Sarkal. Other films included in the lot are: Qatt from Oman by Al-Muntaser Bellah Al-Amri and Mohammed Al-Subhi; A Falcon, A Revolution from Qatar by Jassim Al Romaihi and Md Reswan Al Islam; O- from Iraq, directed by Yaser Hameed; and Snap Shot: A Trekking Man by Tareq Yosef Aldakheelallah from Saudi Arabia.
At 6 pm, on April 13, the Official Gulf Shorts includes two Emirati films: Glimpse by Nayla Al Khaja and The Intruder by Majid Al Ansari. Other films included int he shorts package are: Someone by Mousaed Khaled and Meqdad Al Kout from Kuwait; Mirror by Hawraz Mohammed from Iraq; Like by Ahmed Alfardan from Bahrain; and Passion of the Eggs by Musab A. Al Marri from Saudi Arabia.
Friday’s screenings will close with the 9 pm science fiction feature from Qatar Lockdown: Red Moon Escape by Mohammed Al Ibrahim and Ahmed Al Baker.
The screenings on Saturday, April 14, kick off with a second package of Gulf student films at 3 pm. These include three UAE entries: The Smell of Heaven by Mohammed Swaidan; Al- KMD by Ahmed Al-Hebsi and Death Circle by Tariq Alkazim. The other selections are: The Easiest Way of Suicide directed by Ezah Saleh Ganab from Yemen; Cassette by Melak Abd Ali Mnahi from Iraq; and A Light Breeze by Rania M. Tawfik from Denmark.
At 6pm, short films competing in the Official Gulf competition will be screened including two UAE entries – Perfume of the Rain by Talal Mahmood and Alya Al Shamsi and Smaller than the Sky by Abdulla Hassan Ahmed – as well as Record by Luay Fadhil, a UAE-Iraq co-production; Panda by Jassim Al Nofaly, an Oman-Kuwait co-production; I Wish We Were Dancers by Mohammed Walid Ayyad from Kuwait; and Gouli Ya Helou by Mohamed Janahi from Bahrain.
The Abu Dhabi screenings will close with Emirati feature film Amal by Nujoom Al Ghanem at 9 pm.
GFF 2012 will be held at the InterContinental Hotel, Crowne Plaza and Grand Festival Cinemas at Dubai Festival City. The Investment Corporation of Dubai is the presenting sponsor of the Gulf Film Festival; Emirates airline is its official carrier. GFF is supported by Dubai Culture & Arts Authority and held in association with Dubai Studio City. More details and updates on the festival are available online at www.gulffilmfest.com or at www.facebook.com/gulffilmfestival, www.youtube.com/gulffilmfestor @gulffilmfest on Twitter.