Dubai - Arabstoday
The Lost Children by Akram Hidou won the award for best feature film and best director at the Gulf Film Festival, which concluded on Monday 16 April. The film revolves around Ali, who returns to his hometown in Iraq, 21 years after the Halabja massacre, to search for his family. The Kuwaiti film Tora Bora by Waleed Al-Awadi received the jury special prize. Six short films also won awards in the Official Gulf Student Short Films competition, Official Gulf International Shorts and the Official Gulf Shorts competition. This year, a section titled Cheeries of Kiarostami screened 39 films. The films were the result of a 10-day master class by the Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami last year. The Gulf Film Festival is an annual non-profit cultural event, and this year’s was the fifth festival.