Film Festival Essentials: What’s on Tuesday October 17

Wednesday offers a look into cinema's past, with a panel discussion looking back over 50 years of Algerian cinema at 11:00, and into its future, with an opportunity for media representatives to meet the rising talents competing in the Short Film competition and for the public to meet one of the rising stars of Arab Cinema, Annemarie Jacir.

Media representatives can get up close and personal with all the Directors with films in the Short Film Competition at an informal reception at Emirates Palace Island Lounge in advance of two more sessions of the competitor films that evening. There are repeat screenings of the short films in competition on Thursday and Friday. The four Short Film competition programs represent the best short form storytelling in the world today. Alice Kharoubi, programmer of the Short Film competition will also attend the reception.

Two of Algeria's most esteemed filmmakers, Moussa Haddad (Inspector Tahar's Holiday and Harraga Blues) and Rachid Benhadj (Perfumes of Algiers) will be joined by critic Nabil Haji and Algerian film specialist Nabila Rzeik on our panel "Algerian Cinema: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow". The panel will be moderated by the Director of Arabic Programming Intishal Al Timimi at Emirates Palace.

In the evening, Perfumes of Algiers, a stirring drama about a woman drawn back to Algeria after a 20 year absence when her brother is arrested for terrorist activities, is the gala red carpet screening. Director Rachid Benhadj will be joined on the red carpet by the film's Producers, Nadira Benhadj Djilali and Merabai Madani, as well as two of the film's stars Chafia Boudra and Rym Takchourt. Delegations from Trashed, Cursed Be the Phosphate and I.D. will attend the screening.

The public are invited to meet Director Annemarie Jacir at a special event at Emirates Palace. Named one of Filmmaker magazine's 25 New Faces of Independent Cinema, Annemarie is a pioneer of Palestinian cinema. Her short film Like Twenty Impossibles was the first Palestinian short to compete as an official selection of the Cannes Film Festival. It won more than 15 international awards and was named one of the best films of 2003. Her debut feature Salt Of The Sea (2008), the first feature by a Palestinian woman, was Palestine's official submission to the 81st Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Picture. Her new film, When i Saw You, about a family torn apart by conflict, is screening in the Narrative competition.

Hollywood sound designer Michael Broomberg will lead a masterclass on sound and audio design on a budget at 20.00. The class is free to attend and is open to the public.

Fans of non-fiction films will feast on three features in the Documentary competition screening today: Eugene Jarecki's The House i Live In, described as 'the definitive film about the failure of America's war on drugs' by the Sundance jury; Candice Brady's Trashed, about the increasing global problem of waste disposal; and Beth Murphy's The List, following an aid-workers attempt to get US protection for Iraqis persecuted as collaborators. A delegation from each film will attend the screenings.

Media representatives have the opportunity to conduct interviews with delegations from several films, as well as a photo call with delegations from the Emirates Film Competition.  Please check the press schedule for details.

This is the first year the Abu Dhabi Film Festival has been presented under the management of twofour54, as part of the plan to strategically align the festival alongside Abu Dhabi's other media initiatives and related events, reinforcing Abu Dhabi as the creative hub for the region supporting film production.