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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.
Contact thePress Team