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Films 2010

Director: Eduardo de la Serna, Lucas Marcheggiano, Adriana Yurcovich
Argentina | Spanish
2010 | 84min.

WINNER - Best Documentary by a New Director
( El ambulante / El ambulante )
Middle East Premiere

El Ambulante is the unlikely story of one Daniel Burmeister, a mysterious nomadic filmmaker often thought to be a legend in the Argentinian independent cinema community. Discovered in Cordoba province, Burmeister’s story proves true: he drives his crumbling car from village to village, where he proposes to make a film using the townspeople as his cast, requesting only food and lodging as payment. One month later, this culminates in a public screening of the film. El Ambulante explores Burmeister’s motives and methods, as well as the profound impression he makes on the communities left in his trail. Director: Eduardo de la Serna, Lucas Marcheggiano, Adriana Yurcovich
Argentina | Spanish
2010 | 84min.

Director: Patricio Guzmán
Chile, Germany, France | Spanish
2010 | 90min.

WINNER - Best Documentary Film
( Nostalgia for the Light / Nostalgia de la luz )
Gulf Premiere

In Chile’s Atacama Desert, 3,000 meters above sea level, astronomers from around the world take advantage of a sky so clear it allows them to see to the very boundaries of the known universe. Meanwhile, at the foot of the observatory, women dig through the soil in search of the “disappeared' victims of Pinochet’s regime, their remains mummified by the hot, dry climate. In Nostalgia for the Light, director Patricio Guzmán once again exhumes Chile’s past, contrasting those looking out toward the stars with those sifting through the reminders of a bloody past. Director: Patricio Guzmán
Chile, Germany, France | Spanish
2010 | 90min.

Director: Aleksei Fedorchenko
Russia | Russian
2010 | 75min.

WINNER - Best Narrative Film
( Silent Souls / Ovsyanki )
Middle East Premiere

The rites and rituals of the Merja people, an ethnic minority once resident in the Volga region of Russia, form the backbone of this lyrical, dreamlike movie about love and loss. After his beloved wife Tanja dies, Miron calls on his best friend, Aist, to help him in his final farewell. As the ravishingly photographed story unfolds, it becomes apparent that Aist and Tanja were once more than friends. Along the way, the Merja myths and traditions transform the film into a haunting fairy tale.Director: Aleksei Fedorchenko
Russia | Russian
2010 | 75min.

Director: Rania Attieh, Daniel Garcia
Lebanon | Arabic
2010 | 92min.

WINNER - Best Narrative Film by a New Arab Director
( OK, Enough, Goodbye / Tayeb, Khalas, Yalla )
World Premiere

Gently balanced between caustic, comic and offbeat, OK, Enough, Goodbye is an improbable coming-of-age story. In Tripoli, where family bonds run deep, a forty-something man still lives with his elderly mother and has given up on the idea of becoming independent. But when she suddenly leaves him, he is left with nothing but the company of the city and what it offers. Elegantly filmed with non-professional actors, the film delivers an unassuming, incisive – and funny – critique of masculine identity in contemporary Lebanon.Director: Rania Attieh, Daniel Garcia
Lebanon | Arabic
2010 | 92min.
OW"What in the World Are We Doing To Our World?"

Director: Mark Lewis
Australia,  USA | English
2009 | 86min.

OW"What in the World Are We Doing To Our World?"

Cane Toads: The Conquest
( Cane Toads: The Conquest )
Middle East Premiere

This quirky and hilarious 3-D documentary is Mark Lewis’ follow-up to his popular Cane Toads: An Unnatural History. First introduced to Australia in a misguided attempt at pest control, cane toads now number in the billions and nothing seems able to stop them. Conquest charts the pesky amphibian’s exponential population growth and relentless spread across the continent. Despite the serious ecological implications, Lewis injects the film with a playful and absurd sensibility, making it a real crowd-pleaser.Director: Mark Lewis
Australia,  USA | English
2009 | 86min.
OW"What in the World Are We Doing To Our World?"

Director: Lorenz Knauer
Germany | English
2010 | 107min.

OW"What in the World Are We Doing To Our World?"

Jane's Journey
( Jane's Journey )
Middle East Premiere

Jane’s Journey is an intimate look at the life of living legend Jane Goodall and a timely call to save the planet she cares so deeply about. Acknowledged as the world’s foremost expert on chimpanzees, Goodall has recently shelved her scientific work to travel and raise awareness of environmental issues. This fascinating documentary explores her brave and revolutionary career, as well as the activism that she considers her most important work yet.Director: Lorenz Knauer
Germany | English
2010 | 107min.
OW"What in the World Are We Doing To Our World?"

Director: Taggart Siegel
USA | English, Italian
2010 | 82min.

OW"What in the World Are We Doing To Our World?"

Queen of the Sun: What Are the Bees Telling Us?
( Queen of the Sun: What Are the Bees Telling Us? )
International Premiere

In 1923, scientist Rudolf Steiner predicted that in 80 to 100 years, the honeybee population would collapse. With the advent of Colony Collapse Disorder, that prediction is coming true. In this remarkable exploration of the profound importance of bees in the balance of nature, director Taggart Siegel embarks on a pilgrimage around the world, talking with some of the unsung heroes who are dedicated to the survival of the bees – and indeed of our own species.Director: Taggart Siegel
USA | English, Italian
2010 | 82min.
OW"What in the World Are We Doing To Our World?"

Director: Stefan Jarl
Sweden | Danish, English, Finnish, Swedish
2010 | 87min.

OW"What in the World Are We Doing To Our World?"

Submission
( Underkastelsen )
Middle East Premiere

Manmade chemicals are everywhere around us. Indeed, we are awash in a poisonous environment of our own making. But, as director Stefan Jarl discovers first-hand in the eye-opening, at times shocking Submission, those chemicals are inside us as well, flowing in our blood – and the blood of our unborn children. The tiniest amounts of some of these substances can have significant and detrimental effects on our ability to reproduce. In this age of environmentalism, we focus on making the world a healthier place. But what if there are none of us here to live in it?Director: Stefan Jarl
Sweden | Danish, English, Finnish, Swedish
2010 | 87min.
OW"What in the World Are We Doing To Our World?"

Director: Coline Serreau
France | French
2010 | 113min.

OW"What in the World Are We Doing To Our World?"

Think Global, Act Rural
( Solutions locales pour un désordre global )
Middle East Premiere

Think Global, Act Rural presents the organic food argument from a political perspective – suggesting that industrial food production, with its reliance on heavy machinery and chemical fertilizers, is not merely destructive and harmful to our bodies, but downright evil. The film explores various organic farming models and, within this framework, it is telling that ancient techniques of farming and land management seem to provide the best way forward for food production.Director: Coline Serreau
France | French
2010 | 113min.
OW"What in the World Are We Doing To Our World?"

Director: Pedro González-Rubio
Mexico | Italian, Spanish
2009 | 70min.

OW"What in the World Are We Doing To Our World?"

To the Sea
( Alamar )
Gulf Premiere

This modest, achingly beautiful and poetic tale sets the delicate interplay of parent and child against the stunning backdrop of Mexico’s Chinchorro coral reef. A recently divorced man wishes to impart his Mayan heritage to his young son before they must separate for good, so the two embark on a voyage out to sea. The amazingly unobtrusive camera captures the pair’s long sun-soaked days spent spear-fishing, and nights sleeping in the stilt-hut community of their elders. To the Sea explores with minimalist perfection the deep bonds people share with each other and with nature.Director: Pedro González-Rubio
Mexico | Italian, Spanish
2009 | 70min.
OW"What in the World Are We Doing To Our World?"

Director: Lucy Walker
Brazil,  United Kingdom | Portuguese, English
2010 | 99min.

OW"What in the World Are We Doing To Our World?"

Waste Land
( Lixo Extraordinario )
Middle East Premiere

Waste Land is an inspirational documentary about Vik Muniz, the renowned Brazilian artist known for using non-traditional materials to create his socially conscious work. Lucy Walker’s camera follows Muniz to a massive dump outside Rio de Janiero where, working with several extraordinary catadores – locals who glean recyclable materials to survive – he creates a breathtaking installation. Muniz treats his subjects and collaborators with dignity; the palpable transformation of their consciousness by the creative process is extraordinary.Director: Lucy Walker
Brazil,  United Kingdom | Portuguese, English
2010 | 99min.
DDocumentary Competition

Director: Varon Bonicos
United Kingdom | English
2010 | 91min.

DDocumentary Competition

A Man's Story
( A Man's Story )
World Premiere

African in origin, superstar men’s fashion designer Ozwald Boateng has journeyed from the North London suburbs to London’s posh, iconic Savile Row. A real oddity in his industry, Boateng inhabits a vibrant, surreal world, surrounded by the jetset, colored by the lens of glamor both implied and actual. Shot over twelve years by director Varon Bonicos, A Man’s Story shows us a man in process, as well as in progress. It’s a biographical documentary as unique, layered and compelling as its subject.Director: Varon Bonicos
United Kingdom | English
2010 | 91min.
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