Actors, directors, filmmakers and film fans all gathered to celebrate their love for the silver screen at the 9th Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF), which started on Dec. 9. This year, the eight-day event featured 158 movies from 61 countries in 43 languages.
Among this huge numbers of competitors is Haifa Al-Mansour, the first Saudi woman filmmaker and director best known for providing a platform for the unheard voices in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Her film “Wadjda” won two prizes at the festival in Dubai – best Arabic feature film and best female actress, won by lead actress Waad Mohammed. The film is the first full movie shot in Saudi Arabia with a completely Saudi cast including two lead actresses.
The festival’s opening red carpet and opening ceremony was held under the patronage of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, UAE vice president and prime minister and ruler of Dubai, at Madinat Jumeirah. It was telecasted live on YouTube.
“Year after year, the festival attracts such a high level of films and filmmakers, and I’m delighted to say that the ninth year is no different,” said DIFF Chairman Abdulrahman Juma. “Across our screenings, workshops and forums, we are excited to host film industry professionals from all around the world, and we hope these individuals will help inspire, guide and nurture a future generation of filmmakers,” he added.
Fifty of the films that were featured at the DIFF were screened internationally for the first time, while 14 films were premiered at the event. Seventy-five films were in Arabic, which means that more than a third of the total films came especially for this festival, said Juma.
Wadjda has been screened in Italian cinemas and will soon be in movie theaters in England, France and the United States. The Dubai film festival was the first occasion the film was screened in the Middle East, and a big part of the audience stood on their feet cheering and applauding the director for the one-of-a-kind film.
Wadjda talks about a 10-year-old Saudi girl who insists on learning how to ride a bicycle, even though the closed Saudi society around her does not approve of this. She has her eyes on a green bicycle displayed at the window of a toy store and keeps asking her mother to buy it for her, but is faced over and over with rejection. She then decides to collect money by secretly selling products at school until the school manager forbids her from it, forcing Wadjda to look for other ways to get the money. The school holds a Qur’an competition in which students are supposed to memorize verses and explain the meanings in exchange of a certain amount of money. Wadjda, determined to make her dream of owning a bicycle come true, decides to enter the competition…
The bicycle represents freedom, according to Al-Mansour. “It also represents the tension between tradition and modernity, because in Saudi Arabia we are still holding on to our traditions, even when generations change. Most of us did not deal with issues of modernity, but there is always tension,” she said. “I wanted to make a film that reflects my culture from my own eyes. Wadjda is a symbol of the clash between the past and the present mentality.”
Two other Saudi directors screened their short films at DIFF, but where not in the competition. Saudi director Nawaf Alhoshan, 19, presented his first short film titled “Mujarad Soura”, Arabic for “Just a Picture”. The five-minute movie was shot in a Saudi desert in the western region.
“The whole cast were my friends, who volunteered in helping me reach my goal of presenting my movie at a film festival,” he said. For Alhoshan, directing movies is just a hobby. He is not pursuing a career in it. “It is just something I run to whenever I have free time.”
The short film talks about three Saudi men who go to the desert seeking for the best picture. Two of them end up in a critical situation, whereas the third, who is a professional photographer, leaves them in the middle of the desert. The short movie has an open ending, leaving the viewer with his or her own conclusion.
Alhoshan admires Saudi YouTube shows, but does not think his movie would do well there. “Many people ask me why I never published my film on YouTube. My answer is that Just a Picture is a little cold to attract people on YouTube,” he said. “Most of the successful YouTube channels are comedy programs, and my movie was designed to be featured at DIFF.”
Hamza Jamjoom is one of the directors that shined with his 15-minute short film “Factory of Lies”. The film talks about an Arabian man who owns a jewelry shop in Chicago. To get rid of his grandchild and be able to deal with his customers, the owner sends him away to buy some juice. As soon as the grandchild leaves, strange visitors come to the shop. Not willing to reveal the whole plot, Jamjoom said: “The whole film is a trick, because the jewelry shop owner thinks he is dying, while it is all a major trick so these visitors can rob the store.”
The film is based on a true story that happened in Saudi Arabia a couple of years ago, but “obviously it has been twisted and turned to be fitting to a Hollywood model. We collected a number of stories that happened in Saudi Arabia and added the Hollywood flavor to it,” he said.
According to Jamjoom, the film is only an intro to his hour and a half feature movie that he will be shooting in 2013. “This short film was just to give people a taste of what the full movie will be all about,” he said. “The movie will be opening up with a robbery scene that takes place in Saudi Arabia. It is very witty and smart and completely unexpected.
“The whole message behind the film is to not let your temper get into your way, because none of the rest of the setup would have happened if the grandchild was in the shop with his grandfather. So the message is to stick to your roots and be with your family the whole time, no matter what happens,” said Jamjoom.
Dubai rolls out the red carpet for a celebration of film
Dubai rolls out the red carpet for a celebration of film
