Special Documentary Day with Hot Docs Explores World of Documentary Filmmaking
The Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF), in association with Toronto-based documentary festival Hot Docs will host a day of documentary film industry discussions on December 16, covering international co-productions, creative documentaries, and films screening at DIFF 2008.
Masoud Amralla Al Ali, DIFF’s Artistic Director, stated: “Hot Docs is a wonderful partner for DIFF; because of their specialized focus, they are able to offer workshop participants very valuable feedback and insight into this diverse industry. Documentaries are a vibrant niche in the film world—they are often incredibly creative, emotional and of course informative. Through this programme, DIFF offers support to regional documentarians, who are integral to archiving and interpreting the Middle East’s social, political, cultural and physical environments.”
A panel called ‘The A-Z of International Co-production’ will explore the general process and specific techniques of international co-productions, to inform producers about the international co-production market, funds and other elements that can facilitate the process. Elizabeth Radshaw, Director of Hot Docs’s annual pitching forum, will moderate a panel comprising Sebastien Beffa of Films Distribution, Anna Glogowski of France 3, and Fadi Ismail of 03 Productions/MBC Group. |
|
 Dubai International Film Festival
Dec 11-18, 2008, Dubai, UAE |
Dubai International Film Festival
Fifth Year Celebrations Welcome Stars from Around the World |
 |
The Dubai International Film Festival revealed the celebrity guests that have confirmed their attendance for this year’s festival, a star-studded affair that will see the world’s most prominent filmmakers, industry figures, literary lights and of course stars walk the red carpet at the Madinat Jumeirah in the festival’s landmark fifth year.
Hollywood heartthrobs Nicholas Cage and Brendan Fraser will heat up the cool desert nights at DIFF 2008, along with Oliver Stone, Danny Glover and Eliza Bennett. Nicolas Cage will attend with legendary producer Charles Roven (The Dark Knight, Batman Begins, the Brothers Grimm), who will receive a Filmmaker of the Year award at DIFF 2008. Salma Hayek, Goldie Hawn and Laura Linney are all set to grace the 2008 amfAR red carpet.
From India, DIFF will welcome Abhishek Bachchan, Sonam Kapoor, and Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, who will be in Dubai to unveil the first look at their work-in-progress, Delhi 6; Anil Kapoor and Freida Pinto will come to promote their Slumdog Millionaire; Preity Zinta, Honourary Chair of amfAR’s Cinema Against AIDS Dubai event and lead of Deepa Mehta’s Heaven on Earth, for which she won Best Actress at the Chicago Film Festival earlier this year; and Nandita Das, who will promote her directorial debut Firaaq. South Indian superstar Mamooty will also grace the proceedings.
From the Arab world, we will see Yasmina Khadra, Carmen Lebbos, Sameer Ghanem, Sameer Sabri, Jameel Rateb, Yahya Al Fakhrani, Hicham Saleem, Saeed Saleh, Sabah Al Jazayari, Salaf Fawakharji, Tayyam Hasan, Samer Al Masri and Jamal Sulaiman.
GCC stars include Saad Abdullah, Mohammed Al Mansoor, AbdurRahman al Aqal, Tareq Al Ali, Lateefa Al Majran, Suaad Ali, Abdul Mohsin Al Namar, Nasir Al Qasbi, Abdul Aziz Jasim and Ghanem Al Saliti. The UAE will be well represented by Ahmed Al Jasmi, Jaber Naghmoosh, Habeeb Ghaloom, Moza Al Mazroohi, Ahmed Al Ansari, Marwan Abdullah Saleh, Maree al Halyan amongst many others.
The Cultural Bridge Panel will attract Indian-Canadian master filmmaker Deepa Mehta, Canadian journalist Cameron Bailey, the legendary singer Harry Belafonte and Algerian novelist Mohammed Molessehoul.
Dubai International Film Festival
www.dubaifilmfest.com |
|
|
|
