The Circuit

The Middle East Int'l Film Festival doled out its $1 million purse tonight, giving its top honors to the Steve Jacob's narrative starring John Malkovich, "Disgrace" ($200,000) and Gonzala Arijon's doc "Stranded: I Have Come from a Plane that Crashed on the Mountains" ($150,000).

Other winners include Elisabeth Chai Vasarhelyi's "Youssou N'Dour: I Bring What I Love" ($125,000).  Actress Ihlam Shaheen for "Fawzia: A Special Blend" and actor Luca Zingaretti for "Wild Blood."  Both will pocket $75,000.

Other winners:

The Black Pearl for Best Artistic Contribution - $75,000
Laila’s Birthday
Screenwriter: Rashid Masharawi

The Black Pearl Audience Choice Award
Saving Luna
Co-Directors: Suzanne Chisholm & Michael Parfit. Producer: Suzanne Chisholm

The Black Pearl for Best Narrative - Short Film- $75,000
The View
Co-Directors: Hazim Bitar & Rifqi Assaf. Producer: Amman Filmmaker Cooperative

The Black Pearl for Best Documentary – Short Film- $75,000
Breadmakers
Director: Yasmin Fedda. Producers: Jim Hickey & Robin Mitchell

The Black Pearl for Best Animation- Short Film- $75,000
Jacinta
Director: Karla Casteneda. Producer: Luis Tellez

Best Advertisement – Cultural Category - $25,000$
Anti Slavery
Director: Eric Lynne. Producer: Partizan Films – Midi Minuit

Best Advertisement – Consumer Category -  $25,000
Battle
Director: Traktor. Producer: Partizan Films – Midi Minuit

Best Advertisement – Artistic Contribution - $25,000
Great Pretender
Director: Patrick Bergh. Producer: Partizan Films – Midi Minuit

The Black Pearl for Best Narrative – Student Films – $25,000
Illusion
Director: Burhan Qurbani. Producer: Fabian Gasmia

The Black Pearl for Best Emerging Filmmaker – Student Films- $25,000
Lullaby
Director: Serena Abi Aad. Producer: IESAV

The Black Pearl for Best Animation – Student Films – $25.000
Adherent
Director: Julian Nazario Vargas. Producer: Rube Baggerud

by Timothy M. Gray
I love the Emirates, the people's openness, and their accepance of the cultural mix. It's common to attend a meeting where half the locals are in suits, half in the traditional Arab garb. Some men wear the traditional white robe with a baseball cap. At fest screenings, women in burkhas sit a few feet from women in low-cut mini-dresses. There are a lot of expats here, so American and English accents are common. There's a mix of Arabic, English, ad other languages. It feels like the future.

On Oct 12, the Media Zone threw a terrific party to celebrate their unveiling. The highlight was a surprise Duran Duran performance (Simon Le Bon, pictured), which started at 10:30 pm and lasted well over an hour. They were great but why is it always so hilarious when corporate types try to "get down" and rock out?

Even more hilarious was watching them negotiate the "decompression chambers." The party was held in some futuristic global domes (pictured above) built for the occasion, bright white and holding hundreds of guests. But apparently if enough warm air entered the domes, they would collapse. So the entrance to the party -- and, crucially, the back entrance leading to the restrooms and a makeshift kitchen -- featured a small transition room capable of holding about 15 people. The inside door to the transition room was opened and folks would politely file in. Then after that door closed, the door to the outside would open, and folks would file out, then the outside group would come in, doors close, etc.

But the "politely file in" was just in theory. For some reason, people rushed those doors like it was the last plane out of Saigon.

One of the great mysteries of the modern world: the Emirates Palace. The hotel, the center of the festival, is roughly the size of Rhode Island but only has 394 rooms. Guests say the rooms are dandy but not mammoth. Apparently the big perk for guests is not the size of the rooms, but the size of the staff: said to be 2,000 workers, meaning roughly five employees for each room. One guest said he gets a knock on the door every few minutes: "May I do anything for you? Should I replenish the mini-bar?"

by Timothy M. Gray
If there's any gripe about the second Middle East Intl Film Festival in Abu Dhabi, it's that there's too much going on.

If you were here  on the evening of Oct 14, for example, which of the following events would you rather attend: a Ferrari Formula One party, a roundtable with Jane Fonda, a discussion with Catherine Deneuve or a Variety cocktail reception?

The correct answer, of course, would be the Variety party.

Well, OK, maybe that wouldn't have been your first choice (a lot of us were wondering if Ferrari was giving away cars in their goodie bags) but it would have been a good choice. Guests included numerous UAE movers and shakers, filmmakers, fest judges, and festival director Nashwa Al Ruwaini, the lovable talkshow host who's the organizer of the fest. (She has been called the Oprah of the Middle East, though I prefer to think of Ms. Winfrey as the Nashwa of North America.)

Nashwa was part of the presentation of Variety's Middle East filmmaker of the year award to Amin Matalqa, who announced he'd just signed for US and UK distribution of his debut feature "Captain Abu Raed." The event, at the glam Etoiles eatery at the Emirates Palace hotel, included several Variety staffers -- including associate publisher Brian Gott, who flew in from Los Angeles (i.e., about 50 hours of travel for 24 hours in Abu Dhabi).

Amin, who was born in Jordan but grew up in Ohio, said when he was a kid he'd go to the library to read Variety and would write down box office results in his diary. So he was glad to get the award and happy that there is growing recognition for the region's filmmakers.

by Timothy M. Gray
In only two days, the Middle East Intl Film Festival achieved its goal of bringing worlwide attention to Abu Dhabi, with Hollywood and Bollywood stars in attendance, a slew of major execs talking about bringing work to the area and, crucially, announcements of mega- deals. Amid all the excitement, attendees seem to have overlooked one small detail: the films.

At the black-tie opening night Oct 10, at least half the audience left before the start of "The Brothers Bloom," even with director Rian Johnson and star Adrien Brody in attandance.

Partly that's because the film started after 10 pm, and the audience (including Antonio Banderas, Melanie Griffith and Meg Ryan) had already experienced a prolonged red-carpet gauntlet and a nearly one-hour stage show (which is to be edited and shown on TV here).

But more likely the audience had restless-leg syndrome. They wanted to schmooze, not to passively watch a film. Many of those who left the film hung around the Emirates Palace hotel (a massive and maze-like tribute to golden opulence), and talked shop in hallways, restaurants and bars, then moved to the lavish opening night party. There were so many screening exit-ers that the party got into full swing at least an hour before the film ended.

Many of the festgoers had taken part in the Oct 6-9 financial gathering called The Circle, which drew Jim Gianopulos, McG, Spike Lee, Kathleen Kennedy and Ed Borgerding (Abu Dhabi Media Co.) among others, buzzing about changes in the media world.

The day after the fest opened, Borgerding's (pictured left) company unveiled its multi-film deal with National Geographic. And on Oct 12, ADMedia and Natl Geo joined such companies as BBC, CNN, HarperCollins and Thomson Reuters to tout the Media Zone, aka twofour54, an ambitious plan to bring media production and training in a concentrated area of Abu Dhabi. Is this a big deal? No dollar figure was mentioned but many estimated it as easily more than a billion. And even jaded showbiz workers admitted that you don't often get Abu Dhabi's crown prince to attend a press conference.

More big deals are expected to be announced before the Oct 19 closer, with groundwork being laid for others.

And oh, yeah, there will also be some films shown.  Some may even draw an audience...

As the Middle East Film Festival opens in Abu Dhabi today, Ali Jaafar has news that the Mouse has joined the fun.

Disney is in advanced negotiations with Lebanese helmer Chadi Zeneddine to finance and produce "The Last of the Storytellers."

The Mouse House’s first feature in Arabic will mark the start of an expansion drive by Disney execs into the region.

Jaafar also reports that money out of Abu Dhabi is starting to free up:

Abu Dhabi execs launched $1 billion production company Imagenation on the eve of the Toronto film fest and unveiled a $250 million production pact with Jeff Skoll’s Participant Media days later. Skoll will be flying into Abu Dhabi this weekend to announce further details of the Imagenation-Participant deal.

The Middle East Int'l. Film Fest's out-of-competition section, Festival of Festivals, will unspool Courtney Hunt's "Frozen River," Atom Egoyan's "Adoration," and Errol Morris' doc on Abu Ghraib "Standard Operating Procedure."
 
Fest also announced an Enviromental program, slotting Irena Salina's "Flow: For the Love of Water" and Bader Ben Hirsi's "The Oryx: Freed Spirit of the Desert," a U.A.E. production.

Festival of Festival Films
14 Kilometres (Spain) directed by Gerardo Olivares
A Christmas Tale (France) directed by Arnaud Desplechin
Adoration (Canada) directed by Atom Egoyan
Amal (Canada) directed by Richie Mehta
Cherry Blossoms: Hanami (Germany) directed by Doris Dörrie
Disgrace (Australia, South Africa) directed by Steve Jacobs
Dunya and Desie (Netherlands) directed by Dana Nehustan
Football Undercover (Germany) directed by David Assmann and Ayat Najafi
Frozen River (USA) directed by Courtney Hunt
Let the Right One In (Sweden) directed by Tomas Alfredson
Maradona (Spain, France) directed by Emir Kusturica
Moscow, Belgium (Belgium) directed by Christophe van Rompaey
Pray the Devil Back to Hell (USA) directed by Gini Reticker
Quiet Chaos (Italy) directed by Antonello Grimaldi
Rumba (Belgium, France) directed by Dominique Abel, Fiona Gordon and Bruno Romy
Sleep Dealer (USA, Mexico) directed by Alex Rivera
Standard Operating Procedure (USA) directed by Errol Morris
The Prisoner (India) directed by Sunil Doshi
The Shaft (China) directed by Zhang Chi
The Smell of Apples (Iraq, Germany) directed by Ravin Asaf
The Wackness (USA) directed by Jonathan Levine
Two-Legged Horse (Iran) directed by Samira Makhmalbaf
Wild Field (Russia) directed by Mikhail Kalatozishvili
Written (South Korea) directed by Kim Byung Woo

Environmental Films
Flow: For the Love of Water (USA) directed by Irena Salina
Saving Luna (Canada) directed by Suzanne Chisholm and Michael Parfit
Terra (USA) directed by Aristomenis Tsirbas
That Should Not Be (France) directed by Jean-Paul Jaud
The Oryx: Freed Spirit of the Desert (UAE) directed by Bader Ben Hirsi
Under Our Skin (USA) directed by Andy Abrahams Wilson
White Falcon, White Wolf (UK) directed by Fergus Beeley

Abu Dhabi's Middle East International Film Festival lineup has over 60 films from 32 countries to compete for one of the richest prizes on the fest circuit: The Black Pearl awards of $200,000 for best narrative and $150,000 for the winning doc.  $75,000 will go to best actor and actress each while $125,000 is set aside for a special jury award.

Full lineup, including non-competition film, here.

Narrative Competition

BEIRUT: OPEN CITY (DOKHAN BELA NAR) (Lebanon) directed by Samir Habachi.
**World Premiere

FAWZIA: A SPECIAL BLEND (KHALTET FAWZIA) (Egypt) directed by Magdi
Ahmed Ali.
**World Premiere

GULABI TALKIES (India) directed by Girish Kasaravalli.
**Named Best Indian Film at the 10th Osian Cinefan Festival of Asian and Arab Cinema.

HASIBA (Syria) directed by Remon Butros.
**World Premiere

HENNA (UAE) directed by Saleh Karama.
**World Premiere

LAILA’S BIRTHDAY (EID MILAD LAILA) (Palestine, Tunisia, Netherlands)
directed by Rashid Masharawi.
**Regional Premiere

MERMAID (RUSALKA) (Russia) directed by Anna Melikyan.
**Received the Directing Award at the Sundance Film Festival, the Grand Prix at the Sofia International Film Festival and the FIPRESCI Prize at the Berlin International Film Festival.

O’HORTEN (Norway) directed by Bent Hamer.
**Norway Oscar submission for Best Foreign Language Film.

ON A DAY LIKE TODAY (ZAY EL NAHARDA) (Egypt) directed by Amr Salama.
**World Premiere

WILD BLOOD (SANGUEPAZZO) (Italy) directed by Marco Tullio Giordana.
**Official Selection Cannes Film Festival.

TERRA NOVA (NOVAYA ZAMLYA) (Russia) directed by Alexander Melnik.
**Regional Premiere

TERRIBLY HAPPY (FRYGTELIG LYKKELIG) (Denmark) directed by Henrik
Ruben Genz.
**Grand Jury Prize Karloby Vary Film Festival.

TIME OF COMRADES (ZAMAN AL RIFAQ) (Morocco) directed by Mohamed
Chrif Tribak.
**World Premiere

YELLOW HANDKERCHIEF (USA) directed by Udayan Prasad.
**Official Selection Sundance Film Festival.

ZARA (Switzerland, Austria, Netherlands, Kurdistan) directed by Ayten Mutlu Saray.
**World Premiere

Documentary Competition

SEVEN BLIND FEMALE FILMMAKERS (7 ZAN FILMSAZ-E NABINA) (Iran)

NAGUIB EL-RIHANI: BID YOU FAREWELL (Egypt) directed by Mohamed Kamel
El-Kaliouby.

EVERY LITTLE STEP (USA) directed by James D Stern and Adam Del Deo.
**Received the Grand Jury Prize for World Documentary at the 2008 Sundance Film
Festival.

STRANDED: I’VE COME FROM A PLANE THAT CRASHED ON THE
MOUNTAINS (France, Uruguay) directed by Gonzalo Arijón.

WAR CHILD (USA) directed by C Karim Chrobog.

YOUSSOU N’DOUR: I BRING WHAT I LOVE (Senegal, Egypt, France)
directed by Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi.

Nashwa Al Ruwaini, Executive Director of Middle East International Film Festival extends an invite to Goldie Hawn to attend the fest in October.  Hawn was one of many celebs at the Century Club.  Woody Harrelson and Ray Winstone also drank champaign and ate from a stock buffet of Middle Eastern dishes.

Jon Fitzgerald, pictured with Denver's Britta Erickson, returns this year as festival programmer.  He said the finance conference is moving to proceed the fest, which is being extended to ten days to accommodate more films.

In an article for Variety's weekly, I tackle the glut of film festivals:

At the fourth annual Intl. Film Festival Summit in Las Vegas last week, fest honchos huddled together in panel sessions with names like "Creating a Sustainable Festival," showing a sense of camaraderie, friendliness and mutual support.

But then, most attendees there were new to the game. Among veteran fest programmers and execs, it's more a case of strong rivalries, poaching and a secret desire that their compatriots would disappear in a puff of smoke.

Competition among film fests has always been sharp, but it's become cutthroat as fests proliferate, with literally thousands of them vying for world premieres, stars and, crucially, sponsors. If the films are good, it's almost a bonus.

The piece also touches on a growing controversy amoung fest execs - rising distributor and sales agents fees. 

Full piece here.

by Jennifer Needleman, Co-Director, “I Love Hip Hop In Morocco”

No Popcorn?
The glamour and glitz of the festival's location were also, unfortunately, the cause of the festival's only downside - where was the popcorn-eating public? Physically, the Palace was only accessible by car, up a winding path apart from the central city, through a variety of gates and security checks. The screenings, held in gorgeous, immaculate, 1000-person theaters, seemed to be populated only by the small number of festival invitees - filmmakers, producers, local elites and Hollywood suits on hand for the Film Financing Circle. Even when the audience climbed into the hundreds, the cavernous theaters felt empty - a VIP party so exclusive that actually nobody was there. So...where were the locals?

The UAE population is an interesting mix, a ratio of few locals to many immigrants and ex-pats. A wider local advertising campaign might improve attendance, but again, the festival is still getting its sea-legs.

The festival invited some Hollywood greats, Harvey Weinstein, Paul Haggis and Deepak Nayer, for example, to give talks on how to build a local film industry, and they seemed more interested in rubbing elbows with the local Sheik money than finding emerging filmmakers for their stables. Thus, it seemed we were caught in a cycle; the Sheik and his people were in hot pursuit of young Hollywood and European "talent" who were in hot pursuit of the Hollywood suits who were salivating over the Sheik's money. A bit of a disconnect there, as festivals seem to work best when people are in the mix, and a feeling of chaotic buzz heightens the excitement for everyone.

International Artists
The festival's future is bright, however, as the films on the roster were fantastic, creative, unusual and of the highest caliber. Almost every film I attended left me inspired...or at least entertained. "Persepolis" by Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud, an animated feature about a young girl leaving Iran for Europe, was stunning, and the short films - from Nick Kallincos' "The Luminary" to Elisabeth Marre and Olivier Pont's "Manon on the Pavement" to Maryam Mohajer's "And Life Went On" to Josh Raskin's visually delicious "I Met The Walrus" were absolute cinematic jewels. I was proud to have my hand-stitched feature documentary, "I Love Hip Hop in Morocco," included in the program.

Contact with the other filmmakers was without a doubt the highlight of the festival experience - without the throngs of public and industry we had the 24-hour run of our very own Arabian Palace.

Unfortunately, the experience has spoiled me, and my unglamorous LA filmmaker existence doesn't seem to cut the mustard anymore. Where is my butler? My underwear and socks are completely wrinkled, and I haven't had any mussel shooters in over twelve hours. Ho-hum, life is tough back in the real world.


“I Love Hip Hop In Morocco” will have its Los Angeles Premiere on Saturday, November 3 at 4 PM at the Writer's Guild Theater on Doheny in Beverly Hills, as part of the first-ever Arab Film Festival, Los Angeles. 

Check out their website.

Smartly dressed fest workers seemed to love their arm bands the most.  Many decorated them with pins, beads and needle-work.  A few had on small buttons of the man in the next photo...



Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, Abu Dhabi’s ruler until 2004 and chief architect. 


White balancing cameras before the red carpeting celebs arrive.

by Jennifer Needleman, Co-Director, “I Love Hip Hop In Morocco”

Location, Location, Location
Any review of the festival must begin with a mention of the Emirates Palace. You’ve heard the stories. Seven-stars, ten restaurants, an enormous private beach. The place was so gargantuan that, in eight days, I never made it out of the East Wing. I almost missed my own screening after a wrong turn through a chandelier-laden ballroom caused an accidental thirty-minute detour. Marble, inlaid gold and Swarovsky crystal were the design details of choice (bling!). After all, let’s not forget this is a palace. Fancy a spot of Falconry before high tea? Or a round of Dune Driving? How about some Sand Skiing? Or would you rather just admire a corral of camels as you sip iced cocktails on the sand under a fully furnished Arabian tent?

More Than Three Wishes
Absolutely no expense was spared; the attitude of the festival seemed to be: “You Want It, You Got It.” Be careful of what you wish for – as I learned during one luxurious twenty-person dinner on a verandah overlooking the beach. I casually mentioned my disappointment in having missed the screening of a particular film, and before the words were fully out of my mouth, Bassem Kudsi (pictured), Head of Communications for the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage, whipped out his cell phone and arranged a private screening for the next morning – which was going to seriously cut into my scheduled poolside schmoozing. Some might scoff at the unreal excesses – how many times can you have lobster and caviar for breakfast?? But let’s be real. As Americans, we invented that game. Money talks, and I am now convinced that the Film and Arts Commissions of the UAE mean business when it comes to building a local film industry.

The UAE is a ray of hope for culture and art in the Middle East. Their unwavering determination to bring true international culture – dance, fine art, film, music, theater – borders on maniacal. This is miles from the war-torn, oppressive Arab culture that we’ve been trained to expect. What an eye opening experience it was to find myself alone in an elevator with a middle-aged man wearing a crisp white dish-dash and headdress. Normally, my Western prejudices would have compelled me to keep to my Western self. Until I noticed the “filmmaker” badge dangling from his neck. Thus began a conversation about the importance of narrative, character and writing that lasted well past the elevator ride and into lunch.


“I Love Hip Hop In Morocco” will have its Los Angeles Premiere on Saturday, November 3 at 4 PM at the Writer's Guild Theater on Doheny in Beverly Hills, as part of the first-ever Arab Film Festival, Los Angeles. 

Check out their website.

Film Financing Circle Director Adrienne Biggs with MEIFF's Jon Fitzgerald and Djeneba Diaby at a charity dinner.  Big Jim McKay from Chaplin's "The Gold Rush" watches over their shoulder, eating a shoe.


A table of filmmakers at one of the many MEIFF luncheons: John Hollingsworth ("Desert Heat"), Erik Rosenluno ("Looking Glass"), Elizabeth Merre and Oliver Pont (MEIFF award winner "Manon on the Pavement"), Maryam Mohajer ("And Life Went On"), Babak Naraghi, Hisham Zaman ("Bawke"), Nicholas Kallincus ("The Luminary").


Soman Chainani, pitching his project "Love Marriage" to the judges.  He would later share first place and a $13,500 cash prize. (AED50,000).


The guys behind a new Abu Dhabi film school, New York Film Academy's John Sammon and Michael Young.  They had just finished touring the schoo's new, two-story facility.


The closing night party for the Film Financing Circle at the Shangri-La Hotel.

All week we had noticed an odd group at the Intercontinental Hotel, where the festival kept the staff and press.  They were all incredibly fit and kept to themselves.  They looked tired all the time.  They ate a lot at the continental breakfasts.  Some worked out in the hotel gym every day.  One was a dwarf.

Then it hit us as we watched the closing night ceremony – they were actors and dancers from LA brought in to do a Broadway-styled number choreographed by Otis Salid who's put together similar theme-shows for the Academy Award and the Olympic ceremonies.  This theme – an American film director escorting an Arab boy through a history of film, with dancers and actors performing to clips projected on three screens.  One actor dressed as a gangster glared under "The Godfather." An Asian dancer jumped around with a sword under "Crouching Tiger."  A woman on stilts and the dwarf in clown makeup rolled about.  (Hard to say where they fit in to the film theme.)

Later, festival awards went to:

Producer Peter Bouckaert, and Director Nic Balthazar of BEN X
Winner of the Black Pearl Grand Jury Prize for Best Feature Film. The
award carries with it a cash prize of AED 300,000  ($81,000 US)
 
Michael James Rowland of LUCKY MILES
Winner of Black Pearl Jury Prize for Best New Director (Feature Film).
The award carries with it a cash prize of AED 300,000
 
Ensemble Cast: Nadine Labaki, Yasmine Al Masri, Joanna Moukarzel.
Gisele Aouad and Sihame Haddad of CARAMEL
Winner of the Black Pearl for Best Actress. The award carries with it a
cash prize of AED 300,000 
 
Carl Markovics of THE COUNTERFEITERS
Winner of the Black Pearl for Best Actor. The award carries with it a
cash prize of AED 300,000  
 
Paul Taylor of WE ARE TOGETHER
Winner of Black Pearl Jury Prize for Best Documentary Film. The
award carries with it a cash prize of AED 300,000
 
Producer Gundny Hummelvoll, and Director Hisham Zaman of BAWKE
Winner of the Black Pearl for Best Short Film. The award carries with it a
cash prize of AED 100,000 ($27,000US)
 
Elizabeth Marre and Olivier Pont of  MANON ON THE PAVEMENT
Winner of the Black Pearl for Best New Director (Short Film). The award
carries with it a cash prize of AED 100,000 
 
Josh Raskin of I MET THE WALRUS
Winner of the Black Pearl for Best Animated Short Film. The award
carries with it a cash prize of AED 100,000 


Afterwards, the dancers and the rest of the contracted American help who had been rushing and sweating this Herculean project through finally let their tense shoulders drop – relaxing at the closing night party, then proceeding to get hammered.
 

Venturing into downtown Abu Dhabi, we found a rare wall of graffiti alongside equally rare, dilapidated apartment buildings - a bustling mini-neighborhood tucked underneath tall towers of glass.  It was Friday, a holiday. 

At the center of these buildings, the local mosque began prayers over electric megaphones.  Men streamed out of storefronts carrying their rugs.  Cars stopped, children hushed. 

The mosque quickly filled, and the late-comers laid their rugs on street corners and sidewalks, rushing to any available spot as the scratchy song echoed off the Sheraton and Kentucky Fried Chicken.

Crossing the street, another mini-neighborhood with another mosque, another loudspeaker.  No songs here.  Instead - emphatic, excited words.  Punctuated and energized.  Rallying.

As they knelt, the loudspeaker hushed. The neighborhood, previously alive with yelping taxis and delivery trucks, stopped for a moment.  Silence.  Then back up and to work, creating a quick traffic jam as taxis jockeyed for a lane leading back toward the hotels.

For the filmmakers at well-attended Variety MEIFF party, the jet lag fog had just started to lift.  The extremes at the festival have worked all week to keep people disoriented - the revolving doors between the extreme hot outside and cold inside, the free flowing campaign, the mirrored surfaces, and football field sized hallways that never end.  Every day there's been a reception but last night's finally felt alive, a prelude to tonight's awards ceremony.

"Caramel" director Nadine Labaki was honored with the Middle East Filmmaker award, pictured with MEIFF's Mohamed Khalaf Al Mazrouei, Variety's Ali Jaafar, festival director Jon Fitzgerald, and Variety's Alberto Lopez.


Earlier, Paul Haggis, pictured with Jaafar, gave a Master's Class to local students.  Journalists were allowed to listen for 15 minutes before being asked to leave.


"I Love Hip Hop Morroco" filmmaker Jennifer Needleman asked what would happen if these falcons' blindfolds were removed.  "The birds would try to take your hair," was the answer.  The gentleman then proceeded to show her a bloody finger, which the bird had apparently tried to take earlier.

Earlier in the week at MEIFF's Film Financing Circle in Abu Dhabi, six filmmakers pitched their projects for a cash prize of $100K. Above, from left to right:  Rusudan Chkonia ("Keep Smiling"), Soman Chainani ("Love Marriage"), Fadal Al Muhairi ("A Corsair's Tale"), Kayvan Mashayekh ("Batting for Palestine"), Max Gruber ("We Kill What We Love"), FFC director Adrienne Briggs, and John McFarlane ("Friends & Money").

Ali Jaafar wraps it up here, along with news of an Abu Dhabi-based screenwriting lab, with Paul Haggis set to provide mentorship.

In the clip, Relativity Media’s Ryan Kavanaugh announces a surprise second prize.  Later, BBC Films head David Thompson and Hyde Park Entertainment chief Ashok Amritraj bestow the first.

The Emirates Palace so physically matches a modern Vegas casino that it could be transplanted next to the Wynn and feel in like-minded company.  Gold and marble overwhelm and blind.  The massive tonnage of air conditioning power insures you'll stay indoors, away from the oppressive heat.  Every whim and creature comfort is provided for, moving you to forget where you are - you can trip and fall over the borders of Iraq and Iran.

The differences?  No rednecks carrying plastic cups of slot coins.  Rather then taking money, a proper connection during the Film Financing Circle could stuff a wallet, or at least tease it.  Champaign does flow freely at receptions here - until the Middle East press photogs kindly ask you to put it out of sight before snapping.

 








And certainly no strip clubs. Even the virtual kind:

Executive director Nashwa Al Ruwani on the red carpet before the MEIFF opening night screening of "Atonement."


Jurors at the opening night reception -- Moving Pictures editor Eliot V. Kotek, "Shadow of the Vampire" director E. Elias Merhige, European Film Promotion co-founder Claudia M. Landsberger, and cinematographer Ueli Steiger.



The golden, domed foyer of the Emirates Palace, festival headquarters. 

Around every corner of the Emirates Palace there is someone desperate to help you.  In fact there are more people employed to help than people that need helping.  One could walk the vast, frigid, marble halls for twenty minutes and be helped over and over again. 

The Abu Dhabi government desperately wants to help.  At the film financing luncheon, the film commish even made it a part of his pitch.  Helicopters, planes, any production resource you can dream up - “We’ll don’t care.  We’ll do anything to get you to film here.”  And listening to him you couldn’t help by give in, but only a little.  Okay, we’ll be your prom date, but don’t get a room.

The thirty-minute, heavily touted “keynote conversation” by Harvey Weinstein was preceded by a music-driven montage of his films from Miramax to Weinstein Co. –  “Cinema Paradiso” to “The English Patient” to Rob Zombie’s “Halloween” remake.  (No Grindhouse clips, though.)  Harvey’s answer as to how this city could foster its own film culture was for the city to nurture its own filmmakers.  Follow the talent, just like he’s always done, he said. 

But Abu Dhabi is still working on finding its audience.  It’s impatient for it.  Tickets to many of the screenings are free.  Every day the local paper touts what’s going on.  Jon Fitzgerald has his own column, urging people to come with the day’s offering.  But people aren’t coming yet.  Jennifer Needleman’s smart and exciting doc on the explosion of an underground hip hop movement in Morocco, “I Love Hip Hop in Morocco,” screened to just above 20 people in the immense Palace auditorium (pictured above).  The Middle East short film showcase had fewer than ten people in it.  The army of festival volunteers pulled it all off without a hitch, but most of the time they shuffled around, looking for a task, peering around corners for someone to come.  Perhaps it’s still early yet.  As it gets deeper into the week maybe more will arrive, they said.  They hope so.  They just really want to help.  

Anthony Kaufman takes on why "The Band's Visit" isn't playing in Abu Dhabi, which opened with "Atonement" and fireworks last night.

After receiving a formal invitation on Sept. 14 from MEIFF programmer Nancy Collet (formerly of AFI Los Angeles International Film Festival), congratulating the film on being accepted into the fledgling event's narrative competition section, they were subsequently uninvited.

Jon Fitzgerald falls on the sword for this one:

But Fitzgerald says he hasn't received any outside pressures. "I had heard coming in that perhaps because of the region, there might be some censorship issues," admits Fitzgerald. "But the senior management gave me unilateral support to choose the films. Nobody has questioned our selections or asked to censor anything. They've given me a clean canvas."

What would compel a journalist into the air, 16 hours and two stopovers later, to land in a desert city to watch films that he's already seen at three other festivals? 

Gobs of money helps. 

Not the back-pocket, kick-back kind, but the tourist-attraction kind.  The kind that fertilizes an opulent beauty on a blank canvas, or in terms of Abu Dhabi, the kind that puts an indoor snow slope inside a mall.  While the pyramids of Egypt are only a loose association, there is a degree of similarity.  Abu Dhabi’s quest is for eternal cultural respect.  The pharaohs would finish a single portal to heaven in 20 years.  Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, Abu Dhabi’s ruler until 2004 and chief architect, built the city of Abu Dhabi in 30 years, now with a population of 1.8 million.  To touchdown in such an immense city that’s younger than you is quite humbling.

The city’s Middle East International Film Festival advertises its money.  "The richest city in the world." "The richest prize in the world." Any Google search of the Emirates Palace, the seven-star (or is it eight?) hotel where the festival takes place, yields this number - 3,000,000,000.  Which is, of course, how much it cost the government to build. 

First festivals bring the contrasts to mind. 

There was the first annual Athens Film Festival in Georgia, where a colleague and I literally helped an over-extended, rookie festival director write up an awards press release.  Meaning we wrote it for her.  So flustered she was that when it came out of her printer she passed it right back to us, asking if we would include it in our write-ups.  

There was the inaugural Tribeca fest, born from the WTC rubble, towers that we watched fall from cracked Lower East Side windows and Toronto film fest hotels.  A short time later Tribeca almost lost its city-wide goodwill by raising ticket prices 50%, sparking debate on whether a “festival experience” should cost more. 

The SXSW Film Festival began primarily as a trade show, putting its program and filmmakers in an unfortunate second position.  First film festivals are often so much trouble that a film journalist I know has a standing policy to never attend their first or even second year events.

But a first fest sets a foundation; it starts the record.  How they evolve is sometimes not how they start.  As expected, Athens didn't survive, though it tried.  It changed its leadership and name to Kudzu - the same name of a southern, non-native vine that chokes and destroys forests, and apparently festivals, even if Michael Stipe sponsors them.

But SXSW has come a long way, now factoring as a must-stop on the circuit.  It got there namely by doing what festivals should do - discovering, highlighting, and showcasing local talent.  If they get lucky, they may even happen upon a movement (though woe be to filmmakers caught up in that moniker, in these 2.0 days). 

What will the MEIFF be remembered for?  After the money is spent, after Harvey Weinstein and Jon Fitzgerald leave, what will remain in this young city?  Its Film Financing Circle and Middle East Spotlight on Arab Cinema are the festival’s most unique assets.  They have the promise to bring more honor and respect to this booming city than any indoor, snow-covered peak can.

Some may feel it's expecting too much to think an inaugural festival should reflect its region's film imprint on the world - no matter how conflicted that part of the world is. 

I think it's the least one should expect.  As Abu Dhabi's MEIFF and Dubai's fest evolve and emerge, The Circuit will be looking for them to live up to it.

Just when you think the Middle East fest can't get any more AmeriEuro – “Atonement” starts it, a lot of American and European screenings fill it, and now “In the Valley of Elah” ends it - they announce several big Middle Eastern sections. 

The new sections: Middle East Spotlight, GCC Films (Gulf Cooperative Council), and Arab Women Directors.  The festival will give a $100K prize and have also named "Caramel's" Nadine Labaki as its Variety Middle East Filmmaker of the Year.

Opening the Middle East Spotlight is Abdullah Al Muheisen's "Shadow of Silence" (pictured).  Previously the director joined the growing list of filmmakers denied a visa to attend a U.S. festival screening (like Kiarostami for the NYFF).

 

Middle East Spotlight:

OPENING FILM - SHADOW OF SILENCE (Dhalal Al Samt) - Saudi Arabia, directed by Abdullah Al Muheisen.  (Here's the Variety review)

CROSSING THE DUST (Parinawa La Ghobar) - Kurdistan-Iraq, directed by Shawkat Amin Korki. 

THE DAWN (Al Boom) - Oman, directed by Khalid Al-Zadjali.

DESERT HEAT - United Arab Emirates, short directed by John Hollingsworth.

FROM WITHIN: THEIR STORIES (Minhom Feehom) - Egypt, directed by Maggie Morgan. 

THE GREATEST OF SINS (Akbar Al Kaba'ir) - Egypt, short film directed by Youssef Hesham.

HER MAN (Ragilha) - Egypt, short film directed by Aiten Amin.

JUMAA AND THE SEA (Jumaa Wa Al Bahr) - United Arab Emirates, directed by Hani Al Shaibany.

TWO WOMEN ON THE ROAD (Imra'atan 'Ala Al Tareeq) - Morocco, directed by Farida Bourquia.

WHEN THE PEOPLE SPOKE ('Indama Takalam Al Sha'ab) - Kuwait, directed by Amer Al Zuhair.

 

GCC Films:

THE BARRIER (Al Hagiz) - Bahrain, directed by Bassan El-Zawadi.

THE CRUEL SEA (Bas Ya Bahr) 35th Anniversary of the First Film in the Gulf. - Kuwait, directed by Khalid El-Siddiq.

THREADS BENEATH SANDS (Khuyoot Taht Al-Rimal) - Qatar, directed by Khalifa Al-Meraikhy

 

Arab Women Directors:    

DANCE OF FIRE (Raqsat Al Nar) - Tunisia, directed by Selma Baccar.

DREAMY VISIONS (Ru'a Halima) - Syria, directed by Waha Al-Raheb.

WOMEN'S RUSES (Keïd Ensa) - Morocco, directed by Farida Benlyazid.

LAYLA, THE BEDOUIN (Layla Al Badawiya) Centennial of Egyptian Cinema - Egypt, directed by Bahega Hafez.

Palestinian Women Directors:

AFTER THE LAST SKY (Ba'ad Al Samaa' Al Akhira) directed by Alia Arasoughly.

GOING FOR A RIDE? (Mashyeen?) directed by Nahed Awwad. 

SUMMER OF '85 (Seif '85) - Palestine/Switzerland, directed by Rowan Al Faqih.

THE WAY BACK HOME - directed by Ghada Terawi.

 

 

The press release for the Middle East International Film Festival competition doesn't boast any feature film premieres.  Instead they focused on films that won awards or coveted fest spots elsewhere, mentioning "La Zona's" FIPRESCI award, "Grace is Gone's" Sundance competition birth, "Lucky Mile's" Special Jury Prize at Karlovy Vary, and "I Love Hip Hop Morocco's" best doc prize at the 2007 Atlanta Hip Hop Festival. 

And it's wonderful to see "Persepolis" in competition for The Black Pearl trophy.  Perhaps the fest is choosing to let the size of this prize speak more than the size of its premiere slate. From Ali Jaafar's article:

Its international competition will honor first-time or sophomore filmmakers for best feature, docu and short.

More significantly, the awards will offer substantial prize money -- the sum to be determined by the budget of the winner's next project. "Whether the next project is $1 million or $10 million or more, we're committing to helping get the project made," says fest director Jon Fitzgerald. "It's going to be the biggest prize of its kind that I've ever seen."

The Circuit will be there. 

Full lineup here.

Joe Wright's "Atonement" will open the inaugural Middle East International Film Festival.  Though more interesting will be how the other special screenings will play in Abu Dhabi (“the richest city in the world”) - namely DePalma's polarizing "Redacted" and Gavin Hood's "Rendition."  Todd Haynes' "I'm Not There" and Claude Lelouch's "Roman De Gare" will also screen. 

A very American selection so far for this Middle Eastern, international fest.

Maybe the mega-deal Abu Dhabi entered into with Warner Brothers will bring some Arabic special screenings in the future.  Read about it here.

A hundred miles south of that other super-endowed festival in Dubai, the Middle East International Film Festival in Abu Dhabi is starting to ramp up for their October debut. The city prides itself as “the richest in the world” and the fest will fly in and house filmmakers in the Emirates Palace (pictured), a $3 billion luxury hotel, where all fest screening and panels will happen. MEIFF hired Jon Fitzgerald as their programmer. Fest regulars know Jon as the co-founder Slamdance and he programmed AFI and Santa Barbara film fests.  (Mike Jones)