The Circuit

Pacific Business News has a story about the Hawaii International Film Festival losing a $44K lawsuit to Fedex, who says the fest owes for shipping services.

HIFF exec director Chuck Boller has a peculiar quote:

Boller said the festival experienced slower cash flow after its fall 2006 festival.

"The smaller organizations can often wait for us to make payments, but sometimes the bigger ones get impatient," Boller told PBN.

So a warning to all small, local businesses that might have given HIFF a discount for services - after a $44 grand hit, you may be "waiting" longer than usual.

If only HIFF had taken the route of Dubai, who, according to this utterly objective bit of reporting, allowed Fedex "behind the scenes" access. 

Fedex returned the favor by shipping 6 tons of their stuff.

by Stephen Garrett
The Dubai International Film Festival should be rightly proud of its slogan, "Bridging Cultures. Meeting Minds." As the event wrapped up its 4th edition over the weekend, evidence of the credo was in abundance, most obviously in a generous international programming slate that unspooled everything from Joel and Ethan Coen's Oscar hopeful "No Country for Old Men" to South Korean auteur Im Kwon-taek's "Chun-Nyun-Hack."
 
Most relevant to the region, though, were the films competing for the Muhr Awards for Excellence in Arab Cinema, which lauded Philippe Aractingi's "Under the Bombs" for both best film and best actress. The film, which stars Nada Abou Farhat as a Shi'ite Muslim divorcée from Dubai who searches southern Lebanon for her missing son and finds herself falling in love with a Christian taxi driver, may have been Middle Eastern through and through. But the message of religious tolerance was a meeting of minds (and faiths) that epitomized the festival's mandate.
 
All film festivals have a financial incentive, whether it be to boost tourism or energize a local film industry, and DIFF's business-savvy city made sure to put money first and center. Among the handful of major sponsors were Dubai Duty Free, Dubai International Financial Centre and the credit-card company Dubai First (touting its "Royale" premium category, which has an actual diamond embedded into the card). If movies were the main priority in the hearts and minds of Emiratis this week, shopping must have been a very close second.
 
Then again, consumerism is at the core of all multiculturalism, as Brazilian author Poulo Coelho explained at Friday's Cultural Bridge Panel. "Bridges were built for traders," he said in his keynote address. "They brought merchandise, but they also brought the soul of their culture."
 
The panel pointed to international co-productions such as "Blindness," which fellow panelist Danny Glover just finished shooting, as the epitome of such soulful cross-pollination. Here is a book by Portuguese author José Saramago being adapted by Brazilian director Fernando Meirelles and starring a cast that includes Americans, Canadians and Japanese. The subject itself, a epidemic of vision loss, speaks to the panel's topic. "What kind of relationships do people create when they lose their sight?" said Glover. "It's a metaphor for what we need to do in the 21st century."
 
Another of DIFF's initiatives to bridge culture is its trio of Lifetime Achievement Awards, given to a representative of Western cinema, of Eastern cinema and of Arab cinema. This year's recipients, Glover, Im and Egyptian director Youssef Chahine (who was too frail to travel from Cairo), were both self-effacing of themselves and effusive about each other during Saturday afternoon's press conference.
 
Im, in being recognized for his 100 films, joked modestly, "I look back and I wish that I could throw away about 50 of those films I made as a young man." Glover, for his part, was just humbled to be in such august company, having been a fan of Im's since seeing him honored eight years ago at the Telluride Film Festival and an admirer of Chahine's for more than twenty years. When asked if he would ever consider being in a film by the Egyptian, Glover replied, "I have no plans - but if asked, I would pay for my own ticket."
 
Not all of DIFF's events were so sweetly respectful. A last-minute change in the outdoor concert series "Rhythm and Reels" added a visit from the Axis of Evil comedy tour, an Arab-American comedy trio who has been bringing their stateside ethnic humor to cities all over the Middle East. "Sorry this show started late," said Egyptian-American comic Ahmed Ahmed after keeping the Foster's-swigging ampitheater audience waiting happily for an hour. "But we're on A.S.T.: Arab Standard Time."
 
There's something jolting about watching a comic work an Arabic crowd for laughs ("Any people from Jordan? Yeah? What about Kuwait? Hey you Pakistanis and Indians - can you just make peace already?") But even stranger was seeing South Korean comic Wan-Ho Chung start his act by belting an Arabic song before launching into a full stand-up routine speaking the local tongue fluently (Chung learned it growing up in Jordan). The United States may be the great American melting pot, but the boomtown of Dubai has its own special way of bridging that culture gap.


Stephen Garrett is a freelance film journalist who contributes regularly to Time Out New York and Esquire magazine. He is also the co-founder of Kinetic Trailerworks, a New York-based marketing company specializing in movie trailers for independent, foreign and  documentary films. Recent campaigns include 2006's Oscar-winner for Best Foreign Film, "The Lives of Others," as well as the Oscar-nominated "Half-Nelson" and the Sundance Award-winning "No End in Sight."

by Stephen Garrett
Nothing in the Middle East is quite as surreal as watching Arabic men in flowing white robes walk by a trio of ten-foot Christmas trees in the lobby of the Habtoor Grand Resort and Spa. The hotel, home to many of the Dubai International Film Festival's visiting journalists, has a staff which happily dons Santa caps, as well as a restaurant that plays standards like Elvis' "Blue Christmas" during breakfast.

What would Allah say?

"Oh, it's not religious, of course," says Susan Probert, DIFF's guest liaison and a Dubai resident for the past four years. "It's just about Santa Claus and giving presents."

Anything to entice that consumerist urge, in a city where the biggest tourist attractions are the massive shopping gallerias. One of the most famous, the Mall of the Emirates, houses the CineStar, DIFF's main venue for public screenings. (It also boasts everything from a Starbucks to a Sunglass Hut; American teens would fit right in.) The multiplex, nestled between a Border's bookshop and a food court with a Chili's, and just upstairs from the Virgin Megastore, is a handsome exhibition hall with 8 of its 12 screens devoted to festival screenings.

DIFF incorporates a total of five venues for its activities, only two of which - the Madinat Arena and the Madinat Theater - are within walking distance. All others require taking a shuttle bus, a taxi or a personal car. The dispersion is understandable for such a young upstart, but really should be remedied if DIFF wants to gain in reputation and status. Festivalgoers need a better locus that makes it impossible not to mingle and network - an equivalent to Berlin's Potsdammer Platz, Cannes' Croisette and Venice's Lido.

Perhaps DIFF's parent company, Dubai Holdings, will reach into its pocket and fund a headquarters, much in the same way The Toronto International Film Festival Group is consolidating their activities under one roof. (It's not like putting up a new complex would cause a blemish in a city that's already a virtual construction pit, where literally dozens of 30-story buildings are in various states of completion and construction cranes dot the landscape like traffic lights.)

Still, the festival is doing a commendable job not only representing cinema of the Middle East but also creating opportunities for these filmmakers. "All the world comes to Dubai," says Nabil Ayouch, whose debut feature, "Mektoub," won the top prize at the Cairo Film Festival and whose charming romance "Whatever Lola Wants" had its world premiere on Tuesday night. "The city is a crossroads; it's the Hollywood of the Arab world. And the festival is really putting a spotlight on Arabic cinema as we try to build an identity for ourselves and show our complexity."

When asked about other festivals in the region, Ayouch points beyond the 31-year-old Cairo Film Festival to the more recently established ones. "Dubai and Marrakech are the best," he says. "The good news is that one is in Africa and one is in the Middle East. The bad news is that they're so close together on the calendar." Indeed: Ayouch left Wednesday to appear at Thursday night's international premiere of "Lola" - at the 7th Marrakech Film Festival.

by Stephen Garrett
Money-larded Middle Easterners boogied under disco balls to the sound of the Rolling Stones' "Start Me Up," as the Dubai International Film Festival kicked off its fourth year on the beach facing the neon- bathed, skyline-signature Burj Al Arab. Sunday's opening night party, a black-tie bacchanal where champagne flutes overflowed with Moet and revelers crowded the foie gras food stations, spared no expense in its attempt to rival the opulence of Cannes' sexy soirees.

Matching the Rivera's tony nightlife? No problem. But its cinematic heritage - that's a luxury money still can't buy. Hollywood wattage is noticeably lower on the Arabian peninsula, with Cannes vets George Clooney and Sharon Stone among the few celebrities here for the offering.

Making good on his promise to return to the Emirate where he shot part of "Syriana" back in 2005, Clooney promoted the opening night film "Michael Clayton," his apolitical character study set in the world of unscrupulous lawyers and heartless corporations - a not-unfamiliar milieu in a wealthy city that's aggressively courted many of the world's largest conglomerates. Not surprisingly, the film's humanist message earned muted applause at the film's end. "That was a disappointing reception," whispered a British spectator after the lights came up.

Local enthusiasm for DIFF is nonetheless growing-there are 700 volunteers currently, as compared with 215 in its first year-and the regional press couldn't be more breathless in their adoration for Clooney. During a SRO press conference, the actor was peppered with questions about his long road to stardom ("What would you have done without E.R.?") and his imagined aspirations for public office ("We smell political ambition").

But the public still hasn't been adequately trained in celebrity worship. A reader's poll in Dubai's English-language newspaper Gulf News asked if George Clooney's getting better with age, to which 76% said they do not care. (Asked about red carpet arrivals, 73% said they never watch them.) Looks like E! needs to come to the desert for some serious missionary work.

Monday night was Sharon Stone's time to shine, as she brought amfAR's HIV/AIDS charity work here for the organization's inaugural benefit auction. While not as raucous and freewheeling as the notoriously star-studded Cannes shindig, Stone's Dubai edition at the Jumeirah Bab Al Shams Desert Resort and Spa still kicked off the Arabian money drive in style, bringing in $3 million. Stone sweetly brow-beat the swanky Emirati, shaking them down for overpayment on everything from a Louis Vuitton vanity case she personally designed ($55,000) to her own mint-condition 1961 Lincoln Continental ($400,000).

Kenneth Cole, amfAR's chairman of the board, was also on hand, graciously thanking all those in attendance for their generosity but stretching DIFF's stature on the festival circuit a bit too far. "The skiing here is better than Sundance," he said, referring to the city's indoor sub-zero slope, "And the beaches are better than Cannes." Dubai is full of treasures, Kenneth, but let's not get too carried away.

Photos by Wireimage.com

As the Dubai fest cranks up, photog and filmmaker John Hollingsworth sent some stills of the city and its people. 

Indian worker at Buisness Bay toils in summer temperatures


Forest of workers bikes at Dubai port.


Indian girl walks in Karama


Worker takes a midday rest at Jumeirah beach opposite where I live.


All photos and captions by John Hollingsworth.

The early word from The Circuit's man in Dubai are simply a few bizarre shots of opening night and that "Christmas trees are everywhere!" 

Check back here for more Dubai fest news.

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.

Every inch of space inside the AFM's main hub at the Loews is sold, so it's no surprise the ambitious Dubai Film Festival would try to carve out some promo space somewhere.  Their answer?  Variety's Patrick Frater pointed out the scorched, desert city is giving away its second most precious asset - water.


Across town, AFI FEST filmmakers were given their stuff in cool bag made from festival trash - years of obsolete, old light pole banners.  A company called RetroActif took the banners out of the warehouse, scrubbed them, and sewed them up with padding - finally making a festival bag that you aren't embarrassed to carry.  The signage on the surface is refreshingly restrained, too.


The camera line at the AFI FEST Village.  "4 months, 3 weeks, 2 days" filmmaker Cristian Mungiu answers questions.  Like "Juno," his film has also had a great festival run.  Screenings here were sold out.


AFI FEST's Filmmmakers Lounge, as the crowd watches silent short films with a DJ accompaniment. Glowing in the center, the Rabbi reports.  (aka Mark Rabinowitz, festival fixture).