The Circuit

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.