MEIFF pics: Armbands, the King, and white on red
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.
Michael Jones is the film festival editor at Variety.com. 
THE MEIFF was focused on building a film infrastructure in Abu Dhabi...and the Film Financial Circle was the core of the event. The programming was excellent. but secondary in the eyes of the promoters.
Two Women on the Road (Morocco) and When the People Spoke (Kuwait) were my favs .. maybe because I am a North American and hunger for diverse views of people in the Middle East .. both could have an audience in the US
Posted by: tasty | 10/25/2007 2:33:06 PM
I attended the Middle East Film Festival in Abu Dhabi and thought it was mediocre. The organizers could have utilized more of the city and more local promotion was definitely needed. At times it seemed the festival was a bigger publicity stunt rather than sincere focus on the films (especially those from the Middle East). However, considering it was Abu Dhabi's first attempt at a film festival, the organizers should be commended. Hopefully lessons would have been learned and the festival will be better next year.
Posted by: Uzma Sulaiman | 10/23/2007 2:37:17 AM