Tamer Abdel Hamid (Abu Dhabi)
The local film topped the art scene at the Al Ain International Film Festival, which concludes its fifth session this evening at the Sheikh Zayed Desert Learning Center in Al Ain Zoo. The films shown on the festival screens in the “Tall Gulf Falcon” and “Emirati Short Falcon” competitions achieved great resonance and remarkable success from filmmakers and critics.
5 films
During the festival, 5 feature films were shown: “The Millstone” by Nasser Al-Dhaheri, “Dreams of the Age” by Obaid Al-Hamoudi, “100 Packages” by Mazen Al-Khairat, “Manshal” by Saleh Karama, and “The King of the Ring” by Muhammad Saeed Hareb. While the promising Emirati talents in the world of “The Seventh Art” were able to draw attention and attract the festival’s audience, by presenting their cinematic creations through the implementation of 16 short and varied films between social, action, comic, romantic and suspense, including: “Isolation” and “Sama at the Top” and ” Dreisha, “Fouta”, “Apple”, “Unacceptable”, and “Beyond Salma”.
stars of the future
Al-Ittihad met with a group of promising “future stars” of cinematic talents who expressed their happiness to participate in the “International Film Festival” with films that resonated during its session, and talked regarding the importance of having cinematic platforms that support them and stand by them to show their creativity.
The beginning was with director Talal Mahmoud, who won the lion’s share of participation in Emirati films, as he starred in the feature film “Dreams of the Age” with Donia Youssef, and collaborated in writing it.
Talal Mahmoud participated in more than one short film, including: “Sama at the Top” as director of photography, director and author of “Unacceptable”. Capabilities that qualify it for Gulf and Arab competition, and what we lack is support from the authorities concerned with art and cinema. And we need to trust the capabilities of talents, and provide the appropriate environment for them to reach the audience to carry out work at the highest levels.
challenges
Matar Ahmed Al-Nuaimi, director of the film “Darisha”, explained that film festivals are an important platform to support local films, so that others can learn regarding our new works. He said: The biggest challenges are the lack of sufficient funding to produce cinematic works, and the absence of sufficient platforms to display our work on screens.
competition
Ahmed Al-Habsi, director of the movie “Isolation”, thanked the management of “Al Ain International Film Festival”, which is interested every year in future cinema, and in showing young creative energies in “The Seventh Art”, including directors, photographers and actors. He said, “This interest is beneficial to the local cinema, as filmmakers from all over the world get acquainted with the Emirati film industry, and the potential of young people to present works that compete in important forums.”
experiences and cultures
Hani Al-Ghass, director of the film “Fouta”, expressed his great happiness at the success of his film during the festival, and said: “If it weren’t for (the International Film Festival), our films would not have reached the audience in such a distinguished way among elite filmmakers and technical expertise from around the world. . Such festivals give new talents the necessary cinematic experiences, in order to learn, benefit, and shine their name. And he considered that Emirati short films have a strong presence in film festivals for years, which indicates the distinguished capabilities enjoyed by the promising generation, and what we lack is sufficient interest to get out of the cage of short films, to implement feature films.
