DFI’s Top Picks for the 6th Abu Dhabi Film Festival
Oct 03, 2012
Compiled by Reem Saleh
Photos and synopses courtesy Abu Dhabi Film Festival
The Abu Dhabi Film Festival takes place from 11-20 October, and will open with a UAE premiere. Saudi film producer Mohammed Al Turki’s ‘Arbitrage’, starring Richard Gere and Susan Sarandon, will kick off festivities.
Directed by Nicholas Jarecki, the feature film is a taut, morally thorny thriller. Robert Miller (Richard Gere) is a Wall Street magnate desperate to offload his empire before his daughter, wife (Susan Sarandon) and business associates discover his massive financial losses. DFI is heading to the UAE capital to share news and reviews highlighting the best in Arab and international cinema.
Here is what we’re looking forward to:
Film: Cursed be the Phosphate – 2012
Director: Sami Tlili
Country: Lebanon, Qatar, Tunisia, UAE
Category: Documentary Competition
Synopsis: Three years before Tunisian dictator Ben Ali’s government was toppled, an uprising in phosphate-rich Gafsa was brutally suppressed. Director Sam Tlili investigates the fates of the dissidents and life in the region today.
Film: As If We Were Catching a Cobra – 2012 (Et comme si nous attrappions un cobra)
Director: Hala AlAbdalla
Country: Syria, France, UAE
Category: Documentary Competition
Synopsis: Hala Alabdalla’s film was initially intended to be a documentary about political caricatures in Egypt and Syria, but insurgencies in both countries led to this electrifying study of Arab artists fighting for freedom.
Film: Coming Forth by Day – 2012 (Al-Khoroug lel-Nahar)
Director: Hala Lotfy
Country: Egypt, UAE
Genre: Fiction
Category: New Horizons
Synopsis: Award-winning Egyptian filmmaker Hala Lofty’s feature debut is a reflection on how people create their own prisons, told through the everyday story of two women caring for a sick man.
Film: When I Saw You- 2012 (Lamma Shoftak)
Director: Annemarie Jacir
Country: Jordan, Palestine, UAE
Category: New Horizons
Synopsis: In 1967 Jordan, 11-year-old Tarek and his mother are confined to a refugee camp. But Tarek has a free spirit and a curious nature, and soon runs away in search of freedom. This film was Palestine’s 2012 Oscar entry.
Film: Hidden Beauties – 2012 (Manmoutesh)
Director: Nouri Bouzid
Country: Tunisia, UAE, France
Category: Narrative Competition
Synopsis: With Tunisia in the turmoil of revolution two young friends, Zaneb and Aicha, are inspired to demand the same rights as men at home, at work and in their love-lives.
Film: Outrage Beyond – 2012 (Autoreiji: Biyondo)
Director: Takeshi Kitano
Country: Japan
Category: Narrative Competition
Synopsis: Director Takeshi Kitano plays a gangster embroiled in a nationwide war set off by a Machiavellian cop. This ambitious (and bloody) crime epic gleefully deconstructs the romantic idea of honour among the yakuza.
Film: In the House – 2012 (Dans la maison)
Director: François Ozon
Country: France
Category: Narrative Competition
Synopsis: This sophisticated drama from acclaimed French auteur François Ozon (‘Potiche’) is about a teacher who is inspired by a student’s essays, until he realises they may conceal dark intent.
Film: Great Expectations – 2012
Director: Mike Newell
Country: United Kingdom
Category: Showcase
Synopsis: Ralph Fiennes and Helena Bonham Carter lead a star-studded cast in Mike Newell’s highly anticipated adaptation of this Charles Dickens’ classic.
Film: Beasts of the Southern Wild – 2011
Director by Benh Zeitlin
Country: USA
Category: New Horizons
Synopsis: A precocious six-year-old and her mythic bayou community face the aftermath of an apocalyptic storm in Benh Zeitlin’s utterly original, spellbinding debut feature, a winner of major prizes at both Sundance and Cannes.