Dubai International film festival wraps up its star-studded celebration

Actors perform traditional Arabian dance at the opening ceremony of the 6th Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates (Xinhua/An Jiang) (lyx)

Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) is the leading film festival in the Middle East. Since it began in 2004, the festival has served as an influential platform for Arab filmmakers and talent at an international level. The 12th edition of DIFF took place from 9^th December to 16^th December, 2015.

It’s one of the city’s most star-studded events; the eight-day festival celebrates local and international productions, as this year featured 130 film, short movies and documentaries from 60 countries in 40 languages. With some international guests due to appear at the event like Jake Gyllenhaal, Bollywood’s Shah Rukh Khan, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Eva Longoria, Dev Patel, Michael B. Jordan and Melanie Griffiths. Gyllenhaal, who stared in this year’s boxing film Southpaw, will be honoured with the Variety‘s ‘International Star of the Year’ Award at a special ceremony, besides getting interviewed about his career.  Abdulhamid Juma, Chairman of Dubai International Film Festival, told Arabian Business: ‘Jake Gyllenhaal is a huge talent and undeniably one of the most accomplished actors of his generation. His screen presence has captivated audiences since his earliest roles and he is one of the most versatile actors working today.”

Hend Sabry, one of the stars at DIFF giving an interview on the red carpet, along other Arab actresses such as Leila Alwyi and others.

The most anticipated awards were the Muhr feature awards as Egyptian actress Menna Shalabi won best actress award for her role in “Nawara”, and Tunisian actor Lotfi Abdelli won best actor award for his role in “Borders of Heaven”. The best Muhr fiction feature went to “As I Open My Eyes” by Tunsian director Leyla Bouzid, and the best non-fiction feature went to Egyptian filmmaker Mahmood Soliman for his film “We Have Never Been Kids”, which tells the story of an Egyptian woman trying to look after her four kids after and during her divorce with their father.

American actor Richard Dreyfuss comes to the opening of the Dubai International Film Festival in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2015. (AP Photo/Martin Dokoupil)

Featuring films from China, India, Brazil, Algeria, Egypt, France, Greece, Guatemala, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Lebanon and many others for a number of exclusive and uncensored screenings of some of the highly anticipated movies of the upcoming year.

Some of the most anticipated movies are Emirati “Zinzana”, a UAE production of a neo noir thriller, which tells the story of Talal (played by Saleh Bakri) who is tortured by the visions of his beloved ex-wife and son while trapped in a prison cell, waiting to hear his fate. Also “The Idol” which tells the story of Mohammad Assaf, whose talent and drive turned a talent show into one of the most watched television spectacles in the Arab world. In winning the competition Assaf became a symbol of hope for Palestinians in the region and around the world. The event will also see the ‘Arab Idol’ winner Assaf himself performing a selection of his most famous songs. UAE impresses again with their first feature animation film entirely developed and produced in Dubai, “Bilal”, as it tells the story of young Bilal, who has the grand dream of becoming a great warrior, when he’s abducted with his sister and taken to a land far away.

The festival opened with the Hollywood movie “Room” which centers on a five year old boy and his mother who have been living in captivity, providing a psychological thrill. and after its eight days span the festival ended with Adam’s McKay depiction of the American financial crisis of 2007-2010 with “The Big Short”