17 contemporary films from Spain and France at 4th Gulf Film Festival

Eleven films from France and six from Spain are a highlight of the fourth Gulf Film Festival, which begins tomorrow and continues until April 20 at Dubai Festival City. The 17 films are included in the roster of 153 films from 31 countries that are screening for free as part of the Festival, held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Majid Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Dubai Culture & Arts Authority (Dubai Culture). 

The new generation films are featured in the International Shorts competition of the Festival, and the Children’s Cinema and Intersections segments, bringing the best of modern French and Spanish cinema to Dubai. 

Marking its World Premiere at GFF 2011 is Javier Ideami’s The Long Goodbye, depicting the story of a young man trying to have a last conversation with his dying wife after they meet with a car accident. Winner of ‘Best Song’ at the Jerry Goldsmith Music Awards of the International Music Festival in Spain, the film is guaranteed to soften the most obstinate heart. 

César and José Esteban Alenda’s The Order of Things debuts in the Middle East at GFF, and narrates the tale of Julia, whose life takes place in a bathtub as she tries to gather her courage drop by drop. Four other Spanish films too are being screened in the Middle East for the first time at GFF’s Intersections segment. Mikel Rueda’s Cuando Corres (When You Run) is a short fiction that conveys the theme – ‘when you run you only hear your footsteps and nothing else.’ The film was screened at the Short Film Corner of Cannes 2010 and at Semana del Cortometraje de Madrid 2010. 

Ainhoa Menéndez Goyoaga directs Fabrica De Munecas (Dolls Factory) about Anna whose life revolves around performing mechanical motions to put eyes into dolls at a factory. A small change at the workplace changes her life forever. Manuel Calvo’s Cannon Beach is set in winter, when Tinka rides a bus on her way to the beach. She is joined by Garrett and together they try not to miss life as it goes rushing by. La Historia De Siempre (The Same Old Story), directed by José Luis Montesinos Bernabé, is about a man who does everything in his power to get back his wife and put an end to a crisis that brews in his life. 

Six animation films from France are being screened at Intersections, all of them marking their GCC Premiere at GFF. Aurelien Breton, Lionel Brouyere, Caroline Gasnier M., and Benoit Leleu direct Branque Brol Tambours, a documentary interview with Globule, a secluded man in the Pyrenees. In this natural habitat, he makes his crazy contraptions come true, gathers junk and shares his views of the world. D’une Rare Crudite, directed by E Davaud, Marion Szymczak and Jeremy Mougel comprise sweet and cruel stories set in a strange garden. 

Other French animation films include: Botanica Liberta by Florian Caspar, Frederic Conil, Nicolas Malovec and Daniel Schiano; Hambuster directed by Paul Alexandre, Dara Cazamea, M Cazaux, Romain Delaunay and L Monneron; Maximall by Axelle Cheriet, Hadrien Ledieu, Nawel Rahal and Axel Tillement; and Slim Time by Bertrand Avril, Pierre Chomarat, David Dangin and Théa Matland. 

The award-winning Aleksandr by Remy Dereux, Maxime Hibon, and Juliette Klauser, narrates the story of Aleksandr the knitter, who lives suspended above the clouds with his village. Globally acclaimed short fiction drama Amsterdam from the cinematic mind of Philippe Etienne depicts the peak of winter in a vineyard of the Southwest. Bruno and Hakim find a relationship blossoming between them when they realise that they are the only two people in the world, or at least that’s what they think. 

Hameed Ayubi’s Fakir’s Bicycle documents a religious scholar who repairs bicycles for a living, working alongside an old bridge in Kabul, while a know-it-all hobo in Paris is looking for food, when his prey, a delivery man, realises that he needs to clever to escape the madman trying to take his delivery in Mehdi Alavi’s Parigot. 

The fourth edition of the Gulf Film Festival will be held at the InterContinental Hotel, Crowne Plaza, and Cinemas at Dubai Festival City. The 2011 Festival includes out-of-competition segments, a master class by renowned director Abbas Kiarostami and other special events. All films are free and open to the public. 

The Gulf Film Festival box office is open from 10.30 am to 10 pm daily at the Grand Cinemas Dubai Festival City. All patrons are welcome to up to two tickets per person on a first-come, first-served basis. The full schedule of films is also available online. 

The festival is supported by Dubai Culture & Arts Authority and is held in association with Dubai Studio City.