The third edition of the Gulf Film 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), concluded with strong attendance from the movie-loving public. The seven-day festival hosted over 5,600 viewers – the largest ever turnout - at 94 free screenings of documentaries, shorts and feature films from 41 countries.
The week-long celebration of excellence in Gulf cinema had a rich showcase of 194 films including 81 World Premieres, 11 International Premieres, 33 Middle East Premieres, 17 GCC Premieres and nine UAE Premieres. In all, GFF 2010 had 128 short fiction films, 28 short documentaries, 8 features, 5 feature documentaries and 25 animation films.
The festival hosted 443 film industry professionals including 191 filmmakers during the week-long festival. More than 100 high-profile guests were invited in addition to 142 specialized industry professionals. The festival also witnessed strong media participation with 199 registered members of the media from around the Gulf region.
Festival Director Masoud Amralla Al Ali said the large showcase of films from the Gulf region highlighted the success of the festival in achieving its goal of promoting regional cinema. “One of our founding objectives is to stimulate the gulf film industry and offer regional directors a window to the wider world. The festival has indeed established its credentials as the first stop for Gulf-based cinema, and it will be interesting to see the young talent implementing techniques and ideas they have discovered over the week’s screenings and activities.”
The festival also honoured internationally renowned Iraqi actor & playwright Khalil Shawki, Emirati actress Raziqa Al Taresh, and Kuwait’s applauded actress Hayat Al Fahad with the Lifetime Achievement Awards, during the opening ceremony.
On the closing day, the winners in the in-competition sections of the festival were honoured. The competitions were in three segments – Official Film Competition for professionals in features, documentaries and shorts; Student Competition for best documentary and shorts; and a Script Writing Competition exclusively for UAE nationals. In all, prizes worth AED485,000 were distributed to the winners of the competitions.
The film competition jury was headed by accomplished Moroccan filmmaker Jillali Ferhati. He was joined by Saudi Arabian filmmaker and critic Mohammed Aldhahri; Emirati actor Ibrahim Salim; Yemeni filmmaker Khadija Al-Salami and Artistic Director of the International Film Festival Bratislava in Slovakia Matthieu Darras. The jury for the Script Competition comprised Qatari scriptwriter Widad Al Kuwairi, Saudi columnist Badriya Abdullah Al Bashar and UAE writer Amina Abu-Shehab.
The festival also hosted industry events to bring together professionals and aspiring filmmakers and students. These included the Producer’s Workshop led by award-winning producer and member of the German film academy Roshanak Behesht Nedjad; the GFF Trade Fair; five Gulf Nights session that brought industry professionals and media together; and the Francois Vogel master-classes.
Several celebrities from Gulf cinema walked the red carpet at the opening and closing ceremonies. The UAE film industry was represented by Huda Al Khatib, Bilal Abdulla, Mohamed Saeed, Ibrahim Salim, Saoud Al Kaabi, Abdullah Saleh, Ashwaq, Moosa Bogeesh, Mariam Sultan, Abdulla Al Jafali, Guzlan, Abdul Hamid Al Bolushi and Sougah.
The Kuwaiti talent-contingent included Khalid Ameen, Abdulemam Abdullah, Mohammed Jabir, Mariam Al Saleh, Khalid Al Breeki, Ismahan Tawfeeq and Hayat Al Fahad. Bahraini film personalities at the red carpet were Hayfa Hussain, Mariam Zeman, Ameen Saleh, Fareed Ramadan, Hassan Haddad, Ghahtan Al Gahtani, Khalid Al Rowaiei, Ali Al Gherer and Parween Atiya. Talent from Saudi Arabia included Ibrahim Al Hasawi and Badriay Al Bashar and Qatari talent included Abdul Aziz Al Jasim, Ghazi Hussain, and Wedad Al Kuwari.
