Abu Dhabi film festival: Opens with an Emirati film, 197 on show

Big announcements, big names, big movies, premieres, films beyond the glamour - that's what Abu Dhabi Film Festival (ADFF) is all about.

This year, for the first time, ADFF, which runs from October 23 to November 1, is opening with an Emirati film - Ali F Mostafa’s 'From A to B', which was produced by Image Nation.

For the closing film, ADFF will screen Hollywood's Disney animation 'Big Hero 6', before it opens in the United States.

Abu Dhabi Film Festival (ADFF), powered by twofour54, announces the line up for the 2014 edition, which will take place in Abu Dhabi’s Emirates Palace and Vox Cinemas Marina Mall.

The announcement includes all participants in the high profile Narrative Competition, the New Horizons Competition for first and second feature length films, the Documentary Competition, as well as the Emirates Film Competition and the Short Film Competition.

For the second time, the Festival hosts the Child Protection Award, organized in partnership with the Child Protection Centre (Ministry of Interior) with the aim of calling attention to those films that raise awareness about the situation of abused or neglected children or promote prevention measures in this regard.

The Our World Competition assembles a selection of feature films that raise awareness of environmental and related social issues.

The festival will also be screening a number of restored classics including Richard Lester’s 1964 Beatles vehicle A Hard Day’s Night and Sergio Leone’s seminal 1964 spaghetti Western A Fistful of Dollars.

The 32 selected narrative and documentary films are eligible for the audience award and represent the best of recent outstanding filmmaking from around the world.

Non-competitive Special Programmes are dedicated to “The Arab Diaspora”, “Truffaut: The Man Who Loved Cinema” and “Restored Classics”.

A total of nine World Premieres among the feature long narrative films will be presented this year, eight of them from the Arab World.

No less than 48 World Premieres will be shown in the short film sections, the Emirates Film Competition and the Short Film Competition.

This year, the festival will also pay tribute to the work of French cinema legend François Truffaut (1932-1984).

For many, Truffaut’s work epitomised the French cinema of his age and seven of his classic films, including the ever-popular Jules et Jim, will be screened.

ADFF was established in 2007 with the aim of helping to create a vibrant film culture throughout the region and has previously showcased the work of major figures in world cinema, including Ingmar Bergman and Naguib Mahfouz.

A key event in Abu Dhabi’s cultural calendar, it features an extensive 10-day programme of Arab and international cinema, complemented by red-carpet premieres and associated events.

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