Dubai at Cannes: Arabic films set for biggest film festival

The Cannes Film Market will showcase a wide-range of upcoming titles by directors from the Arab world, including prominent Egyptian auteur Yousry Nasrallah's  bucolic 'Brooks, Meadows and Lovely Faces,' about a family of cooks who cater for weddings in the Egyptian countryside.

The Marche du Film is set to host a Dubai Film Market presents selection of works-in-progress and also a Liban Cinema presents selection. Both are screening at the mart on Monday, May 16.

The work-in-progress of Nasrallah's 'Brooks,' his followup to post-Arab Spring drama 'After the Battle,' which competed in Cannes in 2012, is in the Dubai section.

That section also includes Syrian director Maisa Safadi's '4 Seasons, 2 Brothers and a Border,' produced by US producer Soloman Goodman's Railroad Films. Picture is about the impact of the 1967 Arab-Isreali Six-Day War on the life of a Syrian village.

The Lebanese selection includes 'Fallen From The Sky,' the feature film debut of Beirut-based documaker Wissam Charaf, who is an alumni of the Sundance Institute's Rawi Screenwriters Lab in Jordan. It's about two brothers, one of whom resurfaces after being presumed dead.

This is shaping up to be a pretty good year for Arab movies in Cannes.

Egyptian director Mohamed Diab's hotly anticipated 'Clash' has the honor of opening the fest's Un Certain Section, marking the first film from turbulent Egypt bowing at Cannes since Nasrallah's 'Battle.'

'Clash' is set entirely inside an overcrowded police truck packed with demonstrators from all social classes after a massive protest following the events of July 3, 2013, as crowds celebrated the ouster of fromer president Mohamed Morsi.

Diab is known internationally for bold harassment picture 'Cairo 678.'

A complete list of Arab works-in-progress unspooling at the Cannes Market in the Dubai and Lebanon:

Dubai Goes to Cannes:

'4 Seasons, 2 Brothers and a Border,' Maisa Safadi

'Fish Killed Twice,' Fawzi Saleh

'Munich: A Palestinian Story,' Nasri Hajjaj

'Brooks, Meadows and Lovely Faces,' Yousry Nasrallah

Lebanon Goes to Cannes:

'Beirut Terminus,' Elie Kamal

'Room for a Man,' Anthony Chidiac

'Feminitude,' Soula Saad

'One of These Days,' Nadim Tabet

'Fallen From The Sky,' Wissam Charaf

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