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29 March 2024

Dubai Film Fest: what to watch where

The King’s Speech Opening Gala JBR The Walk 8pm Free Screening (AGENCY)

Published
By Bindu Suresh Rai

It is that time of year again when those culturally starved for world cinema come out in droves to sample some of the finest films from around the globe in an eight-day cinematic feast that is the Dubai International Film Festival.

The 7th edition of this spectacle, which runs from December 12 until the 19, will feature over 150 films from 57 countries around the world, with a host of celebrities that include Academy Award winner Sean Penn, Colin Firth, Colin Ferrell and Karan Johar, to name but few.

With so much on offer and so little time, Emirates 24|7 takes the plunge to bring you the best of the fest to plan your week ahead with ease and to grab those tickets before they sell out.

The box office is open and tickets can be purchased at the Madinat Arena, along with Mall of the Emirates and online on Dubaifilmfest.com.

So while we get you the insider celebrity gossip in the week ahead, here’s your chance to kick back and enjoy the show.

Sunday, December 12

The King’s Speech

Opening Gala

The details: JBR The Walk; 8pm; Free Screening

What’s it about: A shy and stammering Duke of York (Colin Firth), or Bertie, is the younger son of King George V, with an aversion to speaking in public.

When his failed attempts at public forums start to strain his marriage, his wife Elizabeth (Helena Bonham Carter) finds an unlikely solution in the form of Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush), an eccentric Australian ctor speech therapist whose method of dealing with the King’s speech impediment employs a variety of unorthodox treatments.

But when Great Britain, which is entering the final cycle of failed diplomacy before WW II, sees King Edward VIII (Guy Pearce) abdicates to marry an American divorcee, Bertie is forced to step up and rally his people via mass broadcasting. Will he pass this gigantic test or fail his country and himself?

Monday, December 13

When You’re Strange: A Film About The Doors (Rhythm and Reels)

The details: JBR The Walk; 8pm; Dh25

What’s it about: The latter half of the swinging ’60s saw a new kind of music crashing out onto the scene with The Doors creating a sensation with their magically sinister, psychedelic blues-rock that turned Jim Morrison into a cultural phenomenon.

Four years later, Morrison was dead, a bloated alcoholic, washed up in Paris.

This documentary charts the intervening years, which saw the band achieve international acclaim and record some of the most thrilling rock music ever to make the charts.

Johnny Depp lends his voice to narrate this montage of archive footage, live performances and vintage interviews sourced from the band’s personal collections.

Six, Seven, Eight (Gala Screening – Muhr Arab Feature)

The details: Madinat Arena; 9pm; Dh80

What’s it about: A must-see for lovers of Egyptian cinema, this bold film lifts the veil on sexual harassment in Cairo’s complex social hierarchy.

Director and scriptwriter Mohamed Diab chronicles a heartbreaking story of three women: Fayza, a conservative mother in search of justice; Seba, a wealthy jewellery designer recovering from a vicious gang assault; and Nelly, an aspiring stand-up comic who draws national outrage for daring to file a sexual harassment lawsuit. The film follows this trio as, frustrated by the lackadaisical response from authorities, they decide to take the law into their own hands.

Also showing: Wednesday, December 19 at Mall of the Emirates at 3.45pm for Dh25

An Unfinished Letter (Celebration of Indian Cinema)

The details: Mall of the Emirates; 9.45pm; Dh25

What’s it about: Directed by the award-winning Aparna Sen and starring her talented daughter Konkona Sen Sharma, the film chronicles the life of Mrinalini, a troubled, ageing actress who is penning her suicide note.
As a performer, the first lesson she had learnt was timing and now she wants to choose the moment of her exit.

However, before taking a final lethal dose of pills, she decides to destroy all her memorabilia, lest it falls into the hands of the press. As she looks through the old box that contains relics from her past, memories flood the night. Incidents that she had forgotten or had relinquished to the furthest corners of her mind now return to haunt her.

Also showing: Tuesday, December 14 at Mall of the Emirates at 3.15pm for Dh25

Tuesday, December 14

End of Animal (Muhr AsiaAfrica Feature)

The details: Mall of the Emirates; 6.45pm; Dh25

The detailA must watch for lovers of Asian films, this South Korean disaster film will terrify, exhilarate and shock in equal measure.

Heavily pregnant Sun-young (Hae-il Park) is in a taxi that she is sharing with a mysterious man who appears to know a lot about her. Suddenly, he forces the car to stop on a deserted road and counts down to zero, whereupon a cataclysmic event occurs.

Upon regaining consciousness, Sun-young tries to find help, but all she finds is a walkie-talkie that begins emitting cryptic instructions, telling her to stay with the car. This absorbing psychodrama is one of the most exciting films to have emerged from South Korea in recent times.

Also showing: Wednesday, December 15 at Mall of the Emirates at 4pm for Dh25

LennonNYC (Cinema of the World/Rhythm and Reels)

The details: JBR The Walk; 8pm; Dh25

What’s it about: This acclaimed documentary by Michael Epstein crafts an intelligent account of the late Beatle’s eight-year residency in the United States.

Drawing on a wealth of interviews with key contemporaries, friends, colleagues and family, Epstein's film gets closer to the unvarnished, true essence of John Lennon.

From his fervid embrace of radical politics in early ’70s Manhattan, the LA-exiled, washed-up, alcoholic mess at mid-decade, to his final years of domestic ‘house husband’ bliss raising son in New York, the story is recounted through a variety of perspectives and exciting film footage, much of it previously unseen.

This is My Picture When I Was Dead (Muhr Arab Documentary)

The details: Mall of the Emirates;10pm; Dh25

What’s it about: The winner of Dubai Film Connection 2008, this docudrama takes us back to Athens 1983 when four-year old Bashir is killed during the assassination of his father, a top Palestine Liberation Organisation lieutenant.

A tragedy, yet what if Bashir’s death was not his end? Director Mahmoud al Massad sees the state of Palestine from the eyes of a now 29-year-old Bashir, witnessing the dream of his father died turning to dust.

Also showing: Friday, Decemeber 17 at Mall of the Emirates at 10.30pm for Dh25

Wednesday, December 15

The Way Back (Gala Screening)

The details: Madinat Arena; 8pm; Dh80

What’s it about: Based on “The Long Walk” by former Polish prisoner of war, Slavomir Rawicz, the extraordinary true story is set in 1942 that sees Janusz, a young Polish soldier, being sent to a gulag concentration camp in the freezing wastes of Siberia.

There he falls in with a disparate group of prisoners with whom he plots an audacious escape that would take them across thousands of miles to sanctuary in British India.

What follows is an astonishing and relentlessly paced account of a desperate journey across borders, through extreme weather, through the bleak grey-white wastes of Siberia to the heat and sand of the Mongolian desert, under constant threat of death. Dark and gripping.

Enamorada (In Focus - Mexico)

The details: JBR The Walk; 8pm; Dh45

What’s it about: Emilio Fernandez’s 1947 masterpiece is still rated as one of the most influential Mexican films of all time, nearly six decades after its release.

The film narrates the story of dashing revolutionary General Jose Juan Reyes (Pedro Armendariz) who seizes control of Cholula, a small Mexican town. Identifying the town’s wealthiest citizens in order to plunder their fortunes, Reyes finds himself tripped up by the smouldering beauty of Beatriz Peafiel (Maria Félix), a feisty young dame and the daughter of one of Cholula’s richest men.

It’s love at first sight for our macho hero but does Beatriz not care for his attentions or is she just playing hard to get? And can he keep his resolve to plunder the town's aristocracy, given Maria’s high born status?
The screening will be followed by a live performance by a Mexican Mariachi Band.

Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (Muhr AsiaAfrica Feature)

The details: Mall of the Emirates; 9.45pm; Dh25

What’s it about: The final part of Thai auteur Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s multi-platform art project “Primitive” – which includes 2009’s short films “A Letter to Uncle Boonmee” and “Phantoms of Nabua” – this film, which also bagged the coveted Palme d’Or at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, is a built up of set pieces, loosely based on the memories of the dying Buddhist Boonmee’s life and those that came before.

As he lies in bed, deep in the Thai countryside, his mind ranges over vast territories, his recollections weaving in magical or supernatural elements in compelling and gorgeous detail.

Also showing: Friday, December 17 at Mall of the Emirates at 9.15pm for Dh25

Thursday, December 16

Please Do Not Disturb (Muhr AsiaAfrica Feature)

The details: Mall of the Emirates; 4.15pm; Dh25

What’s it about: In this striking film we see three stories occurring in Tehran that test the emotions of humans in high-strung situations.

In the first story, a young victim of domestic abuse is about to complain to the authorities, but her husband is more concerned about his job and the embarrassment her actions could cause.

The next tale sees a clergyman whose wallet and documents have been stolen. The clergyman enters into a complicated negotiation with the thief, with an interesting outcome.

The last story seesan elderly couple whose TV has broken. The couple are alone in the building and are afraid of opening the door to the young repairman, leading to tragic circumstances.

My Wife’s Husband

(Lifetime Achievement Award)

The details: JBR The Walk; 8pm; Dh45

What’s it about: A dynamic performance from Sabah anchors this comedic, yet melodramatic love story of a woman torn between husbands in this classic from 1961.

Leila (Sabah) is married to a loser, Ahmad (Omar Hariri) who refuses to change his adulterous ways. After one particularly humiliating transgression at Leila’s birthday party, the couple divorce, for the third time. But as usual, the pair soon want to reconcile; however, given it’s their third divorce, they cannot remarry, unless one of them marries someone else in the interim.

Step up Hassan, Leila’s next-door neighbour and a long-term admirer of hers. He eagerly agrees to marry Leila, but once wed, is determined not to let her go. Leila finds herself in a tricky situation.

The film is followed by a concert by Rima Khcheiche.