International celebrities to converge on Abu Dhabi

Antonio Banderas and Melanie Griffith will be among the dozens of Arab and international celebrities and filmmakers who have confirmed their attendance at the Middle East International Film Festival (Meiff) this year.

The red carpet and opening night ceremony will screen the gala film The Brothers Bloom directed by Rian Johnson and produced by Endgame and Summit Entertainment, at the second edition, to be held from October 10 to 19.

Mohamed Khalaf Al Mazrouei, Vice-Chairman of Meiff and Director-General of the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (Adach), said: "Though we are only two years old, Meiff has managed to establish an excellent reputation among similar events worldwide."

"This year we have an array of celebrities confirmed for our event. We are extremely proud to host them in Abu Dhabi – a city which is full of surprises, and through such an event, we are able to show them off brilliantly," he said.

Director of the festival Nashwa Al Ruwaini confirmed more red carpet guests, announcing that, Antonio Banderas, Melanie Griffith and Adrien Brody, who is one of the stars of the opening night film, will be attending the grand opening night this year.

Emirati stars who will grace the opening function include Samira Ahmed, Ahmed Al Jasmi, Bilal Abdallah, Dr Habib Ghuloum and Ashjan.

"Meiff will truly be an all-star event this year with other Arab stars who have also confirmed their attendance including Yosra, who will also be a juror of the Black Pearl Awards, Elham Shaheen, Hussein Fahmy, Kahled Saleh, Jamal Soliman, Sherif Munir, Hala Sedki, Fathi Abdel Wahab, Latifa, Saloom Haddad, Libliba, Khaled El Nabawy and Safeya Al Emary, Mohamed Heneidi, Solaf Fawakhirji, Haifa Hussain, Saad Al Faraj, Abdul Hussain Abdul Rida, Dawood Hussain, Duraid Lahham, among others," said Al Ruwaini.

Last month at a press conference to announce the special presentations, Al Ruwaini announced that Jane Fonda will also be attending, and will be honoured with the prestigious Black Pearl Award.

Also attending will be Catherine Deneuve, Susan Sarandon and Laila Alawi who will join the Cinema Verite/Meiff 2008 panels to be held on October 14 and 15 concentrating on socially conscious cinema.

"We are looking forward to welcoming all our guests at Meiff, and this year we have so much more to offer with our outstanding line up of films, our industry events and panels," said Al Ruwaini.