Bring the popcorn and hunker down for a cinematic feast as UAE residents are shown the red carpet to catch free screenings of some award-winning selection of world cinema this week.
As a prelude to the upcoming Dubai International Film Festival, of DIFF, which runs from December 7 until 14, special three-day screenings are being held from August to December at The Pavilion, Downtown Dubai.
This month, DIFF presents “Focus on Iran” which kicked off yesterday, with a triple bill of incredible films followed by question and answer sessions with some of the film’s talent.
Tuesday’s screening is the award-winning film, “The Mourning”, which starts at 7.30pm, chronicling a poignant story of a hearing-impaired couple suddenly left with the responsibility of caring for their nephew.
While visiting her sister and brother-in-law, the boy’s mother and father argue in the middle of the night and drive away suddenly.
The following day, the boy searches for his parents with his aunt and uncle, who wonder where their guests have gone and why they would leave their son behind.
Wednesday will witness a screening of “There Are Things You Don’t Know,” running at the same time of 7.30pm, which tells the story of a secluded taxi driver in Tehran which is awaiting an earthquake: he has chosen to distance himself from society and to be passive so as not to be hurt.
Capital calls on Indian film enthusiasts
Across the highway, the Abu Dhabi-based Indian Film Society of the UAE is hosting a ‘Shyam Benegal Retrospective’, which runs from September 27 until 30, where the award-winning director himself will hold public talks.
The cinematic treat will focus on Benegal’s award-winning trilogy, “Zubeida”, “Sardari Begum” and “Mammo”, along with the Indian National Award-winning film “The Making of the Mahatma”.
The free screenings commence on Thursday at 10am with the Film Club Inauguration and screening of “The Making of the Mahatma”, which is based on the book “The Apprenticeship of a Mahatma”, by Fatima Meer.
The film is being screened at the Abu Dhabi Indian School.
The same evening, at 7pm, the Embassy of India will host the opening night and the screening of the Karisma Kapoor-starrer, “Zubeida”.
The following evening, the Kerala Social Centre will host a talk on cinema with Benegal himself, discussing ‘Secularism in Indian Cinema’, which will be followed by a screening of “Sardari Begum”, from 8pm.
The retrospective will see Benegal, along with Dr Anuradha Needham, who will present from her forthcoming book “New Indian Cinema in Post-Independence India: The Cultural Work of Shyam Benegal Films”, followed by a conversation with Benegal and Dr Rajeswari Sundar Rajan.
Hosted at the New York University, Abu Dhabi from 11am, fans can later head to the
Kerala Social Centre September 29 for an 8pm screening of the National Award Winning, “Mammo”, which touches upon a family facing the brunt of secularism in post-partition India.
All the screenings are free and are on first come basis.