Films, celebrities and panel discussions were announced at a press conference for Dubai International Film Festival on Wednesday afternoon. Gulf News tabloid! rounds up all you need to know.
Opening and closing night films
The 14th edition of Dubai International Film Festival has announced the films screening at its opening and closing night ceremonies. Hostiles will kick off the weeklong event at Madinat Jumeirah on December 6, and Star Wars: The Last Jedi will close the festival on December 13.
Meanwhile, Star Wars: The Last Jedi is an epic space opera and sequel to 2015’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens. It’s directed by Rian Johnson and stars Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac and Lupita Nyong’o.
Another Star Wars film, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, closed Diff last year. (Star Wars: The Last Jedi is set to release in the UAE on December 14, a day after it screens at Diff.)
Celebrities attending
Iconic Hollywood actor Sir Patrick Stewart (above left) and veteran Bollywood actor Irrfan Khan (above right) will also be recognised for their achievements. During the opening night ceremony, Diff will present renowned Egyptian writer Wahid Hamed with an Honorary Award to celebrate his outstanding contributions to screenwriting, with a list of credits that spans across forty years.
On December 8, the star-studded Global Gift Gala will return at the Palazzo Versace, supported by Diff and Dubai Cares, to raise funds for projects around the world. Vanessa Williams will attend, as well as Puerto Rican artist Luis Fonsi, who will perform his smash hit Despacito. Honorary chairs of the gala are Huda Kattan (Huda Beauty) and Alesha Dixon.
Cate Blanchett will return to the festival as the head of jury for IWC Schaffhausen’s Filmmaker Award, which will offer one Gulf director a $100,000 cash prize on December 7 at the Royal Mirage. Tunisian actress Hend Sabri joins the judging panel, among other Diff and IWC representatives.
Nominees of the IWC Filmmaker Award include Emirati filmmaker Nayla Al Khaja, for Animal, Bahraini filmmaker Mohamed Rashed Buali for Kombars, Saudi director Haifaa Al Mansour for Miss Camel and Omani filmmaker Muzna Al Musafer for The Crown of Olives.
Panel discussions
28 panel discussions will feature big names from the industry, starting with documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock. Spurlock will screen his film Super Size Me 2: Holy Chicken!, followed by an extended Q&A session with the director himself, his co-writer and producer Jeremy Chilnick, and producer Matthew Galkin.
Director Dominic Cooke will also screen his film On Chesil Beach before sitting for a Q&A.
Director-producer Michelle MacLaren, behind several Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad and Westworld episodes, will host a discussion regarding her creative process in the world of Primetime TV.
Visionary female directors Kimberly Pierce, Haifaa Al Mansour, Niki Caro and Dee Rees will lend their voices to a panel titled Women at the Helm, in partnership with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS).
John Bailey, recently elected as the president of AMPAS, will share his knowledge during another talk titled The Art of Cinematography.
BAFTA- and Academy Award-winning costume designer Alexandra Byrne, whose filmography includes The Phantom of the Opera (2004), Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) and Murder on the Orient Express (2017), will hold a costume design masterclass, as part of the UK/UAE 2017 Year of Culture.
Films by the number
This year, Diff will show 140 films from 51 countries in more than 38 languages. The titles will be within the genres of fiction, non-fiction and short films, and will be part of Diff’s Arab and Emirati competitions, as well as its out-of-competition categories dedicated to children, the Arab world, Virtual Reality (VR) and cinema from around the globe.
Diff will have 16 gala events and 14 special presentations.
Ticket packages
Diff runs from December 6 until December 16, primarily at Madinat Jumeirah. Ticket packages, available through Diff.ae, start from Dh275.
