UAE: The Middle East Film Festival premieres in Abu Dhabi

Premiering in Abu Dhabi, the Middle East Film Festival opens with the British film, "Atonement". The Middle East Film Festival was launched on Sunday (October 14) in Abu Dhabi with the participation of numerous international and regional celebrities who will be competing in several competitions. The festival, which is the first of its kind within the region, aims to present a diverse selection of international films to the Arab community and introduce film makers to available resources within the region. Egyptian actress Dalia Behery explains the significance of the event as it represents the birth of production festivals within the region. "I am very happy with the organisation and the opening ceremony. Everything is good up till this point, it is the birth of a huge festival and I wish them good luck," she said. "It's incredible I mean we have all of our VIP's who came for the Film Financing Circle, that are from Hollywood and the bankers from Europe. It amazing, we took them on an incredible retreat yesterday and they're really excited for opening night tonight," Adrienne Briggs, director of the Film Financing Circle added. The festival mainly organised by the Film Financing Circle also aims to nurture relationships between film makers around the world and provide opportunities for financier interested in investing in film. According to Bollywood actor Irfan Khan this festival might present the possibility of attracting Bollywood to Abu Dhabi and the Emirates. "I think it can bring Bollywood here for the shootings and Bollywood itself is a big industry and they have their own identity and Bollywood film fans are all over the world so they can definitely benefit from this." The opening night kicked off with the presentation of Joe Wright's "Atonement" starring Keira Knightley and James McAvoy. According to Iraqi director Faris Dakshisha he was impressed with the plot, edit, and camera movement. "There is no doubt that it is a good movie, I was impressed with the camera movement, and the camera work was very beautiful. The plot is also good, and the edit was perfect because there were a lot of flashbacks," he said. "The movie was great, it was quite complicated to follow some points and it was a great premier for Abu Dhabi and for the region as a whole," said Jean-Francois Coupaud, president of the Union of French Citizens Abroad.

ITN Source | October 18, 2007

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