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    5th Dubai International Film Festival 2008

    By Liza Foreman | January 9, 2009

    DUBAI- Those who did not have the pleasure of attending the 5th Dubai International Film Festival (December 11-18 2008), may be surprised to learn that the Vegas of the East has put together one of the most fascinating and politically relevant festivals on the crowded annual calendar. Forget Hollywood romcoms, with its mandate to bridge a gap through culture in our post 9/11 world, the festival program has at its heart a stimulating mix of films and filmmakers from regions of the world that are front and center in world news. (It makes Cannes look dull by comparison.)

    This year’s event included no less than nine films from an emerging Palestinian film industry; a dozen or so films from Iraqi filmmakers; and films such as “A Peace Mission,” which provided an eye-opening look into other film industry’s such as Nigeria’s booming Nollywood, which is now the third largest employer in the country and produces some 3,000 films a year.

    Thanks to its focus on films from Arab nations and the Asia/Africa region, meanwhile, many films on display in Dubai provided an eye-opening look into the other view of world politics. As Dubai’s festival head Abdulhamid Juma told me, “After 9/11, Muslims and Arabs wanted an opportunity to tell who we were.”

    Case in point is the Indonesian film, Pesantren – 3 Wishes, 3 Loves, which showed in Dubai.

    Shortly after the 9/11 attacks, in September 2001, Indonesian authorities introduced a measure to clamp down on what they viewed as potential terrorists of the future: taking finger prints of school children attending the country’s boarding schools for Islamic boys, otherwise known as Pesantren. Pesantren – 3 Wishes, 3 Loves re creates a fictionalized film based around the events which unfolded.

    “I attended a Pesantren. The school taught love, peace and religious tolerance,” said the film’s director Nurman Hakim. “There was an outcry when the government came up with this ruling.” The film was shown as part of a new AsiaAfrica segment at DIFF, which embraces films from emerging markets.

    DIFF 2008 PRIZES

    Arab Muhr Competition

    Feature Film
    Best Film
    Masquerades (Algeria/France), dir Lyes Salem
    Special Jury Prize
    Adhen – Dernier Maquis (Algeria/France), dir Rabah Ameur-Zaimeche
    Best Actress
    Hafsia Herzi, for Francaise (France/Morocco), dir Souad El-Bouhati
    Best Actor
    Anas Elbaz and Omar Lotfi, for Casanegra (Morocco), dir Nour- Eddine Lakhmari
    Best Cinematographer
    Luca Coassin, for Casanegra (Morocco), dir Nour- Eddine Lakhmari
    Best Composer
    Sylvain Rifflet, for Adhen – Dernier Maquis (Algeria/France), dir Rabah Ameur Zaimeche
    Best Editor
    Nicolas Bancilhon, for Adhen – Dernier Maquis (Algeria/France), dir Rabah Ameur-Zaimeche
    Best Screenplay
    Annemarie Jacir, for Milh hadha al-bahr (Salt of This Sea) (Palestine), dir Annemarie Jacir

    Documentary:
    First Prize
    Thakirat l sabbar: hikayat thalath qura falasteenia (Memory of the Cactus: A Story of Three Palestinian Villages) (Palestine), dir Hanna Musleh
    Special Jury Prize
    Samaan Bidiyaa (The One Man Village) (Libanon), dir Simon El Habre
    Second Prize
    Marina of the Zabbaleen (Egypt/USA), dir Engi Wassef

    Short Films
    First Prize
    La route du nord (The North Road) (Libanon/France), dir Carlos Chahine
    Special Jury Prize
    Bint Mariam (United Arab Emirates), dir Saeed Salmeen Al-Murry
    Second Prize
    Sa’et asary (At Day’s End) (Egypt), dir Sherif El Bendary

    FIPRESCI Critics Award to Best Arab Film
    Masquerades (Algeria/France), dir Lyes Salem

    Muhr AsiaAfrica Awards

    Feature Film
    Best Film
    Treeless Mountain (USA/South Korea), dir So Yong Kim
    Special Jury Prize
    Kyuka (Vacation) (Japan), dir Hajime Kadoi
    Best Actress
    Anh Hong, for Trang noi day gieng (Moon at the Bottom of the Well) (Vietnam), dir Nguyen Vinh Son
    Best Actor
    Askhat Kuchinchirekov, for Tulpan (Kazakhstan/Russia/Poland/Germany/Switzerland), dir Sergey Dvortsevoy
    Best Cinematorgrapher
    Reza Teymouri, for Aram bash va ta haft beshmar (Be Calm and Count to Seven) (Iran), dir Ramtin Lavafipour
    Best Composer
    Jorga Mesfin, Vijay Iyer, for Teza (Ethiopia/Germany/France), dir Haile Gerima
    Best Editor
    Sreekar Prasad, for Firaaq (India), dir Nandita Das
    Best Screenplay
    Deepa Mehta, for Heaven on Earth (Canada), dir Deepa Mehta

    Documentary
    First Prize
    Mental (Japan), dir Kazuhiro Soda
    Special Jury Prize
    Xiao li zi (Survival Song) (China), dir Guangyi Yu
    Second Prize
    Une affarie de negres (Black Business) (Cameroon), dir Osvalde Lewat

    Short Films
    First Prize
    Shao nian xue (Young Blood) (China), dir Haolun Shu
    Special Jury Prize
    Expectations (Chad/Korea), dir Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
    Second Prize
    Kam sanabanyz (Everything Is OK) (Kyrgyzstan), dir Akjoltoy Bekbolotov

    End

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