International Stars Add Glitter to Abu Dhabi Film Fest

Date:

Classics like MS Sathyu's Garm Hawa are being showcased at ADDF.
Classics like MS Sathyu’s Garm Hawa are being showcased at ADDF.

BEST OF WORLD CINEMA IN THE SPOTLIGHT AT THE FESTIVAL WHICH OPENED IN THE UAE CAPITAL

ABU DHABI, Oct 25 — Oscar-winning actor Forest Whitaker charmed the audience at the star-studded opening gala of the seventh edition of the Abu Dhabi Film Festival here with his humility as he accepted the Black Pearl Career Achievement award at the ceremony. Hollywood film ‘Life of Crime’ gave an entertaining kick-off to the extravaganza.

“It is humbling to be in this city,” Whitaker said as he received the award on Thursday with a smile on his face.

“A black pearl is a result of a lot of hard work, and I am thankful that you think of me like that,” he added. Whitaker, best known for his performances in movies like “The Last King of Scotland” and “Bird”, gave the local glitterati a treat as he sang few lines in Arabic.

For the opening ceremony, the red carpet rolled out for what turned out to be an immaculate turn out of celebrities – actors, filmmakers, technicians and officials, all dressed in their finery.

In attendance was also Australian actress Jacki Weaver, who is here to preside over the narrative competition jury. There was also Palestinian actress and director Hiam Abbass, who is a part of the jury too, and will receive the Black Pearl Achievement award later during the fest.

Ali Al Jabri, who is serving his second year as the festival director, said it makes him proud to see how the festival structure and attendance have expanded, setting an example for other film festivals in the Gulf region. As many as 166 films – 94 features and 72 shorts – from 51 countries are due to be screened during the festival, which will conclude Nov 2.

The opening ceremony, held at the majestic Emirates Palace here, was attended by a bevy of Arab stars too. The auditorium was packed for the screening of Daniel Schechter’s “Life of Crime”, which stars Jennifer Aniston, John Hawkes and Mark Boone Junior.

A crime comedy, the movie served its purpose of engaging and entertaining to the hilt as several audience members were laughing heartily in the midst of the screening. The show ended with a well-deserved applause.

Mark Boone Junior was here with Schechter and the film’s producer Ashok Amritraj for the film’s screening.

Now, festival patrons and film aficionados are looking forward to movies, master classes and more.

Five films have been chosen by curator Raman Chawla for this year’s Abu Dhabi Film Festival’s tribute to the 100 years of Indian cinema. Given the sheer diversity of Indian cinema that has for years now produced the maximum number of feature films in the world, to represent a century of Indian film making with five films is a brave gesture indeed. Such a slim selection from so much needs to be backed by a strong curatorial vision to justify such a package as being representational of the task at hand.

Amongst the films on view here, Guru Dutt’s Eternal Thirst(1957) and Bengali filmmaker Ritwik Ghatak’s The Golden Thread (1962) belong to the early phase of this period and come from the fringe of popular cinema in Bombay and Bengal, while In Two Minds (1973) made by Mani Kaul, and MS Sathyu’s Scorching Winds made that same year are landmarks of the early phase of the substantially State-sponsored art house film movement. Jahnu Barua’s Assamese art house classic The Catastrophe (1987) that rounds off the package was made around the time the art house film movement was winding up. Ritwik Ghatak, a still-neglected master of World Cinema, remains a pivotal figure in the package between Eternal Thirst’s Guru Dutt who was very much influenced by the Bengal film tradition to which Ghatak belonged and In Two Minds’ Mani Kaul who was taught film by Ghatak.

theclarionindia
theclarionindiahttps://clarionindia.net
Clarion India - News, Views and Insights about Indian Muslims, Dalits, Minorities, Women and Other Marginalised and Dispossessed Communities.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Share post:

Subscribe

spot_imgspot_img

Popular

More like this
Related

Delhi HC Dismisses PIL Seeking Arvind Kejriwal’s Removal as CM

NEW DELHI - The Delhi High Court on Thursday...

Telangana: BJP MLA T Raja Placed under House Arrest amid Communal Tension

HYDERABAD - Police placed BJP MLA Raja Singh under...

Rising Cases of Missing Persons Alarm Authorities in Karnataka

Police records reveal a disturbing increase in missing persons,...