Must See, Must Hear, Must Do!

mr khairul is a sucker for international movies. while my dvd collection ranges from disney movies, blockbuster hits like harry potter & jack sparrow's adventures to periodic jane austen's, his would be a wider variety of global movies from spanish action film, korean thriller to italian mob drama.

so it was no surprise when he forwarded me the booklet for the Dubai International Film Festival provided by Mr Consulate General himself - a complete collection of speeches and schedule of what's coming up in the film festival, running from today til 18th of december.

it's one thing to have an international film festival in my home country malaysia, and another thing having an international film festival while staying in another country - and see MALAYSIA as one of the participating movies.

too bad there's only one - and only a shorty. but i hope i can catch it on screen.

with its catchphrase, 'Bridging Cultures, Meeting Minds' it boasts the biggest collection of movies from all over the world - from short films to documentaries, from blockbusters to independent movies - all 180 of them from 66 countries!

interestingly enough, the classification of the movies include even 'brief nudity' and 'brief sexual scene' aside from the usual 'contains adult themes', 'contain coarse language' and 'drug use'. i didn't think UAE would allow ANY movies with the need to put the word 'sexual' or 'nudity' in its classification. but...they've got them!

the movies are going to be screened all around dubai's cinemas including the one in the ex-biggest mall in the world - the CineStar @ Mall of the Emirates.

there will be a session where audiences can participate in a live discussion with renowned directors - and one of them being terry gilliam, director of brad pitt's twelve monkeys - which happens to be one of my favorite movies of all time! sigh. i remember participating in such a talk in 2005 - with award-winning director yasmin ahmad and afdlin shauki no less! i remember the animator for our own malaysian 'sang kancil' animation was also present! back then i was still working as an editor for a youth mag.

alrite, i went through the schedule and these are the movies i hope to see! unfortunately some are rated +18 and +15 so i guess those are out of the question since we definitely take khaleef along. but the movies under 'cinema for children' are sure to be a must-see for our little one...

AsiaAfrica - Short Films


Ambulancia (Ambulance) -
a superstitious ambulance driver experiences a very strange twist of fate...In the Philippines, a group of desperate ambulance drivers hold the belief that running over stray street animals can save the life of a dying patient. In this tragic and thrilling short film, one driver gets to put the theory to the test in the most unfortunate of circumstances.
13/12 MoE 8, 18:45
14/12 MoE 4, 12:00


Chicken Rice Mystery -
why chicken and rice is always nice. A young boy ponders one of the greatest mysteries of his life: just why is his mother's cooking so appalling? His father claims his mother lost her cooking skills when she gave birth to him. But there remains one sole culinary treat, so tantalisingly tasty, our small friend simply has to find out how it is made… his mother's sublime chicken and rice dish.
13/12 MoE 8, 18:45
14/12 MoE 4, 12:00
Malaysia by Edmund Yeo in mandarin/cantonese, one of the BMW Shorties finalists.

AsiaAfrica Narrative Feature


Heaven on Earth -
an abused wife enters a bizarre parallel life of marital bliss, thanks to a magical tree root...
13/12 MoE 12, 20:45
16/12 MoE 12, 15:30
Canada but in Punjabi

AsiaAfrica Documentaries


Mental -
a ground-breaking documentary, filmed inside a japanese mental health ward. Chorale Okayama is a mental health unit in Japan, run by Dr Masatomo Yamamoto. In Kazuhiro Soda's frank and forthright documentary, we meet this renowned specialist and some of the diverse collection of people who come to his facility, seeking his help. From the suicidal (two participants in the film subsequently killed themselves) to cases involving schizophrenia, bulimia and nervous exhaustion, 'Mental' presents an insight into Yamamoto's progressive and humane therapies. By encouraging patients to participate in everyday life, Chorale Okayama seeks to - physically and theoretically - free patients from locked-down cells and support recovery in the real world.
15/12 MoE 9, 18:00
17/12 MoE 4, 15:30

Animation


Jebulchalssi Yiyaki (The Story of Mr. Sorry) -
a forlorn 'earwax-remover' shrinks in size to read minds, in this surreal and magical animation from korea. 12/12 MoE 6, 14:15
13/12 MoE 6, 13:15

Cinema for Children

khaleef, let's watch this one!!! It has got brendan fraser too!

Inkheart -
a young girl discovers she has inherited her father's ability to bring storybook characters to life. Meggie is 12-years old, and is thoroughly impatient with her father, who has always refused to read stories to her! But what Meggie is unaware of, is that her father Mo (Brendan Fraser) is possessed of a rare and powerful talent - when he reads a book, he can make the characters emerge from the story into real life. But there is a danger: for every character brought to life from a book, a real person disappears into its pages. 14/12 Souk Theater, 18:15
17/12 Festival City 8, 18:00

Gnomes and Trolls: The Secret Chamber -
it's a gnome-adic fantasy adventure from Sweden! 18/12 MoE 5, 18:30

...and of course, a must-see for me and mr khairul -


Twelve Monkeys -
marvellous slice of madness, time-travel, comedy, delights and confounds.
14/12 MoE 12, 13:00

well, what would be YOUR choice?

for everyone else staying in dubai planning to catch a movie or two can check out www.dubaifilmfest.com

get 25dhs ready per ticket!