Abu Dhabi Film Festival 2012: It's All Over. Time For Bed.

That's it, the festival is over, the film-based revelry has drawn to a close. Did I see all the films I wanted to see? Not quite. Did I spill popcorn down myself on more than one occasion? Maybe. Has 10 days living in the Emirates Palace sent me slightly barking mad? Almost definitely.

It's strange to think that it only started a week and a bit ago. For most of us who have been patrolling the excessively golden corridors of the palace, it seems Richard Gere's red carpet saunter occurred some time back in 2010. Since then, I've walked countless kilometres, got lost hundreds of times, sat in numerous discussions, interviewed more filmmakers than I can remember, kept myself from falling asleep in several films (due to tiredness, not the film, of course) and managed to stay up late(ish) for the some of the swanky evening events. Such was the level of exhaustion that last night, for the closing shindig in the Emirates Palace, I accidentally showed up wearing the hotel slippers. I'm not joking. They were actually quite comfy, and offered more toe-tapping flexibility than your average brogue.

What were the best bits? Well, few here might have known much about Nate Parker before he rocked up with Arbitrage, but it's likely anyone who spoke to him would have been suitably impressed with the guy. Smart, polite, politically astute – he's someone we should be hearing a lot more of in the future. Golshifteh Farahani was another welcome visitor, offering her usual intelligent opinions regarding her life as an Iranian exile in Paris. The South Indian filmmaker Mammootty might not remember being asked when he was planning to make a film in the UAE, but I'll forever remember his answer. "I've been making films here for years." That'll teach me for not doing enough research. And as for Claudia Cardinale, just give her a mic and let her talk. She's got enough stories to fill several films. She turned down Marlon Brando, don't you know?

Film-wise, my favourites were probably Room 237 and A World Not Ours. It was great to see Mahdi Fleifel clean up at the awards for the latter, taking home three awards, including Best Documentary. Without wanting to go all soothsayer on you, I thought it'd do well when I first saw it a couple of weeks ago. Congratulations to Mahdi. It was a fantastic film.

It's now time for me to get some much-needed sleep. First I've got to check out of the hotel. I wonder how my eyes will adjust to the sudden lack of gold...