DIFF does Sharjah

This Saturday, the Dubai International Film Festival will host a special celebration of emerging local filmmaking talent at the Maraya Art Centre in Sharjah.

A scene from the movie Embodiment which presents metaphorical visions of identity. Courtesy DIFF

This Saturday, the Dubai International Film Festival is coming to Sharjah. For one night at the Maraya Art Centre, the festival will be hosting an event featuring eight short films by locally based filmmakers, with a Q&A session to follow the screenings.

Most of the films have been screened before, either at the Gulf Film Festival earlier in the year, or at the Dubai International Film Festival itself. Maryan Al Serkal's London in a Headscarf picked up an appreciation certificate from last year's event.

Among the films, the idea of identity seems to play an important role. Rabbit Hole looks at the reasons why young Arabs become alienated from their culture while Nations and Tribes follows the daily lives of people of different backgrounds in the UAE, exploring their similarities and differences.

"These female directors are making films about identity because it's the age when we're finding out who we really are and who we want to be," says Maram Ashour, whose drama Embodiment presents metaphorical visions of identity. She says making such films also helps her understand more about herself. "As a director and [with] the films that I do, I grow as a person. I think films are a way to find out who you are."

• The event at the Maraya Art Centre starts on Saturday at 7pm.

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