The Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) has announced its AsiaAfrica out-of-competition segment.
“The films selected for this year’s AsiaAfrica programme will enthral audiences with their gripping storylines, brave and poignant themes and moving performances,” said the director of the programme, Nashen Moodley. “This segment is about providing access to a truly global box office, uniting DIFF audiences with film lovers around the world in their experience of these wonderful stories.”
On the list is Half of a Yellow Sun, starring Thandie Newton and Chiwetel Ejiofor, the screen adaptation of the Orange Prize-winning novel by the Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. The story spans a generation of Nigerian history through the tumultuous late 1960s, when the country fell into civil war. Through the historical looking glass, two sisters battle for love and independence in a patriarchal society in the throes of ethnic strife.
Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon from China, directed by the 2008 DIFF Lifetime Achievement Award honoree Tsui Hark, is a detective story set in the Tang dynasty, where Dee Ranjie, a provincial magistrate, is appointed by the empress to stop a sea dragon that is ravaging the Imperial City.
The Filipino romantic comedy Instant Mommy by the first-time writer and director Leo Abaya is a funny take on relationships through the story of Bechay, a commercial wardrobe assistant who finds herself two months pregnant. Desperate not to lose her Japanese lover and dreaming of a better life, she hatches a plan, with outrageous results.
The dark drama Of Good Report, a neo-noir from the South African director Jahmil X T Qubeka, depicts the dark side of a rural township, where a teacher arrives at the local school and gets romantically involved with one of his students.
Rounding up the selection is Sang-Il Lee’s Unforgiven, a samurai adaptation of Clint Eastwood’s 1992 film of the same name. The Japanese star Ken Watanabe plays an ageing warrior who comes out of retirement one last time.
DIFF runs from December 6 to 14. For more information, visit www.dubaifilmfest.com. – The National staff
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The Abu Dhabi Awards explained:
What are the awards? They honour anyone who has made a contribution to life in Abu Dhabi.
Are they open to only Emiratis? The awards are open to anyone, regardless of age or nationality, living anywhere in the world.
When do nominations close? The process concludes on December 31.
How do I nominate someone? Through the website.
When is the ceremony? The awards event will take place early next year.
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GMC Sierra Denali 1500
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Price: Dh232,500
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if you go
Getting there
Etihad (Etihad.com), Emirates (emirates.com) and Air France (www.airfrance.com) fly to Paris’ Charles de Gaulle Airport, from Abu Dhabi and Dubai respectively. Return flights cost from around Dh3,785. It takes about 40 minutes to get from Paris to Compiègne by train, with return tickets costing €19. The Glade of the Armistice is 6.6km east of the railway station.
Staying there
On a handsome, tree-lined street near the Chateau’s park, La Parenthèse du Rond Royal (laparenthesedurondroyal.com) offers spacious b&b accommodation with thoughtful design touches. Lots of natural woods, old fashioned travelling trunks as decoration and multi-nozzle showers are part of the look, while there are free bikes for those who want to cycle to the glade. Prices start at €120 a night.
More information: musee-armistice-14-18.fr ; compiegne-tourisme.fr; uk.france.fr
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- Suspend strict budget rules to allow member countries to step up defence spending
- Create new "instrument" providing €150 billion of loans to member countries for defence investment
- Use the existing EU budget to direct more funds towards defence-related investment
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Five expert hiking tips
Always check the weather forecast before setting off
Make sure you have plenty of water
Set off early to avoid sudden weather changes in the afternoon
Wear appropriate clothing and footwear
Take your litter home with you
How to report a beggar
Abu Dhabi – Call 999 or 8002626 (Aman Service)
Dubai – Call 800243
Sharjah – Call 065632222
Ras Al Khaimah - Call 072053372
Ajman – Call 067401616
Umm Al Quwain – Call 999
Fujairah - Call 092051100 or 092224411
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Thalassaemia is part of a family of genetic conditions affecting the blood known as haemoglobin disorders.
Haemoglobin is a substance in the red blood cells that carries oxygen and a lack of it triggers anemia, leaving patients very weak, short of breath and pale.
The most severe type of the condition is typically inherited when both parents are carriers. Those patients often require regular blood transfusions - about 450 of the UAE's 2,000 thalassaemia patients - though frequent transfusions can lead to too much iron in the body and heart and liver problems.
The condition mainly affects people of Mediterranean, South Asian, South-East Asian and Middle Eastern origin. Saudi Arabia recorded 45,892 cases of carriers between 2004 and 2014.
A World Health Organisation study estimated that globally there are at least 950,000 'new carrier couples' every year and annually there are 1.33 million at-risk pregnancies.
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