This month promises to be a great one for lovers of European cinema as the debut European Film Screenings programme brings the best movies from across the continent to Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
The week-long event, which begins on September 18 in the capital and the following day in Dubai, is something of a first. It is being led by the Italian Embassy in the UAE and an EU delegation to the UAE and presented in collaboration with the Abu Dhabi Film Festival (ADFF), the Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) and 12 other European embassies.
This means that film buffs can look forward to movies from Italy, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Poland, the Czech Republic, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Sweden and Austria.
The programme will open with the Italian director Poalo Sorrentino's La Grande Belleza, which won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film at this year's Academy Awards.
It also features highlights such as Julien Temple's cut-and-paste homage to the English capital London: The Modern Babylon; Andrzej Wajda's biopic about Lech Walesa, the Polish politician and human-rights activist, Walesa: Man of Hope; and a personal favourite, Wolfgang Becker's Good Bye Lenin!
Meanwhile, ADFF and DIFF will select some of the best Emirati shorts from their extensive archives, to screen in Abu Dhabi and Dubai alongside each day’s European movies.
Among the selections are Nayla Al Khaja's critically acclaimed Arabana (September 23, Dubai) and Hani Kichi's global-award-winning animation Ostora (September 23, Abu Dhabi).
All of the European movies will screen in both cities. The programmes are the same but will screen in Dubai at the Mercato Mall cinema a day after the Abu Dhabi screenings, which will be at Vox Cinemas in Marina Mall.
Another intriguing feature of the programme is a panel discussion titled Cinema Co-Production: Europe and the Way To Go, which will be held on September 20 in Cinema 3 at Abu Dhabi’s Marina Mall. The panel will be chaired by Alessandra Priante, the Italian cultural representative and Eurimages board member, and feature representatives from across Europe including members of the production teams of the Austrian, French and Swedish films that are screening. Local industry figures will also take part, including Nawaf Al Janahi, the filmmaker and Emirati Cinema Campaign founder, DIFF’s Samr Al Marzooqi and ADFF’s Teresa Cavina.
The panel will look at ways in which cross-border co-productions have succeeded in Europe and whether the model could be applied to Arabian Gulf states.
“What better way to celebrate the European Union than cinema?” says Priante, who is coordinating the screenings programme. “Having worked in the sector for so long at European and Council of Europe level, the cinema is one of those areas where cooperation between member states is not only possible but actually encouraged by each of the governments.
“There’s a push through the European Convention for cooperation that means that as a filmmaker, as well as looking for funding from within my own country, I’m able to seek technical, artistic and financial cooperation outside my country through the existing treaties and the film will be recognised as national in all those countries participating, which gives immense added value as the different input that international co-production brings makes the film much more international and makes it appeal to different markets.
“I’m a firm believer that when European co-productions are done well they really work and I’m convinced the Arabian Gulf countries can learn from the model. I really think the UAE can take the lead here.”
All screenings are free and as an added incentive to audiences, voting slips will be handed out to determine an Audience Choice Award winner. One lucky voter drawn at random from the completed slips will win two tickets to Rome, courtesy of the sponsor Etihad Airways.
• The screenings will take place at Vox Cinemas in Marina Mall, Abu Dhabi (September 18 to 24) and at Mercato Mall, Dubai (September 19 to 25). For the full schedule, visit European Film Screenings on Facebook
cnewbould@thenational.ae