A section of the San Sebastian Film Festival awards grants to films struggling with post-production costs, writes Kaleem Aftab
The Last Friday, directed by Yahya Al Abdallah and Confession and Struggle, by Lebanon's Eliane Raheb, were both awarded grants in the Cinema in Motion section of The San Sebastian Film Festival, which wrapped up in Spain on Saturday.
Each year, Cinema in Motion awards grants from the Dubai International Film Festival, the Amiens Film Festival, the Fribourg Film Festival and some post-production studios in France, Spain and Portugal, to help films from the Arab world and Portuguese-speaking African countries. These are prizes for films that have been shot but are struggling with post-production costs. Previous winners have included In My Mother's Arms by the Al Daradji brothers and Najwa Najjar's Pomegranates and Myrrh.
About 15 films are submitted for the programme every year, and this list is whittled down to four or five which are then shown as works in progress to a private invited audience in San Sebastian. The programme is a collaboration between San Sebastian, Fribourg and Amiens International Film Festivals. Members of the selection committee from the three festivals discuss the submitted films and decide the final selection.
Now in its seventh year, four films were in the running for the six prizes that range from sound mixing services to 35mm prints being made.
Confession and Struggle, which won prizes from the Dubai Film Festival and the Amiens Film Festival, is a documentary exploring the Lebanese civil war from the point of view of two people living on different sides: Assaad Shaftari, a member of the Secret Services and Maryam Salidi, the mother of a young boy who disappeared during the fighting.
Winning three prizes worth €22,500 (Dh111,534) in post-production and a 35mm print was The Last Friday from Jordan. Starring Ali Suliman and Yasmine Almasri and directed by Libyan-born Yahya Al Abdallah, it is about the existential crisis of a divorced 40-year-old man who needs surgery and has to find the money to pay for it.
The other two films up for prizes were from directors who had previously been nominated for Cinema in Motion prizes. Annemarie Jacir won a prize in 2007 for her film Salt of the Sea and that same year Khalil Joreige and Joana Hajithomas presented their work Je Veux Voir, both of which went on to play at the Cannes Film Festival.
Jose Luis Rebordinos, from the San Sebastian selection committee, said: "We always choose the projects which we consider the most interesting ones every year, without taking into account if the filmmakers have been previously selected or not. The fact that the filmmakers of this year had already submitted projects in the past is just coincidence."
When I Saw You, the new film from Jacir, is set in the late 1960s and looks at the world through the eyes of a 12-year-old son of a Palestinian refugee in Jordan. Une Fusee Dans Le Ciel, the latest from Joreige and Hadjithomas, is a documentary shining light on a forgotten story in Lebanese history: a project by Manoug Manougian, a professor of mathematics, and his university students to launch a rocket into space. Rebordinos explained why these films made the cut: "The four films selected this year portray important trends in contemporary filmmaking, all of them focused on political and social issues of these countries: on the one hand, two documentaries about the recent history of Lebanon, one about the tragic civil war and the other about the intriguing tale of Lebanon's attempt to enter into the 1960s space race; on the other hand, two fiction films that also deal with reality: the life of Palestinian refugees at the end of the 1960s and a glimpse of actual Jordan through the portrait of a middle-aged man's mid-life crisis."
Speaking of Arab film in particular, he explains: "There are a lot of interesting ideas and strong political and social issues in today's Arab film, but the main obstacle is the lack of resources to produce these films and the difficulties to distribute and exhibit them around the world."
The prizes are granted to the films the committee believes are most likely to secure distribution or are of particular cinematic merit. The quality of the competition is such that nearly every film that makes the final selection is completed and has a healthy life at film festivals. Last year, the Al Daradji brothers were awarded prizes for House for Sale, which recently premiered at the Toronto Film Festival as In My Mother's Arms, while the big winner Sur La Planche, directed by Leila Kitani, launched at Cannes.
However, Mohammed Al Daradji, while singing the praises of the prize and of Abu Dhabi's Sanad, which backed his new film, did offer one word of warning to future winners. "Sometimes the cash prize offered by post-production studios is not enough to cover the job, so you end up having to pay some money in order to collect the prize and this can end up being an issue," he said.
ABU%20DHABI'S%20KEY%20TOURISM%20GOALS%3A%20BY%20THE%20NUMBERS
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BORDERLANDS
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jamie Lee Curtis
Director: Eli Roth
Rating: 0/5
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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David Haye record
Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4
Profile
Company name: Jaib
Started: January 2018
Co-founders: Fouad Jeryes and Sinan Taifour
Based: Jordan
Sector: FinTech
Total transactions: over $800,000 since January, 2018
Investors in Jaib's mother company Alpha Apps: Aramex and 500 Startups
SPECS
Nissan 370z Nismo
Engine: 3.7-litre V6
Transmission: seven-speed automatic
Power: 363hp
Torque: 560Nm
Price: Dh184,500
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
RESULTS
1.30pm Handicap (PA) Dh 50,000 (Dirt) 1,400m
Winner AF Almomayaz, Hugo Lebouc (jockey), Ali Rashid Al Raihe (trainer)
2pm Handicap (TB) Dh 84,000 (D) 1,400m
Winner Karaginsky, Tadhg O’Shea, Satish Seemar.
2.30pm Maiden (TB) Dh 60,000 (D) 1,200m
Winner Sadeedd, Ryan Curatolo, Nicholas Bachalard.
3pm Conditions (TB) Dh 100,000 (D) 1,950m
Winner Blue Sovereign, Clement Lecoeuvre, Erwan Charpy.
3.30pm Handicap (TB) Dh 76,000 (D) 1,800m
Winner Tailor’s Row, Royston Ffrench, Salem bin Ghadayer.
4pm Maiden (TB) Dh 60,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner Bladesmith, Tadhg O’Shea, Satish Seemar.
4.30pm Handicap (TB) Dh 68,000 (D) 1,000m
Winner Shanaghai City, Fabrice Veron, Rashed Bouresly.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The years Ramadan fell in May
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Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989
Director: Goran Hugo Olsson
Rating: 5/5
No more lice
Defining head lice
Pediculus humanus capitis are tiny wingless insects that feed on blood from the human scalp. The adult head louse is up to 3mm long, has six legs, and is tan to greyish-white in colour. The female lives up to four weeks and, once mature, can lay up to 10 eggs per day. These tiny nits firmly attach to the base of the hair shaft, get incubated by body heat and hatch in eight days or so.
Identifying lice
Lice can be identified by itching or a tickling sensation of something moving within the hair. One can confirm that a person has lice by looking closely through the hair and scalp for nits, nymphs or lice. Head lice are most frequently located behind the ears and near the neckline.
Treating lice at home
Head lice must be treated as soon as they are spotted. Start by checking everyone in the family for them, then follow these steps. Remove and wash all clothing and bedding with hot water. Apply medicine according to the label instructions. If some live lice are still found eight to 12 hours after treatment, but are moving more slowly than before, do not re-treat. Comb dead and remaining live lice out of the hair using a fine-toothed comb.
After the initial treatment, check for, comb and remove nits and lice from hair every two to three days. Soak combs and brushes in hot water for 10 minutes.Vacuum the floor and furniture, particularly where the infested person sat or lay.
Courtesy Dr Vishal Rajmal Mehta, specialist paediatrics, RAK Hospital
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Building boom turning to bust as Turkey's economy slows
Deep in a provincial region of northwestern Turkey, it looks like a mirage - hundreds of luxury houses built in neat rows, their pointed towers somewhere between French chateau and Disney castle.
Meant to provide luxurious accommodations for foreign buyers, the houses are however standing empty in what is anything but a fairytale for their investors.
The ambitious development has been hit by regional turmoil as well as the slump in the Turkish construction industry - a key sector - as the country's economy heads towards what could be a hard landing in an intensifying downturn.
After a long period of solid growth, Turkey's economy contracted 1.1 per cent in the third quarter, and many economists expect it will enter into recession this year.
The country has been hit by high inflation and a currency crisis in August. The lira lost 28 per cent of its value against the dollar in 2018 and markets are still unconvinced by the readiness of the government under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to tackle underlying economic issues.
The villas close to the town centre of Mudurnu in the Bolu region are intended to resemble European architecture and are part of the Sarot Group's Burj Al Babas project.
But the development of 732 villas and a shopping centre - which began in 2014 - is now in limbo as Sarot Group has sought bankruptcy protection.
It is one of hundreds of Turkish companies that have done so as they seek cover from creditors and to restructure their debts.
The specs
Engine: 2.7-litre 4-cylinder Turbomax
Power: 310hp
Torque: 583Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh192,500
On sale: Now
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Confirmed%20bouts%20(more%20to%20be%20added)
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Company%20Profile
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Results
Stage seven
1. Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates, in 3:20:24
2. Adam Yates (GBR) Ineos Grenadiers, at 1s
3. Pello Bilbao (ESP) Bahrain-Victorious, at 5s
General Classification
1. Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates, in 25:38:16
2. Adam Yates (GBR) Ineos Grenadiers, at 22s
3. Pello Bilbao (ESP) Bahrain-Victorious, at 48s
MATCH INFO
Bangla Tigers 108-5 (10 ovs)
Ingram 37, Rossouw 26, Pretorius 2-10
Deccan Gladiators 109-4 (9.5 ovs)
Watson 41, Devcich 27, Wiese 2-15
Gladiators win by six wickets
The%20specs
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The specs: 2019 Mercedes-Benz GLE
Price, base / as tested Dh274,000 (estimate)
Engine 3.0-litre inline six-cylinder
Gearbox Nine-speed automatic
Power 245hp @ 4,200rpm
Torque 500Nm @ 1,600rpm
Fuel economy, combined 6.4L / 100km