UAE residents famously love a night out at the cinema. Indeed, according to a joint poll from Northwestern University's Qatar campus and the Doha Film Institute, the country's residents are the top movie patrons in the region, with 82 per cent listing cinema visits as one of their frequent activities.
And yet how many of the dozens of films on show at the moment in the cinemas of the UAE feature stories drawn from the cultures that make up the majority of UAE residents – that is, Emirati, Arab and South Asian cultures? The answer is pitifully few and, according to the same survey, a significant majority want that to change: 81 per cent of UAE respondents said they wanted to see more of their culture portrayed at the cinema.
In one way, of course, this isn’t surprising. Everyone likes to see their life up on the big screen. Cinema has a glamorising effect on the everyday, as anyone who has walked down a New York street and been confronted with a recognisable vista from their favourite film will attest.
At the same time, cinema is a product of the culture in which it was created. Afficionados of world cinema – that insular term which usually refers to anything not made in the English language – will testify that Italian comedies are different from South Korean action movies, which are different again from Nigerian dramas. Even Hollywood blockbusters, engineered to appeal to the widest market, contain within them references, ideas and aspirations which are peculiarly American. Even the most universal truths have local roots.
But that also works the other way around, with Emirati stories having the possibility of being universalised, so that Chinese viewers could care as much about what happens to the young couple in Al Ain as they currently do about those in Los Angeles. That requires skilful filmmaking, and the infrastructure to enable it, but it is entirely possible.
The Arab world has a long tradition of powerful filmmaking, as last year’s list of the top 100 Arab films by the Dubai International Film Festival testifies. (And not merely the Arab world: Iran produced the world’s second-ever feature film in 1908.) Gradually the infrastructure is being created in the UAE, so that the current generation of filmmakers can look forward to the day their love stories, ghost stories and fantasy tales will be viewed by a broad audience from New York to Tokyo.
MATCH INFO
Euro 2020 qualifier
Ukraine 2 (Yaremchuk 06', Yarmolenko 27')
Portugal 1 (Ronaldo 72' pen)
Company%20Profile
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David Haye record
Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4
Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989
Director: Goran Hugo Olsson
Rating: 5/5
FIRST TEST SCORES
England 458
South Africa 361 & 119 (36.4 overs)
England won by 211 runs and lead series 1-0
Player of the match: Moeen Ali (England)
The 10 Questions
- Is there a God?
- How did it all begin?
- What is inside a black hole?
- Can we predict the future?
- Is time travel possible?
- Will we survive on Earth?
- Is there other intelligent life in the universe?
- Should we colonise space?
- Will artificial intelligence outsmart us?
- How do we shape the future?
Company%20profile
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The Perfect Couple
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor
Creator: Jenna Lamia
Rating: 3/5
About Proto21
Date started: May 2018
Founder: Pir Arkam
Based: Dubai
Sector: Additive manufacturing (aka, 3D printing)
Staff: 18
Funding: Invested, supported and partnered by Joseph Group
Dunbar
Edward St Aubyn
Hogarth
BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE
Starring: Winona Ryder, Michael Keaton, Jenny Ortega
Director: Tim Burton
Rating: 3/5
Five famous companies founded by teens
There are numerous success stories of teen businesses that were created in college dorm rooms and other modest circumstances. Below are some of the most recognisable names in the industry:
- Facebook: Mark Zuckerberg and his friends started Facebook when he was a 19-year-old Harvard undergraduate.
- Dell: When Michael Dell was an undergraduate student at Texas University in 1984, he started upgrading computers for profit. He starting working full-time on his business when he was 19. Eventually, his company became the Dell Computer Corporation and then Dell Inc.
- Subway: Fred DeLuca opened the first Subway restaurant when he was 17. In 1965, Mr DeLuca needed extra money for college, so he decided to open his own business. Peter Buck, a family friend, lent him $1,000 and together, they opened Pete’s Super Submarines. A few years later, the company was rebranded and called Subway.
- Mashable: In 2005, Pete Cashmore created Mashable in Scotland when he was a teenager. The site was then a technology blog. Over the next few decades, Mr Cashmore has turned Mashable into a global media company.
- Oculus VR: Palmer Luckey founded Oculus VR in June 2012, when he was 19. In August that year, Oculus launched its Kickstarter campaign and raised more than $1 million in three days. Facebook bought Oculus for $2 billion two years later.
SUCCESSION%20SEASON%204%20EPISODE%201
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Company%20Profile
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Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha
Starring: Ajay Devgn, Tabu, Shantanu Maheshwari, Jimmy Shergill, Saiee Manjrekar
Director: Neeraj Pandey
Rating: 2.5/5
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About Housecall
Date started: July 2020
Founders: Omar and Humaid Alzaabi
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: HealthTech
# of staff: 10
Funding to date: Self-funded
Company%20Profile
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