Women contribute full force to Gulf Cinema

The festival is an exploration of the latest in Gulf cinema, and one thing is readily apparent: the steady increase in participation of women filmmakers from the Gulf, with diverse offerings in virtually every programming segment.

One of the six Opening Night films, The Cork, is a short film from Bahraini filmmaker and 'Cinenym' club founder Aisha Al Muqla that reveals the struggle between democratic and non-democratic nations, in particular regarding the issue of freedom of speech.

In the feature documentary Adasat Maftouha fil Iraq (Open Shutters Iraq), women from five cities in Iraq train together on a photojournalism project. As they train, they discuss their struggles, loves and betrayals, and experiences of war. The film explores how traumatised people can resist the 'un-making' of their world and assert their existence through creativity. Iraqi-British director Maysoon Pachachi is a founding member of London-based Women's Action For Iraq.

Two short films from Kuwait will vie for the Short Films in Competition title: actress, writer and director Laila Marafie's Mama depicts a grieving mother who recreates the scene of her children's murder; In Wa Waila (Oh Torment), director Monira Al Qadiri creates a surreal take on an old Kuwaiti folk song, depicting love lost, displacement, gender identity, and death in an extremely visual manner and inverting all female and male roles in the film.

From the UAE, Butterfly Kiss is Nayla Al Khaja's short about a 17-year old girl transforming herself into a beautiful young woman and questioning her relationship, while Widad by Manal Ali Bin Amro explores the innocent world of a heart.

The Student Short Films Competition reveals a bumper crop of female filmmakers: UAE-based trio Salwa Al Qushayri, Sameera Al Hosani, and Maryiam Al Yafie have contributed Na[y]el, about an Indian man who discovers that he is an Emirati and decides to meet his new family. Wafa Faisal brings her Born 2B Victims, about three characters living in a merciless society who must go after the truth, no matter what the outcome for their safety, and Rawia Abdullah will screen her Amal's Cloud, which portrays a girl waiting for a 'jinx to melt and disappear.'

In the Documentary Competition, Koutaiba Al-Janabi's Against the Light is a portrait film about Mahmoud Sabri, an Iraqi artist in exile, and Only a Beginning by Noor Hamidaddin, UAE's entry towards the Documentary segment, explores the director's cultural identity, from growing up in the west and her life in an Arab world.

The Student Documentary Competition abounds with entries from female filmmakers: The Diversity of Nationalities in the UAE, by Mariam Alsuwaidi, explores how the students and the teachers of a school in Sharjah make sense of Emirati identity, while Reflections by Muna al Mazam asks what the different nationalities residing in the UAE think of the country's nationals.

On the tongue-in-cheek side, Finding Mr and Mrs Right—Dubai Style by Hind Al Hammadi and Elham Sharaf is a documentary about the trials and tribulations of Dubai's new generation as they search for their perfect match.

Beyond Words is a charming documentary in the 'Lights' programming segment, contributed by Hana Abdulla from Saudi Arabia. The film documents a musical dialogue between an Argentinean tango group, who came to Saudi Arabia for the first time and a Saudi folk music band. In the film we learn about the effect of this dialogue on both sides and how they see each other's music.

The Gulf Film Festival is presented by the Dubai Culture and Arts Authority (Dubai Culture) in association with Dubai Studio City.