Gulf Film Festival hosts second 'Gulf Nights' with region's film critics

The main discussion focused on the importance of criticism and its role in the evolution of Arab cinema.

Critic Mohammad Reda identified the qualifications of a professional critic: someone who is passionate about cinema, who can help the audience to understand films and their cultural contexts, and who is up to date on all critical and cinema trends.

Critique should be free of sectarian or political affiliation, and the critic should be aware of technical elements of film, such as cinematography, sound, acting techniques, and the role of the director.

Reda added:

"The critic should be familiar with the history of cinema, and have a broad reference. In other words, he should not watch only the film he wishes to discuss, but should watch dozens of films and then select the one that is most relevant."

Reda has taken advantage of information technology to create 2 blogs: Shadows and Ghosts and Reader.Mohamed, a renowned film critic, said he likes to take his time studying a film before he writes about it.

He noted that the new directors are divided into two groups, those who take critical views into account when making films, and those who pander to audiences only and do not care for critical feedback.

Mohammed believes that critics must be pioneers of cinema in order to stimulate cinema developments, and that criticism in the Arab world suffers from two problems: the first is that many critics will only hail films that support their own political views.

The second is that often critics will pan a film that does not praise the country in which it was filmed.

Salah Sermini, film critic and consultant to the Gulf Film Festival, mediated the discussion and responded to many questions from the audience.

He stated that critics should write for audiences and for filmmakers, since the director may find the critic's comments helpful, and audiences may find the writing useful.

Sermene pointed out that his writing about Indian participation in the festival had prompted some to learn more about Hindi films.

"The critic's writing should be consistent with the publication, whether it appears in a daily newspaper or a specialized art magazine," Sermini added.

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