First GCC animated film to make world premiere at Dubai International Film Festival

The film, The Jungle Kid (Ibn Al Ghabah), is the result of a joint GCC production venture.

Masoud Amralla Al Ali, programmer of the Festival's "Arabian Nights" segment, said the inclusion of this film is a reflection of the Festival's aims. Amralla, the founder-director of the Emirates Film Competition, is also the artistic director of the UAE Cultural Foundation.

"This is a great addition to our Festival line-up, not only because it is a first for the Arab world, but also because we want to encourage Arab filmmakers to break new ground," Amralla said. "It is a well-crafted film, and is sure to have strong inter-generational appeal because of its story and its message."

The film is based on the classic Arabic novel 'Hai bin Yaqzan' by famous Arab writer Ibn Toufyl, and tells the story of an infant raised by a deer after being abandoned in the woods. Eventually, the young boy starts to examine the ways of nature and the universe around him and embarks on a search for the maker of all things.

The original 12th century story of Hai bin Yaqzan is believed to be one of the most popular pieces of literature to emerge from the Middle Ages, and is considered by many to have been the prototype for Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe. The author, Ibn Toufyl, was one of the outstanding philosophers and scientists of his day, and the book reflects his concerns and ideologies.

Ibn Toufyl's young man was cast upon a desert island as an infant and suckled and reared by a doe. As the boy grows, his physical development is paralleled by his psychological and spiritual development.

The 88-minute family film is the latest creation from the GCC Joint Programs Production Institution, a Kuwait-based group with a history of creating quality educational programming for Arabic-speaking children. The institution, which is jointly funded by all the Gulf states, earlier produced Iftah Ya Simsim, the Arab version of Sesame Street.

The Jungle Kid uses a combination of traditional 2-D animation and modern computer-generated 3-D animation, and the vocal talents of several Arab stars including Ghanim Al Suleity, Sanaa Younis, Fathiyya Ibrahim and Abdul Nasser Al Zayer. Completing the pan-Arab creative team is Iraqi director Thamer Al Zaidi, who will be in Dubai for the Festival.

"We do not have a history of animation like the Japanese or Americans, so we cannot really compare the first pan-Arab production with those established traditions," Amralla added. "But this is certainly a good beginning."

Three box offices are currently open for business: at the CNN Building Lobby in Dubai Media City from 11 am to 6 pm until December 6, and until 8 pm during the Festival; at the Madinat Theatre in the Souk at Madinat Jumeirah from 11 am to 9 pm until December 6 and until 10.30 pm during the Festival; and at the Mercato mall from 10 am to 6.30 pm until December 6, and until 10.30 pm during the Festival.

Additional box offices will open on December 7 at the Madinat Arena, and at the Auditorium at the Jumeirah Beach Hotel on December 8.

Telephone bookings and orders can be made with the Box Office on (04) 367 6701 / (04) 367 6707 for advance bookings and directions to box office venues.