Regional, international filmmakers put Arab world under the lens

With its 13 films - 10 of which are making their Gulf premieres here - the "Arabian Nights" segment of the ongoing Dubai International Film Festival is geared towards doing just that.

From Egypt to Morocco, Lebanon to the Netherlands, Palestine to the United States, a variety of films by Arabs and about Arabs has been chosen to give Arabs and non-Arabs alike an insight into how the world perceives Arabs and how the Arabs perceive themselves.

"The Festival is an opportunity to feature films that tell both sides of the story, be it by Arabs, the West or beyond," said Festival Chief Arab Programmer Masoud Amralla Al Ali. "It is from us to them, from them to us, and for them and us."

"Arabian Nights is the title of a quest to seek what is unique and extraordinary, not only in Arab cinema, but also in the Arab memory, in the folds of its society and in its life-altering issues," said Amralla, who is also founder-director of the Emirates Film Competition and artistic director of the UAE Cultural Foundation.

Some of the productions are wholly Arab, others Western and still others are joint ventures, and their stories are as diverse as their points of origin.

The selection of the Arabian Nights films was made after Amralla sat through more than 200 films and visited more than 16 film festivals around the world.

"All the Arab films chosen for the Festival were selected on the basis of their content and the quality of their production," Amralla said. "I also tried to select a mix between the big-budget films and independent filmmakers so that we support the young filmmakers of our society."

Amralla also made it a point to select a diversity of subjects, from serious political films to light-hearted comedies. "The world sees the Middle East as being a hotbed of politics, and only politics, but we have a sense of humor also," he said. "We have the same concerns as other people around the world - our families, our society, jobs, our future. I wanted to show the true image of Arabs, no matter how uncomfortable we are with them."

"I could have chosen commercial films that don't reflect our society accurately, but it is harder and more rewarding for our society to see those films that tell the truth, even if the truth is ugly," he added.

More than 75 films will be shown across the six Festival venues for the six days of the Festival. Crowning the first five days will be the gala screenings - Le Grand Voyage, Bollywood/Hollywood, Finding Neverland, The Grudge and Red Dust - selected from the key segments of the Festival.