Arab Cinema Week is being held for the first time at Cinema Akil, the sole independent theatre in the UAE. Nine full-length films and six short films will be screened throughout the course of the 10-day event, which will begin on Friday at the location on Alserkal Avenue.
Nine female directors present their work, some of which are being screened in the UAE for the first time. The programme features stories and talent from and about the Arab world, representing 11 Arab countries.
Cinema Akil’s founder, Butheina Kazim, stated that the inaugural Arab Cinema Week “delivers on our aim of becoming the home of Arab indie cinema and filmmakers.”
Filmmakers can explore “their heartbreaks… their wins, their hardships, and their moments of personal pleasure” during the event, according to programme curator Rabih El-Khoury, which has been devised “to bring together a spectrum of subjects for Arab storytelling.”
The Alleys, the Bafta-winning debut film from Jordanian director Bassel Ghandour, kicks off the programme, which also focuses on Algerian films to commemorate the country’s 60th anniversary of independence. The programme will also include works from Somalia and a variety of Middle Eastern shorts.
On October 9, conversations will be held with renowned Palestinian actor Saleh Bakri and directors of various films.
‘Becoming’
An in-depth examination of the rapidly evolving society of the country is provided in five stories by five Saudi directors. In their respective films, directors Hind Alfahhad, Jowaher Alamri, Noor Alameer, Sara Mesfer, and Fatima Al-Banawi explore the Saudi identity and experience from both a subjective and a universal perspective.
‘The Battle of Algiers’
The Battle of Algiers by Gillo Pontecorvo is regarded as one of the most important political movies in history. A case study in contemporary warfare is the sombre 1966 documentary about the Algerian National Liberation Front’s struggle for independence against French colonisers in the 1950s and early 1960s.
The documentary has had a significant impact over time, and groups as diverse as the Black Panthers, the IRA, South African insurgents, and the George W. Bush administration in Iraq have all studied it.
‘The Alleys’
Ali, a hustler in East Amman, pretends to be a businessman to hide his relationship with girlfriend Lana. But when Aseel, Lana’s mother, is inexplicably blackmailed by a voyeur who has filmed the couple, their plot begins to unravel. Aseel turns to deadly criminal Abbas for assistance in order to shield her daughter and their reputation.