The landmark 10th edition of the Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) got off to a roaring start on the evening of December 7th at Madinat Jumeirah with a Red Carpet Opening Gala screening of Hany Abu-Assads Omar, the Palestinian entry for the Foreign Language Oscar. Academy Award-nominated and Golden Globe winning Palestinian Director Hany Abu […]
The landmark 10th edition of the Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) got off to a roaring start on the evening of December 7th at Madinat Jumeirah with a Red Carpet Opening Gala screening of Hany Abu-Assads Omar, the Palestinian entry for the Foreign Language Oscar.
Academy Award-nominated and Golden Globe winning Palestinian Director Hany Abu Assad led the line- up of stars gracing the red carpet as he attended alongside the films cast members Adam Bakri, Eyad Hourani and Waleed Zuaiter.
DIFF Chairman Abdulhamid Juma said: Last nights opening ceremony were tremendously exciting, commencing the festivals tenth year of amazing cinema. To celebrate in the presence of our UAE community, including His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum was truly an honour, and we look forward to giving our international guests and faithful Dubai audiences the best festival yet over the next eight days. The result of a decades work by an extremely dedicated team, this years programme truly epitomizes our stated mission of bridging cultures and meeting minds.
Omar is a tough look at love, friendship and betrayal amongst a group of Palestinian friends living on different sides of the contentious Israeli Separation Wall. The film has been applauded at prestigious venues around the world, including the Cannes film festival.
The prestigious DIFF Lifetime Achievement Award was presented during the Opening Night ceremonies. This years recipients were Egyptian journalist and film historian Samir Farid, who pioneered film criticism in the Arab world, and Multiple Emmy and Golden Globe Award winner Martin Sheen.
