Red Heart, a heartwarming Kurdish love story about two teenagers who try to unite against all odds; Amal, Emirati director Nujoom Al Ghanems award-winning look at the pull of the UAE for expatriates; and the heartbreaking Iraqi documentary Halabja The Lost Children by Akram Hidou are among the first films to be confirmed for […]
Red Heart, a heartwarming Kurdish love story about two teenagers who try to unite against all odds; Amal, Emirati director Nujoom Al Ghanems award-winning look at the pull of the UAE for expatriates; and the heartbreaking Iraqi documentary Halabja The Lost Children by Akram Hidou are among the first films to be confirmed for the 5th annual Gulf Film Festival, slated for April 10 to 16 in Dubai. The three documentaries and Haider Rashids world music documentary Silence: All Roads Lead to Music make up the first look at the festivals Gulf competition. GFF, the home of bold, contemporary and innovative cinema from the Arabian peninsula, is also home to a Gulf student competition and an international shorts competition as well as non-competition segments.
The festival, held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Majid Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Dubai Culture & Arts Authority (Dubai Culture), will be held in and around Dubai Festival City. All GFF films are presented to the public for free. Red Heart, a Norwegian/Iraqi (Kurdish) co-production, is the first feature film by Halkawt Mustafa, born in Kurdistan. The film also delves into the challenges young women face in contemporary Kurdish society. Spectacularly shot against the backdrop of the Kurdish mountain ranges, the film follows Shirin, who discovers her widowed fathers plans to trade her in exchange for a new wife. She escapes to the big city with her boyfriend Soran, who is arrested. Now, she must live in the city that considers her to be cold prey. The film will make its UAE premiere at GFF2012.
