Many movies at the Dubai International Film Festival had a Q&A session after the screening. Of the three movies I managed to watch on the final day of the festival, the last two colourful post-screening Q&As that added value to the experience. This was possibly the best facet of the festival, apart from bringing us movies that we would not otherwise have had the opportunity to be discovered.

After the Downfall (Apres La Chute)
Hiner Saleem | France | 2009
63 mins

The title of this movie refers to the fall of Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi regime. The movie takes place in the apartment of a Kurdish man in France, celebrating the downfall with fellow Kurdish friends, while live televised news is projected on one of the walls. The time-line of the movie is two-fold: the entire story takes place on the same day as the celebration continues in the apartment, while the projected news-footage spans months as it goes from the US invasion of Iraq, their open-arm welcome by the Iraqis and eventually to the resistance and civil unrest the US occupation caused. Although this is a smart idea, and would surely have looked appealing on paper, the pull-off is dismal. Furthermore, the movie’s treatment is spineless: the rift between the characters at the party (due to their racial differences: Kurds vs. Shiites vs. Sunnis) is touched upon with kid gloves, and never properly explored or exploited. Instead, the director populates the movie with vulgar sensationalism of graphic news footage (real beheadings, etc) and needless nudity.

The Barons (Les Barons)
Nabil Ben Yadir | Belgium | 2009
106 mins

Set in a working class neighbourhood of Brussels, The Barons is the story of four young friends, nicknamed The Barons, who live a simple and lethargic life. Having no ambition in life, they intend to laze away, philosophising life. Except one of them, who dreams of becoming a stand-up comedian. The movie starts of as a delightful comedy, mixing quirky and bizarre humour with the narrative (breaking the fourth-wall, literally walking into the flashback, etc). But it steadily shifts spectrum, ending as a conventional drama. This could be interpreted as the characters growing up over the course of the movie and taking life more seriously, but it fails to resonate. Eventually, perhaps an ideal flight movie, The Barons has not much to take away, but it could take away your time quite effortlessly.

Little Soldier (Lille Soldat)
Annette L. Olesen| Denmark | 2008
101 mins

Little Soldier reminds me of El Custodio, the 2006 Argentinian movie. Quite similar in mood and treatment, Little Soldier is a restrained drama about Lotte, an ex-army soldier, coping with a distorted life. Brought up by her grand-parents after her mother’s death early in her life, Lotte finds it difficult to connect or communicate with her father. Taking up job as a driver for his prostitution ring, she eventually empathizes with her father’s Nigerian hooker girlfriend, taking it upon herself to ‘rescue’ her. Trine Dyrholm, playing Lotte, turns in a very restrained performance, letting her eyes and masculine-physicality evocate the character’s state of mind. Very well shot and presented, Little Soldier makes for a captivating watch.

And so it ends. As the curtains on the 2009 Dubai International Film Festival are drawn, looking back at the past week generates a smile: I was not sure about the movie selection this year before the start, but I am now glad to say that the festival proved to be quite fertile! For me: 7 Days, 5 shorts, 22 features, 1 documentary. However, all is not over yet. Expect an Afterword soon!

What a day of extremes! I watched four movies, none of which were in the middle-ground.  Keep reading for the low-down.

At The End Of Daybreak (Sham Moh)
Yuhang Ho | Malaysia/Hong Kong/South Korea | 2009
94 mins

This confused movie sets up an interesting enough premise, but then forgets who it is about. The narrative follows one character, then without rhyme or reason, shifts to another one, and then similarly to a third character. This could have been a good technique, but the way the movie progresses, it comes across as if the character in-focus becomes too boring, and hence the need to focus on someone else. Eventually, ends up being pointless.

Prophet (Un Prophete)
Jacques Audiard | France | 2009
150 mins

Malik, a young Arab-French man lands in prison. We learn early on that he does not have a family, and he has been in a juvenile centre before. Before long, the Corsicans, who enforce their control within the prison, bring the raw and uncomplicated Malik under their “protection” in return for their dirty work. As time goes by, Malik uses his experience and intelligence to elevate his position and become his own boss. The movie delves into details of Malik’s prison-life over a six-year period, its brilliance being the scrutiny of the power-play within the prison-walls. As meticulous as a good game of chess, each clever scene leads to another smart scene. We see Malik grow wiser as the movie unfolds — thankfully without voice-over, narration or blurbs of text explaining what is happening. The movie also makes powerful use of race and religion to a great effect rarely seen in cinema. Prophet is easily the best of this year’s DIFF yet (superseding any such comments made earlier).

The Man Who Sold The World
Imad & Swel Noury | Morocco | 2009
108 mins

With The Man Who Sold The World, the Noury brothers have taken early Aronofsky and hacked it up with an axe. Although it is based on a popular book, the movie is incoherent and unintelligible. Broken into 15 haphazard chapters, even the individual chapters within themselves follow little logic. One of the directors was kind enough to explain the inspirations behind the visuals and themes to give some meaning to the movie. However, a movie that requires the director to explain it to you in order to understand it is either not meant for you, or simply not a good movie. Like a badly told joke.

Broken Embraces (Los Abrazos Rotos)
Pedro Almodóvar | Spain | 2009
128 mins

Broken Embraces is a wonderfully crafted movie of two men and their passion for one woman. The story starts with a blinded and retired film-director, Mateo Blanco (Lluís Homar), who now writes scripts under the pseudonym Harry Caine. As the movie dissolves into flashback, we discover his love for Lena (Penelope Cruz), who was also the object of desire for a rich and powerful businessman. Flawlessly moving the story along, Pedro Almodóvar crafts the movie with such beautiful imagery and visual cues that watching the movie becomes a delight on numerous levels simultaneously. The rich use of the colour red, beautiful steady shots and Penelope Cruz’s love-affair with the cinema-screen balance the powerful performance of Lluís Homar and the passionate story of the movie. It is understood that fans of Almodóvar’s body of work will be rewarded with a references to his cinematic world.

Three more movies to go to complete my participation at this year’s Dubai International Film Festival. The last day, tomorrow, will bring with it bitter-sweet emotions of accomplishment and farewell. Prior to the close, I can safely say I have discovered enough new talent to keep things going into the next year. But there’s more to come yet from this year’s festival experience. Wait for tomorrow to learn more!

This day of DIFF was quite tiring. Each movie was emotionally draining, watching them back-to-back multiplied the effects. Fortunately, the festival atmosphere does the work of an energy drink; this makes the going easy.

Heiran
Shalizeh Arefpour | Iran | 2009
88 mins

Regrettably, Heiran gives us nothing new or exciting. The initial scenes set up a love story that could have gone one of many predictable ways — Heiran chooses the route of “village girl alone in big city”. Apart from the female lead’s striking resemblance to the gorgeous Indian actress Manisha Koirala (looks and performance), there is not much that can be appreciated here; unless you are biased towards it.

Mother and Child
Rodrigo Garcia | U.S.A./Spain | 2009
125 mins

Garcia, after the dismal Passengers, comes back into his own with Mother and Child. The movie is an exploration of the different facets of motherhood. A woman who gave up her daughter for adoption due to teenage-pregnancy struggling with the pain of it in the latter years of her life; a pregnant-teenage girl ready to give her baby up for adoption; an infertile woman looking to adopt; a steadfast career-woman who finds herself pregnant. We see each of these characters mothers also and very little of the fathers. Garcia’s brooding examination of these women is layered thick with contemplation. There were some instances that invoked sighs or chuckles from a percentage of the audience, probably mothers themselves. Surely their identification with some scenes proves Garcia’s power over the emotions he captures, but for one not able to empathize, sympathy works almost equally well. Naomi Watts playing one of the women is a big advantage: her character goes through the steepest curve and she rides it high. (Note: The trio of Mexican masters — del Toro, Iñárritu & Cuarón — are involved as executive producers)

Brothers
Jim Sheridan | USA | 2009
110 mins

Brothers has an interesting idea somewhere in it. Unfortunately, Jim Sheridan does a hired-hand job on the movie, letting the script and actors make the movie. While Natalie Portman and especially Jake Gyllenhaal take on this responsibility well, Tobey Maguire falls way short. He is convincing neither as Jake’s model elder brother nor as a war-hero. He even looks like Natalie Portman’s kid brother! In fact, casting Gyllenhaal and Maguire for the other’s character would have served the movie better. We’re left rooting for the couple that isn’t instead: to Thomas Newman’s splendid soundtrack.

Nymph (Nang Mai)
Pen-ek Ratanaruang | Thailand | 2009
94 mins

In Nymph, a man leaves his wife for a woman who is married to a man who is in love with a tree-nymph. This peculiar Thai movie plays with your mind using the simple approach of immersing you in the location of the story. Nymph starts with a long-shot (it lasts several minutes) in a forest. As we pan and track through the foliage, the visuals seem to appear voyeuristic. In fact, most of the movie seems like a peek into the personal lives of Nop and May, a couple who take a vacation in the woods, expecting only photography and barbeque. The many shots of the forest invoke fear too — an unknown fear that, in reverse to classic horror, is used to establish the unknown rather than the fear. Disappointingly, the low production value hampers the movie. Interesting it is, but could have done with a better director, actors or characters. Any or all.

Of the movies I watch tomorrow, the penultimate day of Dubai International Film Festival 2009, Almodóvar’s Spanish Broken Embraces is highly anticipated. The other movies take me to Malaysia, France and Morocco. Quite a trip ahead!

So was it a close competition? Not in the least. Saw Earth’s Women, Mother, Moon, Farewell Gary. Read on to know which one triumphed over the others and which one particular movie made me fall asleep!

Earth’s Women (Ddag-ui Yeo-ja)
Woo-jung Kwon | South Korea | 2009
95 mins

In the closing narration of this documentary, the director makes a statement where the three farmer-women, subjects of the film, wonder why they are being filmed since they are not special in any way. The director then, in her narration, agrees that they are not special at all. Then why indeed was this movie made? Even at 95 minutes, it would have felt twice that duration if only I could keep myself awake to watch it all.

Mother (Madeo)
Joon-ho Bong | South Korea | 2009
129 mins

Joon-ho Bong has now made three feature-length films, each as good as the other. After making the lesser-known crime-investigation thriller Memories of Murder followed by the fantastic genre-defying monster movie The Host (played at DIFF 2006), Joon-ho brings us a movie that will remind fans of both. Mother is about a single-mother’s quest to save her only son (a simple fool whose memory regularly fails him) from a murder charge that lands him in prison. Knowing her son to be innocent, she sets out to prove his innocence. In order to do this, she must first find the real killer. Not one for conventions, Joon-ho’s movie plays with themes and characters in a refreshing fashion, yet again proving how much we have become used to formula and mediocrity. The soul of the movie is Bin Won’s fantastic performance as the mother. She manages to credibly convey the desperation of an anguished yet resolute mother. A note on the closing shot: it could easily have been cut short by a good ten-seconds for a conventional close. That it does not is Joon-ho’s masterstroke.

Moon
Duncan Jones | UK | 2009
97 mins

The first thing that strikes you in Moon is the wonderful score by Clint Mansell. The next is Sam Rockwell’s wonderful performances. We have not seen him not do a loud character for some time, an opportunity Moon gives him that he grabs with all his hands. And lastly, the wonderfully nice characters in the movie (revealing more would be spoiling it). What works against it is its predictability. You know something is not right when you guess what will happen next, and the exact same thing happens, not once but throughout the movie. Fortunately, the performances and the score create a tranquil atmosphere that the works to the story’s advantage. Nevertheless, if Moon serves as an amuse-bouche to Duncan Jones’ career, I look forward to the entrée and main course.

Farewell Gary (Adieu Gary)
Nassim Amaouche | France | 2009
75 mins

As far as independent films are concerned, Farewell Gary is as conventional as they come — the kind made by directors at the beginning of their career before they move on to do better (or worse). This does not mean the movie is boring or not good, it just means that the appreciation and accolades this movie is garnering will probably be lost in time and crowd. Contextually, Farewell Gary is a good film. It is about a small town of factory workers and their families as they live through a quiet period in their lives, a little after the factory has been closed. The success of the movie is in presenting this milieu with authenticity and making it interesting enough to hold our attention. It is populated with characters that are all attractive in disposition, making Farewell Gary the indie version of a feel-good movie.

We are beyond the mid-point of the 2009 Dubai International Film Festival now. From tomorrow, the end of each screening will bring the festival wrap-up visibly closer. The last three days include some big movies and some with international acclaim in the festival-circuit, including two from Iran’s (arguably) prolific film industry. Continue reading these reports to find out what and how good they are.

I did not end up watching four movies on the third day of DIFF 2009 as planned. But the quality of the three that I did watch (Well Done, Abba; Amreeka; The Message) has more than compensated for this small personal tragedy. This year is indeed turning out to be a surprise. Seems like where Hollywood lacked in 2009, independent cinema has made up for.

Well Done, Abba
Shyam Benegal | India | 2009
135 mins

Shyam Benegal, a celebrated director of the revolutionary “parallel cinema” movement of 70s India, moves a step-down with his latest feature, Well Done Abba, a satire based on the corruption that permeates India’s government schemes for the poor. Even so, this mediocre effort by Benegal’s standards leaves its mark. Abba (an over-acting Boman Iran getting his Hyderabadi accent way off-mark) faces corrupt officials at every step of the way when he tries to avail of a government scheme that finances the building of wells in a village. Each man wants his cut, eventually leaving Abba with no money, no well and documents saying all was done. Not to be victimized, Abba and his daughter (Minissha Lamba) decide to play the system instead. They file a report at the police station for a stolen well, presenting all documents to prove they officially had one. As departments collide, pandemonium ensues. Well Done, Abba was made with one purpose in mind: to use the mass-media of cinema to make a statement on the socio-economic condition of present-day India. Within that context, the movie does and will serve its purpose. But to present it to an audience not meant for it or to appraise it purely on cinematic terms not only diminishes the necessity of the movie, but also brings the tag of mediocrity to Benegal. The director may not be too bothered though, he is probably deep into composing his next socio-political statement.

Amreeka
Cherien Dabis | USA | 2009
97 mins

Cherien Dabis’ makes a fabulous debut feature film with Amreeka. It tells the story of Muna, a single-mother, and her teenage son who migrate to U.S.A. in 2003. From Palestine. The movie explores what they go through in trying to settle-in and the prejudice they face. A simply enough premise, but what makes the movie the best of the festival so far (yes, you read that right!), is a water-tight script by the director herself and an astonishingly good yet poetically simple performance by Nisreen Faour as Muna. Nisreen embodies her character as a simple and nice person (as Amy Adams’ Ashley from Junebug). She portrays the character with such fierce honesty, that Muna becomes an amiable person, like everyone’s favourite cousin. With her son, she lives through experiences that resonate with authenticity, reacting as we expect living breathing people to. This depth of character, the familiarity it brings, makes her easy to identify with and becomes the director’s master-stroke in this winning script. Competently surrounded by a host of wonderful performances, especially Hiam Abbass as Muna’s assertive sister Raghda, Amreeka grows to become one of the most personal and warm-hearted movies of not just this festival, but the entire year.

The Message (Feng Sheng)
Kuofu Chen & Qunshu Gao | China | 2009
120 mins

A conspiracy is hatched to overthrow an oppressive regime. This takes the form of an underground revolution, with spies infiltrating every department of the regime. One regime officer takes it upon himself to find an important mole that causes them most damage. The Message, as another bit of evidence of China being world players in commercial cinema, is a well-crafted big-budget production that is a staple of summer in Hollywood. Stylization, size, sophistication and actors that look like actors – this movie has it all. Although it takes a few liberties with intelligence when finally explaining who the mole is, the suspense holds well through-out in a mark of good story-telling. The Message will remind you of numerous movies of the spy-thriller genre, but it stays gripping enough from start to finish, assuring it a positive score.

Coming up next: South Korea’s Mother, from the director of The Host (played at DIFF 2006). Day 4 of DIFF also includes Moon, the sci-fi thriller/drama starring Sam Rockwell. It’s too early to call it, but I humor myself by seeing this as a mini-competition for my vote of the best movie on the 4th day at DIFF 2009.

Three movies, three genres, three varying levels of quality: from Korea to Japan to Sweden; from a personal story to a mythical epic to a post-apocalyptic animated. As my oft-repeated slogan de troika goes, the day included the good, the bad and the weird (but not necessarily in that order!). Here’s the doozy:

My Dear Enemy (Meotjin Haru)
Yoon-ki Lee | South Korea | 2008
123 mins

My Dear Enemy commits one of the greatest sins a movie can commit — it gets boring. A simple enough premise could well have lead to a useful exploration of the film’s two main characters’ interplay and psyche; it could also have been a humorous look into the situations they get into. The film does neither. The first 15 minutes of My Dear Enemy tell us almost everything we need to know about these people. Then from there on it out, it just allows time to tick on, burdening us with a painfully shallow female lead. It could have been a wonderful short. But it ends up being a five-course meal of biscuits only!

Kamui (Kamui Gaiden)
Yoichi Sai | Japan | 2009
120 mins

As far as Ninja movies go, Kamui takes itself very seriously. And appropriately so. Director Yoichi Sai sets up a scene early on with a voice-over narration which entrusts the movie into mythical folklore. Following traditional Japanese ink-paintings in an animated prelude, the movie follows one fugitive ninja, Kamui, on the run from a ninja clan. Ultra-serious, masterful at his craft, and with not a single care, he escapes to and finally settles on an island of fishing-folk –- unaware of the love and treachery that awaits him. Although the film does not employ state-of-the-art effects, it fills each scene, action or drama with enough soul. The fight-sequences are intense, sometimes brutal, fun and a tribute to the iconic imagery that ninjas carry in popular culture. Unfortunately, the movie lacks a strong villain — one that could have been a cause of real threat to the hero. Therefore, the climactic showdown does not reach the level of excitement that the movie builds towards. It was just another good fight.

Metropia
Tarik Saleh | Sweden | 2009
86 mins

In the hands of a good director and a great cinematographer, Metropia can be a wonderful live-action movie. It could just as easily enough become a bad b-grade direct-to-video also. Tarik Saleh’s Metropia, with its peculiar technique and an eerie visual motif, is an askewed look into a dystopian future. The over-sized heads and two-dimensional movements mixed with photo-real faces and skin create a bizarre effect. This surreal effect does not wear off as the movie progresses but instead complements the mystery that the movie’s story presents. The movie raises many questions, answers too few, but it is eventually not about intellectualizing the story. Metropia is about how it is made. Nonetheless, this does not stop the director from making a jab at our increasing fascination with voyeurism.

Day 3 has plunged me deeper into the 2009 Dubai International Film Festival. Having seen 10 movies till now, and four movies lined up for tomorrow, it will be easy to be overly critical towards movies that find it hard to hold the audience’s interest. However, it is usually on such days that the best of the festival is discovered. Plus, there’s the rain…

As the 6th edition of the Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) began, the buzzing gossip and conundrum surrounding this year’s film selections and celebrities settled for a more meaningful reverberation –- a celebration of cinema. And today is just the beginning: DIFF is seven unremitting days of back-to-back world cinema. With it, here also begins our resident film critic Shariq Madani’s annual day-by-day account of fest films good, bad and plain simple…weird.

Gulf Voices #1 (Collection of 5 Short Films by Arab filmmakers): This was a mixed bag — but that’s how these things come. Fortunately, two of the shorts were better-than-average, and that made the assortment worth the bad ones.

#1
Amal’s Cloud
Rawia Abdullah | UAE | 2009
9 mins

It starts with Amal’s Cloud, an over-thought under-shot movie that probably made sense to a few from the crew only. The movie has arbitrary shots threaded together in some unintelligible way and is akin to reading 4 random pages from a 40-page book. But it does have the advantage of being a short though.

#2
The Half Heart (Nesf Galb)
Bilal Abdullah | U.A.E. | 2009
9 mins

Described as a “daring” movie, The Half Heart that attempts to present the prohibited topic of ex-marital pregnancy. But not as “groundbreaking” as the director probably intended it to be. He puts his toe in a taboo pool expecting a splash of questions and discussions.

#3
Naked Human (Mujarad Ensan)
Omar Al-Masab | Kuwait | 2009
12 mins

Next is Naked Human, a sketch-animation of a high-concept that is interestingly visualized.  It does provoke questions though. Fortunately, it ends with a note that it is a prologue to a trilogy – like a lengthy trailer to what seems an interesting movie.

#4
Banana (Mouz)
Meqdad Al Kout | Kuwait | 2009
25 mins

The best of the lot! This delirious film by Kuwaiti director Meqdad Al Kout is an eccentric telling of one man’s fetish with land, and his floating thoughts populated with equally absurd versions of events taking place around him. A truly daring movie that was banned in its home country Kuwait, Banana does not shy away from clever displays of the principal’s sexual obsessions or random meaningless ciphers that admittedly stand for nothing but effect. A true Lynchian effort, Banana is perfectly at home at indie festival circuits.

#5
The Good Omen (Al-Bashara)
Mohammed R. Bu-Ali | Bahrain | 2009
26 mins

The last of the collection was the Bahraini movie The Good Omen. A slow moving piece about the older generation that worked on the construction of an important bridge in the city, it overstays its welcome even for its short runtime of 26 minutes.

All-in-all, a less than stellar effort for the wonderful opportunity three of these directors were given. It’s only Naked Human, and the wonderful Banana that makes this collection worth the watch.

North (Nord)
Rune Denstad Langlo | Norway | 2009
78 mins

After months of depression in a far-off ski-slope, an ex-athelete takes a road-trip across miles of snow to meet his son & estranged wife. The director takes this simple idea and does what most good road-trip movies do right – he makes the character of the protagonist interesting and his experiences immersive. Beautifully shot in the all-white backdrop of northern Norway and blended with a nice mix of humor to the narrative, North also imaginatively borrows from the western genre, replacing the horse with a snow-mobile and sand for snow. Realistic dialogues and good performaces add to this wonderful movie, making it a pleasant start to this festival’s feature-length movies.

Cedar Boys
Serhat Caradee | Australia | 2009
102 mins

Cedar Boys is a look into the life of angst-ridden second-generation middle-class Lebanese-Australians. They find an easy path into the world of crime, specifically drug-dealing, the lure of easy money replacing moral dilemmas. This myopic look at life is what makes them oblivious to the eventual implosion they heads towards. Serhat Caradee took six years to complete this movie, attributing a big chunk of that to the writing process. This shows in the final movie. The movie seems long for its runtime; not because it is slow, but because the world of these characters is so well fleshed-out, the length of the movie seems like a journey into the real lives of these people. A lot is established and accomplished within its 102 minutes. Cedar Boys also features favourabily underplayed performances. An exciting debut by this Australian director.

My personal impression of the 1st day of DIFF: it was good. Two good feature-length movies makes it probably the best first day I have ever experienced at DIFF in these past six years. Day 2 has three movies lined up, all of them with relatively larger productions. But if Day 1 is any indication of the next six days, then those of us attending the festival are going to be very happy people.