Press conferences are obligatory but also a necessary evil to kick up some dust. This was yet another way for the DIFF team to tell the world (but especially you, yes, you,  in Dubai) about what else to expect at the 2009 Dubai International Film Festival: celebrities you are likely to see there, people on the award juries, statistics, that sort of thing. And in keeping with WearetheMovies.com’s “all meat, no potatoes” coverage, here is what we think you absolutely must know:

Celebrities at DIFF 2009

Hollywood:
Gerard Butler (receiving Variety’s International Star of the Year Award; but the most pertinent question is, will he DINE IN HELL?!?)
Matt Dillon (remember him?)
Mandy Moore (party prime rib)
Christopher Lambert (who? okay, we jest; we love this duke of B-cinema!)
…more ‘celebrities’ you’ll need to google to remember!

Indian Cinema:
Amitabh Bachchan (receiving Lifetime Achievement Award)
Other Bachchans (Jaya Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan; yup, it’s a family affair)
Ranbir Kapoor (described by DIFF as “teenybopper sensation,” which is *not* a compliment)
Manisha Koirala (she’s judging the Muhr Arab and AsiaAfrica awards)
M.F. Hussain (he too is judging the Muhr Arab and AsiaAfrica awards)
Mammootty (the stalwart of cinema from Kerala)
…more of them will be seen around the city (shopping for clothes and gold, we’re sure)

Arab World:
Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan
Omar Sharif (receiving Lifetime Achievement Award)
Hala Sarhan
Somayya Al Kashab
Mostafa Fahmy
…and more, lost count, there are so many!

Panels & Workshops
Vive Le Cinema: co-producing fiction features with France
Against the Odds: a case study of filmmaking in Palestine
Variety-DIFF Spotlight: for filmmakers and producers in the Arab world
Screenwriting Workshop: in association with TorinoFilmLab
DIFF Young Journalist Award: in association with MBC and Funding in the Middle East

A staggering 168 movies from 55 countries will be playing over the week-long film festival (but then again, this is Dubai, so you only get more of more).  Only 2 days remain until the opening night of the 2009 Dubai International Film Festival. Excited?

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Dubai International Film Festival 2009
Details (all meat, no potatoes)

WearetheMovies.com has been diligently covering the festival since last year (our writers are pretty comprehensive and brutal; see links on the right), and this year we will once again jump into the fray, all guns blazing. Dubai is a city we love and we love it even more during the film festival. (Wait, I think I hear Bloomberg and Financial Times nerds crying foul, screaming “standstill” and “meltdown” — screw ‘em, what do philistines know about art.) The DIFF website has just unveiled the entire roster of films, schedule and price details. The information is a bit dense there, so here is a snapshot summary: continue reading »»

Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani
Rajkumar Santoshi | India | 2009
150 min

There is a distinct difference in how Romantic-Comedies are interpreted by filmmakers and audiences in Hollywood and Bollywood. While American movies tend to be Romantic movies with a measure of comedy thrown in, contemporary Bollywood makes them primarily as musical comedies with a love-story theme. While Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani is firmly set in present-day Bollywood mannerism, Rajkumar Santoshi’s inspiration is classical Bollywood. This lends the film a distinct adorable flavor that many modern comedies lack. continue reading »»

Wake Up Sid
Ayan Mukerji | India | 2009
138 min

Wake Up Sid, the latest movie from Karan Johar‘s camp by yet another debutant director, has been strongly marketed as a movie for the present day youth, the slacker generation that refuses to grow up. Unfortunately, the director comes from the same culture as his target audience, and lacks the maturity and wisdom that this movie requires in its telling. This failure turns a fantastic opportunity into a dismal melodrama heavily layered in saccharine, making it a movie that is more a generation’s dream than a wakeup call. continue reading »»

Wanted
Prabhu Deva | India | 2009
155 min

Well before the release of Wanted, the movie’s strong and evenly loud promotions made it abundantly clear what to expect from it — action bent towards exaggeration and characters that are wild caricatures. In this, the movie does not disappoint. For those averse to its lead star, Salman Khan, or “Bollywood Masala” movies, Wanted can be punishing. Fans can rejoice though, as Salman Khan possibly delivers the most heroic performance of his career yet, molded firmly within escapist cinema. continue reading »»

Kaminey
Vishal Bhardwaj | India | 2009
135 min

Kaminey (Rascals/Scoundrels) is Vishal Bhardwaj’s first movie after achieving commercial success. Most directors would lose their footing by this point, amidst big budgets, bigger stars and a bloated stardom. The good ones learn to adjust, and continue making movies their way, taking advantage of the extra resources at their disposal. Bhardwaj does just that. With all the anticipation, popularity and pre-release success already associated with Kaminey, he nonetheless delivers an astounding movie that stays with its eccentric characters and the situations they find themselves in. continue reading »»

Love Aaj Kal
Imtiaz Ali | India | 2009
160 min

Love Aaj Kal is an irritating movie. The first half (of the two-act format of most Bollywood movies) of this movie is intended as a mish-mash of events to confuse the audience to get them thinking. The second half was possibly intended to disentangle the scenes, peel them off layer by layer and decipher the movie into a lovely love story that makes you follow your heart to the person you’ve always meant to be with. continue reading »»

Luck
Soham Shah | India | 2009
130 min

Luck, the second film by Soham Shah, is not the debacle that Kaal was. In fact the movie, although it is not, feels like a “White Feather Films” production, having been cut from the same fabric as Plan and Musafir. The one factor that links them all is obvious – Sanjay Dutt, typecast in his usual role, though this makes the movie more entertaining as a result. That is all this movie aims to be anyway — entertaining. continue reading »»