DIFF announces first round of films

The Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) has announced the first round of films by six distinctive filmmakers from the Cinema of the World section. The Festival will celebrate its tenth year by bringing an exciting line-up of films and events to audiences from December 6 to 14, 2013.

This year the Cinema of the Worldprogramme

oasts some of the most innovative and acclaimed films from a variety of original cinematic voices that have already been receiving international acclaim.

Award-winning filmmaker Asghar Farhadi presents “The Past”, the follow-up to the Oscar-winning success “A Separation”. The film circles an Iranian man (Ali Mosaffa) who is travelling to Paris from Tehran to finalize his divorce. He finds himself suddenly and tragically drawn back into the lives of his ex (Bérénice Bejo, The Artist) and her daughter. Farhadi’s exquisitely written and magnificently acted new film saw Bérénice Bejo win the Best Actress Award at Cannes and is generating awards season buzz for the Iranian filmmaker.

Canadian director Jason Reitman (Up in the Air, Juno) presents his latest film, the dramatic mystery with both thrilling and romantic undertones, “Labour Day” starring Kate Winslet and Josh Brolin. The film centres on 13-year-old Henry (newcomer Gattlin Griffith) as he confronts the pangs of adolescence while struggling to care for his reclusive mother, Adele (Kate Winslet). On a back-to-school shopping trip, Henry and Adele encounter Frank (Josh Brolin), a man both intimidating and clearly in need of help, who convinces them to take him into their home. The events of this long weekend will shape each of them for the rest of their lives.

Inspired by the Victorian fairytale of the same name, “The Selfish Giant” from British writer/director Clio Barnard  follows the friendship of two teenage boys, Swifty and Arbor, who get caught up in the world of copper theft. It’s the moving story of their lives in the grim up-north British world of council estates, continual debt and scrabbling to make ends meet.

 

Accomplished filmmaker Ivan Sen impressed critics with his contemporary thriller “Mystery Road” which he directed wrote, shot, edited and scored. Set in a small town in the Australian Outback, the film features a stellar cast including Aaron Pedersen, Hugo Weaving and Ryan Kwanten. The suspenseful and intelligent mystery follows an indigenous cowboy detective called Jay Swan who returns to his outback home town to solve the murder of a teenage girl whose body is found under the highway trucking route out of town.

 

Acclaimed Italian filmmaker Paolo Sorrentino’s “The Great Beauty” is a beautiful feast of social climbers, politicians, high-flying criminals, journalists, actors, artists and intellectuals all living the high life in the antique palaces and immense villas of bustling Rome. At the centre is Jep Gambardella, a 65-year-old journalist and one-time novelist who is seeing out his days amongst Rome’s high society.

 

From Belgium’s talented Marion Hänsel comes the captivating film “Tenderness”. This delightful comedy follows a couple, separated for the past 15 years, who find themselves together again for the duration of a two-day journey to go and get their son, hospitalized in another country after a ski accident. This light-hearted road movie, takes us from Brussels to the summit of the Alps, allows audiences to discover two profoundly sincere beings for whom we can feel only tenderness.

 

 

Masoud Amralla Al Ali, Artistic Director, Dubai International Film Festival, said: “The Cinema of the World section is a rich and diverse programme ranging from international art-house to Hollywood films from both established and upcoming talent that will captivate audiences this year at DIFF. We look forward to announcing more films that promise to connect DIFF audiences to the widest choice of world cinema this December.”

Nashen Moodley, DIFF’s Co-Director of the Cinema of the World programme, added: “This year, we are bringing a vibrant and enigmatic line-up of films to the Festival. Encompassing emotive dramas, thrilling mysteries and charming comedies, the DIFF Cinema of the World film programme includes some of the year’s most celebrated works.”