Building on its success and to take the event to a wider audience, the Dubai-based Gulf Film Festival (GFF) has partnered with the Asian-Moroccan Festival of Short Films, also known as the Tissa Film Festival, to screen some 14 films by Arab filmmakers. The Tissa Film Festival will take place in Morocco, from 23- 26 […]
Building on its success and to take the event to a wider audience, the Dubai-based Gulf Film Festival (GFF) has partnered with the Asian-Moroccan Festival of Short Films, also known as the Tissa Film Festival, to screen some 14 films by Arab filmmakers.
The Tissa Film Festival will take place in Morocco, from 23- 26 February.
The selection of films includes award-winners from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and Iraq.
The film showings include UAE films Sabeel, directed by Khalid Al Mahmood, and Slow Death, directed by Jamal Salim. Sabeel, written by Mohammed Hassan Ahmed, won the first prize at the Official Gulf Competition of GFF 2011 as well as the best script award. The film is the inspiring story of two boys who live with their sick grandmother and their struggle to care for her. Slow Death, about a grave digger who is forced into retirement after 30 years of service, won special mention in the Festivals Official Gulf Competition.
From Oman, films heading to the Tissa festival include Leaking, the first prize winner of the Student Competition at GFF 2010, directed by Amjad Al Hinai and Khamis Ambo-Saidi; and Spices, directed by Amer Alrawas and the winner of the special mention award at the Official Gulf Competition in 2011. Leaking is about a young girl who escapes the tension within her household by playing outside her home, while Spices follows the lives of four people – a 90-year-old man, an infertile woman, a child who prepares for change and a blogger.
Said Bakloul, general co-ordinator of the Asian-Moroccan Festival of Short Films, said: We decided to open up our festival to Arab films, especially those from the Gulf region, due to the quantum leap the regions cinema has witnessed recently. The growth of the film industry in the Gulf has been both quantitative and qualitative, with the films distinguished for their creativity and elegance.
The GFF is considered the home of bold, contemporary and innovative cinema from the region and the fifth edition of the event will take place from 10-16 April at InterContinental Hotel, Crowne Plaza and Grand Festival Cinemas at Dubai Festival City.
