The official press release for the 4th Gulf Film Festival (GFF) proudly states that it is the home of bold, experimental, and contemporary cinema from the Arabian peninsula. It seems like not a month goes by when there is not a film festival taking place somewhere in the region that promotes 'cutting edge Middle Eastern cinema'. In the past six months alone, we have already had Dubai and Abu Dhabi hold successful gatherings and now we have the Gulf Film Festival currently taking place.
Such frequent events are probably a reaction to the mainstream Middle Eastern cinema currently available, which to be honest 'sucks' and more than likely in its current form, would be laughed off the screen of any Western cinema if shown there. That is not to say that Western cinema is always picture perfect itself, but anyone familiar with locally written, produced and directed movies will be aware of the usual over the top shenanigans normally served up as entertainment here. Out of the many movies we annually produce, only a handful are in fact, 'good'. But thats just my opinion.
What is undebatable is that some 153 films from 31 countries, including 45 from the UAE are currently being screened at GFF. And from this mass bulk there are a few gems, including the Emirati produced The Caller which I breifly want to highlight upon... Think Scream meets The Ring meets the DS9
episode 'The Sound of Her Voice', and what you get is a psychological horror about a woman tormented by mysterious phone calls from someone who says she is literally in the past. Produced by Amina Dasmal, who according to Forbes is one of the ‘100 Most Powerful Women of 2011’, its good to see that some film makers like her and Abdullah al Kaabi who produced the short film The Philosopher, are raising the bar for Gulf cinema by making quality movies designed to cross cultural divides and broaden market appeal.
episode 'The Sound of Her Voice', and what you get is a psychological horror about a woman tormented by mysterious phone calls from someone who says she is literally in the past. Produced by Amina Dasmal, who according to Forbes is one of the ‘100 Most Powerful Women of 2011’, its good to see that some film makers like her and Abdullah al Kaabi who produced the short film The Philosopher, are raising the bar for Gulf cinema by making quality movies designed to cross cultural divides and broaden market appeal.Director Nayla al Khaja who is currently working on her own supernatural thriller, Tobe Hooper's Djinn, said 'GFF has been an incredible festival for Gulf cinema and filmmakers. It’s our own festival, where we can really come out and show our cinema. Today in the region, there is a lot of investment and interest towards training and education. We’re also seeing new grants and film funds.” Hopefully with events like these the Middle East and in particular The Gulf, will soon be able to distribute in mass, quality movies abroad.
For more on regionally produced movies check out this post, and follow the links.
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