5th Gulf Film Festival opens with screening of ‘Tora Bora’

posted on 11/04/2012: 894 views

The fifth Gulf Film Festival was opened by Sheikh Majid Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Dubai Culture & Arts Authority (Dubai Culture), and Festival Patron, on Tuesday night with a red carpet ceremony attended by a bevy of Gulf and Arab film stars.

An exciting showcase of 155 quality films from 40 nations is being screened at the festival, with all screenings open to the public. The festival will continue through April 16 at Dubai Festival City, with a parallel screening of the festival's key films to be screened over the weekend from April 12 to 14 at the Abu Dhabi Theatre.

In all, 347 films are being screened at the festival, across its Gulf, Gulf Student and International shorts competitions; and the out-of-competition Lights, Intersections, Films for Children, Cherries of Kiarostami and Gerard Courant showcases.

At the opening ceremony, the Festival honoured veteran Bahraini filmmaker Bassam Al-Thawadi and saluted legendary Iranian actor Behrouz Vossoughi for their contribution to cinema. The Kuwaiti feature film Tora Bora was the opening film of GFF 2012.

Tora Bora, which revolves around a young man's decision to join extremist forces in Afghanistan, and his parents' agonising search for him, also marks the veteran Kuwaiti actor Saad Al Faraj's return to feature films after decades.

A number of stars from the region walked the red carpet. UAE stars included: Alaa Al Nuaimi, Marwan Abdullah Saleh, Mansoor Al Ghassani, Mansoor Al Fili, Fatema Al Jassim, Huda Al Khatib, Hani Al Shibani, Mohammed Saeed Al Salti, Abdulrahman Al Zarouni, Adel Ibrahim, Hassan Youssef, Reem, Khalid Ali, Ahmed Nasser, Omar Al Mulla, Huda Salah, Nivine Madhi, Alia Al Shamsi, Huda Hamdan, Bilal Abdullah, Habib Ghuloom, Rawya Abdullah, Aisha Abdullah, Jassim Obaid, Shaimaa Al Janahi and others.

Kuwaiti celebrities included Tora Bora director Walid Al Awadi and the stars of the movie, Saad Al Farraj, Khalid Ameen and Al Araby Al Sassy. Other Arab and Gulf celebrities included Basima Hamada, Shahd Yasen, Basm Al Amir, Abeer Al Jundi, Ahmed Abraaj, Zyna Karam, Mohammed Khalifa, Hassan Yaseen, Ahmed Mubarak, Saud Ali, Ibrahim Al Hasawi, Abdulaziz Jaseem, Nasser Mohammad, Mohammed Yaseen, Mariam Sultan, Zahra, Haifa Hussein, Ala'a Shakir and Fatema Abdulrahim, among others. – The Gulf Today

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