14th Dubai International Film Festival opens

(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Celebrities from all over the world shone in their branded and shiny dresses and suits on the red carpet of the Dubai International Film Festival (Diff) that kicked off on Wednesday night.

Celebrating its 14th edition, the festival saw numerous appearances from international celebrities including English actor Sir Patrick Stewart and Indian Irrfan Khan, who received Lifetime Achievement awards on Wednesday evening. Egyptian Wahid Hamid, who has been producing script for Arab TV and cinema for more than 40 years, was also rewarded.

Hollywood fames Cate Blanchett and Vanessa Williams also attended the opening night gala of the annual film festival at the Madinat Jumeriah on Wednesday.

Speaking to Khaleej Times, filmmaker and screenwriter Hamid said he is very humbled to be honoured for his work that extended over 15 TV series and 35 films.

"It's great when a screenwriter is honoured. It makes me feel that cinema is still, and will always remain appreciated," he said.

He added that while the Arab world has seen struggles and political turmoil, the Arab cinema has remained unaffected and succeeded in telling the human story. "Arab cinema is now recognised worldwide, be in Venice, US or Canada," he said.

Known for playing Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation and Professor Xavier in the X-Men film series, Patrick Stewart told Khaleej Times that as a real life art collector, he's looking to forward to see the Louvre Musuem and Sheikh Zayed Mosque in Abu Dhabi

He said cinema has helped in understanding the world's international conditions. "Cinema provides a common understanding of who we are, what we are and what we hope to be," he said.

His fans can have a face-to-face meeting during the 'In Conversation' event scheduled on Friday, at 3.30pm at the Madinat Souk Theatre.

The festival kicked off with Christian Bale - Rosamund Pike picture Hostiles.

Signalling the beginning of seven days of movie madness, the Western epic satisfied the appetite of film-buffs across the land looking to consume as many features, short films and documentaries as possible, ranging from animations such as Ferdinand to comedy gold like The Death Of Stalin and closer-to-home grown endeavours including Last Men in Aleppo.

The festival also saw popular faces including Bollywood actors Sonam Kapoor, Anup Singh, Egyptian actors Yusra, Menna Shalabi, Hend Sabri, Ayda Reyadh and Emirati director Ali Mostafa and Emirati filmmaker Habib Ghuloom, as well as the Turkish actor Tuba Bykstn.

Blanchett will also make an appearance at Diff as the head of the IWC Filmmakers Jury for the sixth IWC Filmmaker Award.

This year, DIFF screens 140 films from across 51 countries participating and 38 languages. It will feature 50 world or international premieres, 81 MENA debuts, 15 red carpet galas and 14 special presentations.

Sherouk Zakaria "Born and raised in UAE, Sherouk Zakaria is a Senior Correspondent at Khaleej Times. Joined since May 2016, she covers Dubai Municipality, Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), special events and humanitarian issues. Her choice of journalism as a career stems from her passion of telling people's stories and writing to inspire or make a difference. In her free time, she's an occasional theater and film actress. Sherouk received her BA in Mass Communications from the American University in Sharjah in 2013. Before joining Khaleej Times, she was a senior lifestyle/entertainment editor for a magazine in Dubai."

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