Cinema Akil is launching a summer-long series of film screenings, with classic and contemporary favourites that celebrate the joy of travel, in the spotlight.
Dubbed Cinema Akil Traveller, the programme kicks off on Friday, June 26, with four classic Italian films, which will be screened at the venue in collaboration with the Italian Cultural Institute and Front Row Filmed Entertainment.
The series will start with the Federico Fellini masterpiece La Dolce Vita.
Dubai's only independent art-house cinema reopened on June 12, as the UAE began easing restrictions that were put in place to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
The cinema, which is located in Alserkal Avenue, has redesigned its seating arrangement and imposed a number of social-distancing measures to ensure visitors have a safe and worry-free viewing experience.
“At Cinema Akil, we've always believed that cinema can take you through places and times,” founder and managing director Butheina Kazim said in a statement.
“You don’t have to get on a plane to travel. Summer 2020 is not a typical one and, if like many this year, you’re choosing not to fly to your summer holiday destination, we wanted to bring that destination to you,” she said.
The organisation has joined forces with the newly opened Italian Cultural Institute Abu Dhabi and long-time partners Front Row Filmed Entertainment for the summer programme.
Here's the lowdown on a few of the films you can watch this season.
'La Dolce Vita' (1960)
One of Fellini's most lauded films, La Dolce Vita won the coveted Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 1960, then nabbed the Academy Award for Best Costume Design two years later.
The comedy-drama stars Marcello Mastroianni, who depicts a columnist named Marcello Rubini, who many believe to be Fellini’s alter ego.
The film follows Rubini’s adventures around an ultra-modern, ultra-sophisticated, ultra-decadent Rome, creating a portrait of an intelligent but superficial man who craves a life of celebrity, wealth and self-indulgence.
La Dolce Vita will be showing at Cinema Akil from Friday, June 26 to Thursday, July 9.
'La Grande Bellezza' (2013)
Paolo Sorrentino's art drama La Grande Bellezza (The Great Beauty) won the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar in 2013.
It tells the story of an ageing writer, who, after his 65th birthday, begins to take stock of his life, and starts looking past the lavish nightclubs, parties and cafes he has spent most of his time in. Instead he wants to discover Rome in all its glory.
In 2016, the film was listed among the 100 greatest films since 2000 in an international critics’ poll.
La Grande Bellezza will be screening at Cinema Akil from Friday to Thursday, July 10 to 23.
'Il Postino' (1994)
Directed by Massimo Troisi and Michael Radford, Il Postino (The Postman) is one of the most romantic films ever made.
The film is set in the 1950s and tells of a postman whose sole duty it is to deliver Pablo Neruda’s daily mail after the exiled Cuban poet settles down on a tiny Italian isle.
The film is a moving tale of poetry, love and friendship, made more poignant by the fact Troisi – who also acts as the postman in the film – died the day after filming ended.
The comedy-drama earned numerous accolades upon its release in 1994, including the Bafta Award for Best Film Not in the English Language, Best Direction and Best Film Music.
Il Postino will be showing at Cinema Akil from Friday to Thursday, July 24 to 30.
'Mediterraneo' (1991)
Gabriele Salvatores’ anti-war film is set during the Second World War and tells the story of a group of Italian soldiers who become stranded on a seemingly deserted island in the middle of the Aegean Sea.
Soon, the soldiers realise that the island’s citizens have merely gone into hiding, thinking that they were under German attack. As the soldiers become acclimated to island life, they begin repainting the church’s frescoes, starting football teams and even finding romance.
Mediterraneo will be screening at Cinema Akil from Friday, July 31 to Thursday, August 6.
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
PROFILE OF STARZPLAY
Date started: 2014
Founders: Maaz Sheikh, Danny Bates
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment/Streaming Video On Demand
Number of employees: 125
Investors/Investment amount: $125 million. Major investors include Starz/Lionsgate, State Street, SEQ and Delta Partners
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
RACE SCHEDULE
All times UAE ( 4 GMT)
Friday, September 29
First practice: 7am - 8.30am
Second practice: 11am - 12.30pm
Saturday, September 30
Qualifying: 1pm - 2pm
Sunday, October 1
Race: 11am - 1pm
CHELSEA'S NEXT FIVE GAMES
Mar 10: Norwich(A)
Mar 13: Newcastle(H)
Mar 16: Lille(A)
Mar 19: Middlesbrough(A)
Apr 2: Brentford(H)
Match info
Costa Rica 0
Serbia 1
Kolarov (56')
Museum of the Future in numbers
- 78 metres is the height of the museum
- 30,000 square metres is its total area
- 17,000 square metres is the length of the stainless steel facade
- 14 kilometres is the length of LED lights used on the facade
- 1,024 individual pieces make up the exterior
- 7 floors in all, with one for administrative offices
- 2,400 diagonally intersecting steel members frame the torus shape
- 100 species of trees and plants dot the gardens
- Dh145 is the price of a ticket
What is the FNC?
The Federal National Council is one of five federal authorities established by the UAE constitution. It held its first session on December 2, 1972, a year to the day after Federation.
It has 40 members, eight of whom are women. The members represent the UAE population through each of the emirates. Abu Dhabi and Dubai have eight members each, Sharjah and Ras al Khaimah six, and Ajman, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain have four.
They bring Emirati issues to the council for debate and put those concerns to ministers summoned for questioning.
The FNC’s main functions include passing, amending or rejecting federal draft laws, discussing international treaties and agreements, and offering recommendations on general subjects raised during sessions.
Federal draft laws must first pass through the FNC for recommendations when members can amend the laws to suit the needs of citizens. The draft laws are then forwarded to the Cabinet for consideration and approval.
Since 2006, half of the members have been elected by UAE citizens to serve four-year terms and the other half are appointed by the Ruler’s Courts of the seven emirates.
In the 2015 elections, 78 of the 252 candidates were women. Women also represented 48 per cent of all voters and 67 per cent of the voters were under the age of 40.
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
BIRD%20BOX%20BARCELONA
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirectors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20David%20and%20Alex%20Pastor%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EGeorgina%20Campbell%2C%20Mario%20Casas%2C%20Diego%20Calva%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Crops that could be introduced to the UAE
1: Quinoa
2. Bathua
3. Amaranth
4. Pearl and finger millet
5. Sorghum
What is a black hole?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
