The European Film Screenings returns on Wednesday for its third edition, boasting its most impressive line-up of films yet, showcasing the depth and breadth of cinema from the continent.
More than 20 feature films, from across Europe and the Arab world, will be screened in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, offering a rare chance to see some of the most exciting and acclaimed films on the big screen in the UAE.
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UAE’s European Film Screenings 2016 schedule
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Best of all, the screenings are free. Each film will be shown first at Novo Cinemas in World Trade Centre Mall, Abu Dhabi, and the following day at Novo Cinemas in Ibn Battuta Mall, Dubai.
The nine-day mini-festival opens on Wednesday in the capital and Thursday in Dubai with Koza, which was Slovakia's entry for this year's Oscars. The film's director, Ivan Ostrochovský, will be a guest at both screenings. The main programme features movies drawn from 17 European countries – a varied collection selected to reflect the diversity of the continent's cinema and its people.
“We’re opening culture to the public, but also creating a dialogue between these countries and the UAE,” says the festival’s founder and artistic director, Alessandra Priante.
“I want people to walk out with something new in their mind. Cinema really is a mind-opener – you sit down and, by definition, you are immersed. This is the best way to start a dialogue at any level.”
Notable movies on offer include two feted dark comedies: surrealist Swedish director Roy Andersson's A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence, and Dogtooth director Yorgos Lanthimos's The Lobster, an Irish production starring Colin Farrell and Rachel Weisz, which won the Jury Prize at Cannes last year.
Other highlights include moody Spanish detective thriller La Isla Minima, the Palme d'Or-nominated Italian drama Mia Madre, featuring Hollywood star John Turturro, and the first part of art-house auteur Miguel Gomes's Arabian Nights trilogy.
In addition, offering a contrast of mood and genre, a new “family day” section will showcase four age-appropriate movies – from the United Kingdom, Finland, the Netherlands and Germany – in Abu Dhabi on October 21 and Dubai on October 22.
For the first time, the main European programme will be complemented by a series of films showcasing acclaimed festival fare from the Arab world. This five-film selection includes Algerian movie Let Them Come, a Special Jury Prize-winner at last year's Dubai International Film Festival, Lebanese thriller Very Big Shot and Emirati film Abdullah. In previous years, the event presented Emirati shorts before each feature screening.
“Every year is different, and this year there has just been a lot of amazing Arab films,” says Priante.
Held under the patronage of Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak, Minister of Culture and Knowledge Development, last year’s EFS attracted more than 4,000 people to 10 days of screenings.
This third edition is hosted by the EU Delegation to the UAE and the Embassy of the Slovak Republic in the UAE – the country that currently holds the Presidency of the Council of the European Union – in collaboration with Novo Cinemas.
This year's event also benefits from the support of the European Film Academy and Eurimages – two of the continent's most prominent cinema institutions – and is sponsored by Tharwa Productions, Aramex and Jumeirah. The National is also a media partner.
The not-for-profit series was founded in 2014 by former UAE resident Priante who, while working as an Italian diplomatic representative in Abu Dhabi, wanted her departing gift to be a celebration of celluloid.
However, the warm reception the inaugural edition received meant that, after returning to Rome, Priante, 44, felt unable to leave it as a one-off, and instead established it as an annual event.
Working with embassies from participating nations, this year Priante compiled a programme that focuses exclusively on recent works – unlike previous editions, none of the films is more than two years old – that particularly reflect the countries they come from.
The result is a diverse collection – from comedies and family films to gritty dramas and a documentary, Luxembourg's La Supplication, which is about the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster.
“These films offer a cultural window to the world of European cinema and imagination,” says Debbie Stanford-Kristiansen, the chief executive of Novo Cinemas.
“This festival is a medium with which we can share the artistic vision and talent of European filmmakers with the hundreds of different nationalities residing in the UAE.
“As a nation renowned for welcoming the world’s diverse nationalities, cultures and traditions, EFS serves to strengthen the appreciation of diversity in the UAE.”
There is no advance booking and seats for the screenings are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis each day – so get there early to be sure of a place.
“The festival is successful because it is based on love – the energy behind it is love, people who love cinema coming together,” says Priante, who adds that she already has “big plans” for the fourth edition next year.
“Getting cinema shown is one of the basic ways of understanding people – to learn about different world.
“I feel in my heart – if I can change the vision of 100 people, then I’ve done my job.”
• For more information, visit www.europeanfilmscreenings.com
rgarratt@thenational.ae
