Tears and laughter for As One stars taking to the stage
A deafening standing ovation greeted the ten young stars of As One as they took to the stage following Saturday’s (October 25) gala premiere.
The moving documentary focuses on ten autistic children from the UAE as they take part in a one-off musical theatre programme, which culminated in a live performance.
The screening was a glowing success – on numerous occasions the packed auditorium broke out into laughter, while we also spotted a few tears too, the tone carefully balanced between a heartfelt celebration of these individuals, but with an educational thrust.
At the close of them film each of the stars took to the stage to announce themselves, prompting an unprecedented level of cheers and applause – one boy, Mohammed, even treated the audience to an a cappella song.
As One was produced by Image Nation, a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi Media, which is the publisher and owner of The National.
Introducing the film Image Nation chairman Mohammed Al Mubarak said: “We’ve worked on many movies and with many stars – but the stars in this movie shine brighter than any of them.”
UAE-born rapper The Narcicyst talks about his turn to film
At this year’s ADFF, all eyes have been firmly set on From A to B, which is – in case you’ve been living under a rock – the first Emirati film to open a major film festival.
But what rather fewer people seem to have realised is that its director, Ali F Mostafa, has already hosted a second world premiere at the festival.
The 15-minute Rise was screened for the first time on Friday (October 24), and will roll again on Monday (October 27).
A dystopian sci-fi set in the near future in a nondescript Arab city, the movie was the brainchild of none other than The Narcicyst, the trailblazing Iraqi-Canadian rapper who has spent much of his life in the UAE.
Talking to fans at ADFF, he explained the idea came to him on a sleepless night at 4am, when he scribbled out a script. Within three months later he was on set shooting.
“I was crazy [doing Rise],” said the rapper, real name Yassin Alsalman, at an ADFF Talks event on Saturday (October 25). “I was working as the producing, doing the music, and acting it – I was like a headless chicken.”
The rapper and director have been friends since 2009, when The Narcicyst appeared in Mostafa’s first picture City of Life.
An experimental work, “Narcy” warned fans Rise is likely to cause audiences to scratch their heads – but more clues might come with the MC’s forthcoming album, which accompanies the work.
“It’s going to go over people’s heads,” he added. “It’s a watch-several-times-to-understand-it film.”
Truffaut’s terrific turnout, 40 years on
Despite a late Saturday night billing time, the cinema was rammed with weary festival goers eager to see one of François Truffaut’s very best film, following the 30th anniversary of the legendary French filmmaker’s death last week.
Audiences had already been treated with an early afternoon screening of the family friendly Small Change, but the programme kicked off in earnest on Saturday (October 25) night with the Oscar-winning Day for Night, beginning a six-night evening run of Truffaut classics at Abu Dhabi’s Vox Marina Mall.
The welcome couldn’t have been more enthusiastic, with an excitable introduction speech pronouncing the 1973 work “not just one of Truffaut’s best films, but one of the best films ever made”, perking up the packed auditorium with a visceral anticipation spreading across in the room.
The film was, of course, fantastic, a timelessly compelling portrait of filmmaking which gives away many of the tricks of the trade, but never dispels the magic – and is as utterly watchable today as it was 41 years ago. The only grip – it’s a shame Warner Brothers haven’t taken the time to restore this one, like most of the classics screened at the festival.
The Truffaut special programme continues all week – read all about it, and the great man himself, here.
