ABU DHABI // The last king of Scotland will swap his throne for a red carpet on Thursday at the opening night gala for the seventh Abu Dhabi Film Festival.
The Oscar-winning American actor Forest Whitaker will attend the regional premiere of the heist caper A Life of Crime, and will also be presented with a Black Pearl Career Achievement Award.
This award will honour an illustrious career in which the 52-year-old Texan has won 23 major acting awards, including the Best Actor Academy Award in 2006 for his portrayal of the Ugandan tyrant Idi Amin in The Last King of Scotland. Other notable parts include that of the jazz saxophonist Charlie Parker in Bird and in the Vietnam war movie Platoon.
“He’s a truly great actor,” the festival’s director of programming Teresa Cavina said on Wednesday.
“You will soon see him star in a film called Lee Daniel’s The Butler. I will bet my salary he will receive an Oscar nomination for this. But, of course, he is no stranger to Oscars.”
Other celebrities at the gala will be A Life of Crime director Daniel Schechter and one of its stars, Mark Boone Junior, who is best known for his role as Bobby Munson in the biker-gang themed US television drama Sons of Anarchy.
There will also be a contingent of Arabic talent there, including one of Egypt’s top actresses of the 1970s and 1980s, Mervat Amin, the Tunisian superstar Hend Sabri and the Palestinian actress Hiam Abbass, who will also be presented with a Black Pearl Career Achievement Award.
Jacki Weaver, one of Hollywood’s most in-demand character actresses, has been chosen as president of the Narrative Competition jury, the panel of industry experts who will decide which of 14 new international films deserves the Black Pearl Award.
The Australian has been nominated for the Best Supporting Actress Academy Award twice; first in 2010 in the Melbourne crime drama Animal Kingdom, and then for the drama Silver Linings Playbook in 2012.
Many other stars are due in the capital during the 10 days of the festival, including the Indian leading man Irrfan Khan, whose fame has crossed over from Bollywood to Hollywood after roles in The Amazing Spider-Man and Life of Pi, and the Filipino comedy actress Eugene Domingo.
The opening night gala is by invitation only but tickets to all the films on show are on sale to the public from Friday. Ninety-two feature films from 41 different countries, including 35 films produced in the UAE, will be screened at the Emirates Palace and Vox Cinemas in Marina Mall.
Among the highlights of the first weekend is the world premiere of the UAE-made horror film Djinn, which has been directed by Tobe Hooper of Texas Chainsaw Massacre fame. The much-anticipated movie has been produced by Image Nation, which is part of Abu Dhabi Media, which publishes The National. Its stars Khalid Laith, Rzane Jammal and May El Calamawy are expected at the gala screening on Friday.
Ms Cavina said she was confident the calibre of films on show this year surpassed previous festivals.
“Year by year, we have become more interested in bringing the real protagonists of the cinematic scene to Abu Dhabi for the festival. By this I mean the best filmmakers and the best actors, even if they were not well known yet,” she said.
“Five years ago, the only question we would get from the public and the press was about which movie stars are attending. Now they are questioning us about which films we show you.
“This is a fantastic improvement. We are more recognised as a serious international festival.”
For more information visit abudhabifestival.ae
hberger@thenational.ae
