GCC Film Festival returns to Abu Dhabi with a focus on the region

There is good news for movie fans still mourning the demise of the Abu Dhabi Film Festival, as the capital hosts the third edition of a regional film showcase.

Jumaa Ibrahim Al Zaabi, left, and Ahmed Ibrahim in Going to Heaven. Image Nation Abu Dhabi

Some much-missed film festival glamour returns to Abu Dhabi today, when a host of Arab film and TV stars will walk the red carpet at the opening of the GCC Film Festival.

Celebrities who will attend include Bahraini TV actress Haifa Hussein and her husband Habib Ghuloom Al Attar – who also leads the festival team, Kuwaiti comedian Tariq Al Ali, Bahraini actress Zahra Arafat, and Emirati actors Ahmad Al Jassimi and Jaber Naghmoosh.

This is the festival’s third edition and the first time it has been hosted by the UAE. It follows the inaugural edition in Doha in 2012, and a second in Kuwait the following year

It aims to showcase a selection of the best films made in the six-member countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council – the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia – in the three years since the last edition.

From today until Wednesday, there will be free screenings of 27 short and feature-length films, a mix of fiction and documentaries, at Novo Cinemas in Abu Dhabi Mall. Here is the lowdown on the five Emirati films that will be shown.

The Road

Emirati filmmaker Abdullah Al Junaibi's 2013 movie The Road kicks off the festival – organised by the Ministry of Culture and Knowledge Development – at 8.30pm tonight. The 35-minute film won awards at the Dubai International Film Festival and the Gulf Film Festival.

“Its about three boys who lose their path in life,” says Al Junaibi, who wrote, directed and starred in the film. “It poses the question: What if we choose the wrong path in life – what happens to us?

“It’s a great film, which reflects the high quality of movies being made in the UAE.”

Al Jumaibi chose a cast of first-time actors to star alongside him in the film.

“I taught them how to act and it worked out well,” he says. “I believe in making short films as an opportunity to teach and learn from beginners.”

Going to Heaven

This acclaimed feature film, by director Saeed Salmeen, screens at 4pm tomorrow. The movie, which won the Muhr Award at last year’s Dubai International Film festival, is about a young boy who flees from an abusive stepmum and goes on a road trip from Abu Dhabi to Fujairah with a friend, in search of his estranged grandmother.

The film's Emirati producer, Amer Salmeen Al Murry, says that the GCC festival marks a homecoming for Going to Heaven, after doing the rounds on the international festival circuit, where it scooped awards in Egypt, Portugal and Sweden.

“Our movie stays true to the culture of the UAE,” he says. “But at the same time, the theme – of kids going on an adventure to find a long-lost relative – is international. I think anyone can relate to it.”

Nearby Sky

A feature-length documentary from 2013 by Emirati director Nujoom Al Ghanem, Nearby Sky tells the story of Fatma Al Hameli, the first female Emirati camel owner to attend the UAE's camel beauty contests. You can catch it on Tuesday.

Al Ghanem is already a GCC Film Festival favourite, having won the award for best documentary feature at the last edition with her film Amal.

She spent two years filming Al Hameli and became a respected friend in the process.

“As a woman, for her persistence and her fight to be independent, she is a role model for many women,” says Al Ghanem. “For me, I enjoyed delving into her personal stories and challenges.

“Camel beauty contests are a very conservative field, and to be there as a woman among this sea of men was quite interesting and difficult.”

Also showing

Royal Love: A love story about two students, directed by Jamal Salem. It is screening on Tuesday.

A Tale of Water, Palm Trees and Family: A documentary feature by poet, novelist and journalist Naser Al Zahri about the people who toiled in the deserts of the UAE in the past. You can see it on Wednesday.

Insider views

Film festivals in the UAE have suffered in recent years.

The Gulf Film Festival, held in Dubai, was put on indefinite hiatus in 2014, and the curtains closed on the Abu Dhabi Film Festival for good last year. This year, the Sanad Abu Dhabi Film Fund – which offered US$500,000 (Dh1.8million) for film development – was shut down, as was the New York Film Academy Abu Dhabi.

Local filmmakers are therefore glad to see the revival of the GCC Film Festival.

“Having another festival in Abu Dhabi will definitely encourage young and upcoming filmmakers, whether they’re Emirati or just based in the UAE, to move forward and make more films,” says Abu Dhabi-based filmmaker Ahmed Lotfy, producer of the Emirati feature film Abdullah.

“Any addition to what has already been subtracted is really going to be positive, to further nurture filmmaking in Abu Dhabi. We currently have a film movement here in the UAE and we would love to turn that into a film industry – but that will take time.”

Mustafa Abbas, the Emirati director of Sunset State (2013) and Saraab (2015), says: "The festival goes to show the passion and importance of filmmaking in the Emirates. It's sending out a statement."

• Visit www.novocinemas.com for the full list of movies and screening times