The recent passing of one of the UAE's biggest figures in the film industry has caused mourning across the country as many start to reminisce.
Sheila Whitaker, 77, died on July 29 from motor neurone disease. She was the director of international programming at Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) for nine years.
One of the people who worked closely with Whitaker was Abdulhamid Juma, the chairman of DIFF.
He says his most memorable moment with Whitaker was when they had to chose the opening film for DIFF 2010.
“I have to give the go-ahead for the opening and galas. I don’t get involved in the films they choose, but regarding the opening film, I have to look at all aspects of it.
“The opening film is very important, most of the people who come to the opening night are not always filmgoers, so I have to make sure it satisfies everybody,” he says.
When Whitaker chose the The King's Speech, starring Colin Firth, Helena Bonham Carter and Geoffrey Rush, Juma admits he was nervous.
“She had already given them the promise that it would be the opening film, but I hadn’t seen it yet. I had to accept the promise.”
Less than a week before the festival, Juma and Whitaker went to see the film together.
“After the film finished, I was really putting my hand on my heart, hoping I liked it. I had no choice anymore. But I just looked at her and said, ‘Beautiful’. And she said, ‘Did you have any doubt?’ And I said, ‘Yes, I did actually!’
“But it was one of the best films we ever chose.”
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
At a glance
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Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
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The alternatives
• Founded in 2014, Telr is a payment aggregator and gateway with an office in Silicon Oasis. It’s e-commerce entry plan costs Dh349 monthly (plus VAT). QR codes direct customers to an online payment page and merchants can generate payments through messaging apps.
• Business Bay’s Pallapay claims 40,000-plus active merchants who can invoice customers and receive payment by card. Fees range from 1.99 per cent plus Dh1 per transaction depending on payment method and location, such as online or via UAE mobile.
• Tap started in May 2013 in Kuwait, allowing Middle East businesses to bill, accept, receive and make payments online “easier, faster and smoother” via goSell and goCollect. It supports more than 10,000 merchants. Monthly fees range from US$65-100, plus card charges of 2.75-3.75 per cent and Dh1.2 per sale.
• 2checkout’s “all-in-one payment gateway and merchant account” accepts payments in 200-plus markets for 2.4-3.9 per cent, plus a Dh1.2-Dh1.8 currency conversion charge. The US provider processes online shop and mobile transactions and has 17,000-plus active digital commerce users.
• PayPal is probably the best-known online goods payment method - usually used for eBay purchases - but can be used to receive funds, providing everyone’s signed up. Costs from 2.9 per cent plus Dh1.2 per transaction.
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Europe’s rearming plan
- Suspend strict budget rules to allow member countries to step up defence spending
- Create new "instrument" providing €150 billion of loans to member countries for defence investment
- Use the existing EU budget to direct more funds towards defence-related investment
- Engage the bloc's European Investment Bank to drop limits on lending to defence firms
- Create a savings and investments union to help companies access capital
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This means NFTs are not interchangeable and cannot be exchanged with other items. In contrast, fungible items, such as fiat currencies, can be exchanged because their value defines them rather than their unique properties.
