Nineteen countries will showcase a range of films in Abu Dhabi and Dubai during the second edition of the European film festival that kicks off next month.
The 11-day extravaganza will showcase the diversity of Europe – and best of all, the screenings are free, on a first-come-first-served basis.
In keeping with the theme, and in the year of Luxembourg’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union, this edition of the event will be hosted by the Embassy of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg to the UAE.
“What better way is there to bring communities together than with the universal language of film?” says the Ambassador Nicole Bintner.
The annual event is being held under the patronage of Sheikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak, Minister of Culture, Youth and Community Development in the UAE. Before each screening, short films made by Emirati student filmmakers will be shown. They have been selected by the Emirati Cinema Campaign Initiative.
Patrizio Fondi, the ambassador of the EU delegation to the UAE, says the goal was to select “recent, diverse and exciting” films from across the continent. “This year’s film screenings showcase how we, Europeans, can be united in our diversity,” he adds.
• Screenings at Novo Cinemas in Abu Dhabi’s WTC mall from October 21 to 31 and at Dubai’s Ibn Battuta Mall from October 22 to 31. Visit www.facebook.com/EuropeanFilmScreenings for more details
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Groom and Two Brides
Director: Elie Semaan
Starring: Abdullah Boushehri, Laila Abdallah, Lulwa Almulla
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Other acts on the Jazz Garden bill
Sharrie Williams
The American singer is hugely respected in blues circles due to her passionate vocals and songwriting. Born and raised in Michigan, Williams began recording and touring as a teenage gospel singer. Her career took off with the blues band The Wiseguys. Such was the acclaim of their live shows that they toured throughout Europe and in Africa. As a solo artist, Williams has also collaborated with the likes of the late Dizzy Gillespie, Van Morrison and Mavis Staples.
Lin Rountree
An accomplished smooth jazz artist who blends his chilled approach with R‘n’B. Trained at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, DC, Rountree formed his own band in 2004. He has also recorded with the likes of Kem, Dwele and Conya Doss. He comes to Dubai on the back of his new single Pass The Groove, from his forthcoming 2018 album Stronger Still, which may follow his five previous solo albums in cracking the top 10 of the US jazz charts.
Anita Williams
Dubai-based singer Anita Williams will open the night with a set of covers and swing, jazz and blues standards that made her an in-demand singer across the emirate. The Irish singer has been performing in Dubai since 2008 at venues such as MusicHall and Voda Bar. Her Jazz Garden appearance is career highlight as she will use the event to perform the original song Big Blue Eyes, the single from her debut solo album, due for release soon.
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- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Who was Alfred Nobel?
The Nobel Prize was created by wealthy Swedish chemist and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel.
- In his will he dictated that the bulk of his estate should be used to fund "prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind".
- Nobel is best known as the inventor of dynamite, but also wrote poetry and drama and could speak Russian, French, English and German by the age of 17. The five original prize categories reflect the interests closest to his heart.
- Nobel died in 1896 but it took until 1901, following a legal battle over his will, before the first prizes were awarded.
Ordinary Virtues: Moral Order in a Divided World by Michael Ignatieff
Harvard University Press
