ABU DHABI // A long-awaited movie sequel set in Abu Dhabi opens worldwide today - but not in Abu Dhabi.
The local distributors of Sex and The City 2 never applied for permission to screen the film in the UAE and never submitted it for approval, the National Media Council (NMC) said yesterday.
A spokesman for the NMC said: "The first Sex and the City movie was not shown in the UAE because the local distributor never applied for it to be shown. As for Sex and the City 2, it [the distributor] has also not asked us for permission for the film to be shown. This is something of the distributor's own choice."
The NMC oversees all films and media distributed in the country and must approve the film before it hits the screens. But despite reports that it had been banned, an official at the NMC said yesterday that the council was never sent a copy to review. Without seeing the content, NMC officials say, a decision on whether or not the film could be shown could not be made.
Film distributors often do not apply for permission to screen a film if they feel it will be too extensively cut.
Sex and the City 2, starring Sarah Jessica Parker, follows the escapades of Carrie Bradshaw and her three fashionable female friends from New York as they jet to Abu Dhabi for a holiday. The women are seen taking camel rides in the "Abu Dhabi desert", and Abu Dhabi is mentioned twice in the official trailer.
However, outdoor scenes "from Abu Dhabi" were actually shot in Morocco after the director, Michael Patrick King, was denied permission to film in the UAE. The NMC said the decision to set the film here anyway "misleads" audiences.
"The film company has made a lot of publicity about the fact that Sex and the City 2 is 'set in Abu Dhabi', although none of it was filmed here," said the NMC official.
"This was a deliberate attempt to mislead the audience about where the film was shot, even though it has been admitted it was filmed on location in Morocco."
However, sources who reviewed the film's script have said the film relied on many stereotypes of the Arab world and presents a slanted and offensive view of Abu Dhabi and its residents.
Scenes depicting the Arabian desert were shot 6,500 kilometres away in North Africa. A nightclub scene that viewers are led to believe takes place in the capital was in fact filmed in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The trailer even shows an Emirates Palace hotel lookalike.
Warner Bros, which distributes the film, would not comment on whether the company had applied to the NMC for permission to show it. "The film is not being released in the UAE," a Warner Bros spokesman said. "Many Hollywood films are not released in the region. Neither the first Sex and the City nor the current film will be released there."
Warner Bros told Reuters this month that it has no plans to release the film in any country in the Middle East.
The 146-minute movie will be shown in Morocco, however, the Warner Bros official said.
The first Sex and the City movie was a huge commercial success, taking US$415million (Dh1.5 billion) at the box office worldwide.
The sequel, which reunites the original cast, has had mixed reviews from advance screenings. Slant Magazine called it "even less significant than its predecessor", but the Hollywood Reporter had the protagonists in "fine comic form" and predicted the movie "is going to be a smash."
Local reaction to the movie being based in Abu Dhabi has also been mixed. Ahmed Arshi, 29, a filmmaker from the capital, said he was excited that his home city was being made famous, but disappointed it is not the real city on the screen.
"It was so nice to hear the words Abu Dhabi from such a famous show," he said. "People are looking forward to watching this movie and they will ask, 'why didn't they actually come here?'"
Mario Nicotra, who set up the Amateur Film Makers Group in Abu Dhabi, said the decision not to allow filming in the UAE was a blow to the local industry.
"It's a shame when film-makers are denied access to film on location, especially as it makes the story more realistic and authentic," he said. "The local film industry is losing out. It would have been a boost for local people, but the boost for film making has gone to Morocco now."
asafdar@thenational.ae
MATCH INFO
Newcastle United 1 (Carroll 82')
Leicester City 2 (Maddison 55', Tielemans 72')
Man of the match James Maddison (Leicester)
The specs
Engine: 77.4kW all-wheel-drive dual motor
Power: 320bhp
Torque: 605Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh219,000
On sale: Now
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Iran's dirty tricks to dodge sanctions
There’s increased scrutiny on the tricks being used to keep commodities flowing to and from blacklisted countries. Here’s a description of how some work.
1 Going Dark
A common method to transport Iranian oil with stealth is to turn off the Automatic Identification System, an electronic device that pinpoints a ship’s location. Known as going dark, a vessel flicks the switch before berthing and typically reappears days later, masking the location of its load or discharge port.
2. Ship-to-Ship Transfers
A first vessel will take its clandestine cargo away from the country in question before transferring it to a waiting ship, all of this happening out of sight. The vessels will then sail in different directions. For about a third of Iranian exports, more than one tanker typically handles a load before it’s delivered to its final destination, analysts say.
3. Fake Destinations
Signaling the wrong destination to load or unload is another technique. Ships that intend to take cargo from Iran may indicate their loading ports in sanction-free places like Iraq. Ships can keep changing their destinations and end up not berthing at any of them.
4. Rebranded Barrels
Iranian barrels can also be rebranded as oil from a nation free from sanctions such as Iraq. The countries share fields along their border and the crude has similar characteristics. Oil from these deposits can be trucked out to another port and documents forged to hide Iran as the origin.
* Bloomberg
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League quarter-final, second leg (first-leg score)
Porto (0) v Liverpool (2), Wednesday, 11pm UAE
Match is on BeIN Sports
The Buckingham Murders
Starring: Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ash Tandon, Prabhleen Sandhu
Director: Hansal Mehta
Rating: 4 / 5
DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, Emma Corrin
Director: Shawn Levy
Rating: 3/5
LIST OF INVITEES
Shergo Kurdi (am)
Rayhan Thomas
Saud Al Sharee (am)
Min Woo Lee
Todd Clements
Matthew Jordan
AbdulRahman Al Mansour (am)
Matteo Manassero
Alfie Plant
Othman Al Mulla
Shaun Norris
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Name: Peter Dicce
Title: Assistant dean of students and director of athletics
Favourite sport: soccer
Favourite team: Bayern Munich
Favourite player: Franz Beckenbauer
Favourite activity in Abu Dhabi: scuba diving in the Northern Emirates
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It
Director: Andres Muschietti
Starring: Bill Skarsgard, Jaeden Lieberher, Sophia Lillis, Chosen Jacobs, Jeremy Ray Taylor
Three stars
If you go
Flying
Despite the extreme distance, flying to Fairbanks is relatively simple, requiring just one transfer in Seattle, which can be reached directly from Dubai with Emirates for Dh6,800 return.
Touring
Gondwana Ecotours’ seven-day Polar Bear Adventure starts in Fairbanks in central Alaska before visiting Kaktovik and Utqiarvik on the North Slope. Polar bear viewing is highly likely in Kaktovik, with up to five two-hour boat tours included. Prices start from Dh11,500 per person, with all local flights, meals and accommodation included; gondwanaecotours.com
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
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The specs
Engine: Long-range single or dual motor with 200kW or 400kW battery
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Max touring range: 620km / 590km
Price: From Dh250,000 (estimated)
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