Starting a festival and then making a success of it is not easy. The fact that we are on the 13th year of the Dubai International Film Festival (Diff) this year speaks volumes, not just of its success, but of how far it has come.
A special moment this year was on the opening night on Wednesday, when Tyrese Gibson, the actor and rapper, shared a warm hug with Emirati director Ali F. Mustafa on the red carpet. Gibson, known for his love for the UAE, called the blushing Mustafa “the Steven Spielberg of Dubai”.
It was a moment that perfectly encapsulated what Diff stood for: An event that attracts top-notch celebrities from around the world while giving a world-class platform to its homegrown talent. Mustafa’s third feature, The Worthy, premiered yesterday, featuring a number of Hollywood greats as producers. The director’s first-ever feature, City of Life, his pathbreaking ode to Dubai, had premiered at the festival in 2009.
Mustafa will figuratively pass the baton to another Emirati director making his feature debut this year. Abdullah Al Kaabi brings his drama, Only Men Go to the Grave, to the festival today and covers a number of hot-button topics that will for sure create a lot of buzz.
Diff, like the emirate it represents, stands in a unique position where it can attract the best of the Middle East, Asia and the West. And it has done so with aplomb: Lifetime Achievement honorees, for instance, span from the late great Egyptian actor Omar Shariff at the first edition of the festival in 2004, to acclaimed British director Terry Gilliam in 2008 and Indian icon Rekha this year.
But the fact that Emirati filmmakers get to rub shoulders with the best in the world and have their works celebrated, is the real sign of success.
