DUBAI, April 09 (Saba)- The third edition of the Gulf Film Festival is showcasing the gritty realities of living in Iraq with a cross-section of films.

24 films from Iraq are being screened at GFF, held on April 08-14, in and out of competition segments. Evocative of contemporary realities, the films are vignettes into various aspects of life in Iraq – some powerfully political in overture, others personal statements set against the socio-political milieu.

The only feature film from Iraq at GFF, Shawkat Amin Korki’s Kick Off sees an idealist, Asu, arranging a football match between Kurdish and Iraqi boys living in a half-destroyed Iraqi football stadium. On the big day, the lives of all involved are thrown into chaos when unforeseen tragedy strikes. Kick Off won the New Currents prize on its debut at Pusan Film Festival.

The official competition shorts cover a wide range of topics. Upcoming Iraqi filmmakers have addressed a number of social issues through their submissions including political corruption in Jassim Mohammed Jassim’s So What? A single mother copes with societal conflicts in Um Abdullah by Sahar Al-Sawaf, while an Iraqi girl endures life within a conservative family in Hussein Hassan’s Shut Up It’s Shameful. Storks by Jamal Amin Alhassani introduces us to the relationships between different nationalities living in Denmark.

Short films by student filmmakers too have a strong contemporary flavour. Eyas Jehad’s Nightmares narrates the story of an elementary school teacher who has a nightmare of hanging himself at the end of a school day. Falah Hasan and Mounaf Shaker use symbolism through colours to explain the social issue surrounding rigged elections in Democratic Colours, while the act of rewarding good deeds with good deeds are questioned in Sarmad Abdul Hammed Alzoubidy’s Spellings.

Official documentaries from Iraq serve as a window into social issues. Upcoming filmmaker Hady Mahoud’s Collapse looks at how the country’s cultural institutions were destroyed after the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime in 2003. UK-based Iraqi director Farouk Dawod addresses

the impact of social and political suffering and the effect it has had on the emergence of modern-day Iraqi music and poetry in Kawkab Min Babel.

Hameed Haddad examines the deportation process adopted by the former Iraqi regime, tracking down the Iraqi communities that have dispersed into foreign lands in his documentary 80-82. Dreams Look for Wings by Abbas Muter pulls no punches in revealing how the poverty-stricken people of Baghdad survive in the backstreets of the city, while Khalid Alzhraou questions the disappearance of Iraqi cinema after the political downfall in 2003 in Tonight, Next Week.

A tribute to the legendary actor Khalil Shawki is depicted in Koutaiba Al Janabi’s, Khalil Shawki: Al Rajul Al Lazi La Ya’rif Al Sukoon (Khalil Shawki: The Ever Restless Man).

Entries for narratives by student filmmakers include Hashim Al-Efari’s Strangers in their Homeland, which narrates the story of Iraqi youth surviving the period of transition when they were forced to work as American translators, while the story of circumstantially challenged film students and the difficulties they face while trying to complete their work-in-progress movie in Baghdad is described in Ahmed Al Diwan’s Life Making.

Hassanain Al Hani’s Day in Traffic Man’s Life is a portrait of Riad, a traffic policeman and father of four, in the city of Karbala, Southern Iraq, while Na’eem the Barber illustrates the story of an unusual man who is an academician by morning and a barber by night, in a short film by Mohammed Naeem.

Pastel by Luay Fadhil takes us on a journey through an artist’s world portraying the unsightly scenes of reality on canvas. By using soft pastels, he finds that a rough neighbourhood transforms into a beautiful tableau.

The ‘Lights’ segment will be screening shorts, documentaries, and features covering Iraq from the most vulnerable of days to the days when everything seemed customary. Taha Karimi’s Kowestani Sepi (White Mountains) describes the life of Faqi Ibrahim and his experiences with the political parties founded in the mountainous region between Iran, Iraq, and Turkey, in a political tale with a personal twist.

AlMawat Sharqa (Death Eastward), directed by Bahaa Alkadimy, portrays the kidnapping of British journalist, who is taken aboard an abandoned ship. A woman empathizes with his situation and helps him by providing him with food. Ahmed Al Sabaiei’s Haqiqa Wa Hum (Truth of Illusion) tells the tale of Ahmed and his search for his lost beloved, when he meets with a wearied man who teaches him how to face his struggles.

Iraqi director, Mohamed Al-Daradji narrates about the rediscovery of Iraq amidst a battle of his own to find love and peace in a country that is still being divided amongst itself in Al Iraq: Harib, Hub, Rab, Wa Junoon (Iraq: War, Love, God, and Madness). In Son of Babylon, a Dubai Film Connection 2007 project, Al-Daradji depicts the journey of a young boy and his grandmother across Iraq in search of their missing loved one, a former political prisoner. Ahlaam by Al-Daradji won the first prize for feature at GFF 2008.

The third edition of the Gulf Film Festival will be held from April 8 to April 14 and is supported by Dubai Culture and Arts Authority and is held in association with Dubai Studio City.
Saba