ArabiCulture News

'UAE discovers its past through films' posted on 13/12/2005

   Cultural activist Masoud Amrallah applauds films in the Emerging Emiratis section that are taking up critical issues affecting nationals. An indigenous minority without a documented past, a society that puts profit over life - Emirati films are taking shape and are starting to shape concerns engulfing UAE nationals, despite stereotypes of limitless wealth, a leading cultural activist said. Masoud Amrallah, programmer for the Arabian Nights and Emerging Emiratis sections at the Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF), said he saw a genuine dialogue taking place within Emirati films. "Short Emirati films are developing. Before, a director would have been concerned in making a short film. Now films are putting forward extremely important issues and are caring more about the technical side as well," he said. One important issue film makers were raising was "the country's demography in the absence of a real identity." "We have no cinematic history, no history in pictures, to preserve how we lived 30 years ago, or a hundred years ago. There's no archive we can look through, so we are rediscovering our pasts in new ways through short films." (The Gulf News)