French Film Festival in Dubai Breaks Hollywood Monopoly

The second French Modern Film Festival will today be launched in Dubai for four nights during which various samples of French movies will be screened. 

The festival has been organized by the French embassy to the United Arab Emirates and the French Cultural League in Dubai in collaboration with the City Center, Dubai which hosts the event. 

“Organizing the festival in Dubai for the second year consecutively has come with the understanding of holding it annually to give the cinema lovers in Dubai the opportunity of continuity with the French Cinema,” the UAE daily al Bayan cited the French consul in Dubai, Edward Sikat as telling a press conference. Sikat revealed that there were plans to integrate the film festival within Duabi Annual Shopping Festival. 

The French Consul said, “the French cinema has recently begun restoring its position in the French market after the apparent monopoly of Hollywood productions over the French screening venues since the eighties of the past century. The local market share of the French film production has risen from 25 percent to 50 percent.” 

The league head, Terry Dana, reviewed the festival program, which will screen four films translated into Arabic. The festival, according to Dana, will first screen the films Mary...a Friend Wishes You Good, Cousin and Every Morning in The World, directed by Alan Corno. This film is about the 17th century and has won seven Caesar’s prizes. The festival will be concluded by screening the film Emily Pollan Destiny, which has recorded smash hits in France and United States and among the leading candidates for winning the Oscar prize this year for foreign films. 

Dana called the attention to the fact that the integration of the festival within Dubai’s Shopping Festival would need including other programs including the hosting of directors and actors and holding conferences and meetings for discussions on French and international movies -- Albawaba.com