Creativity, talent and understanding come together at Sharjah Film Festival
Once again, Sharjah is looking to the generations of the future to place them at the centre of its tenth edition of the International Film Festival, yet another of the emirate's unceasing efforts to become the country's major cultural reference point.
Numerous national and international media crowded around the photocall to photograph and interview the authorities, directors, actors and personalities from the national and international film world involved in this festival, which will show 81 feature and short films from 37 countries, from France to the United States, including Taiwan, Belgium, South Africa, Spain, Korea, Malta, Montenegro and the Congo, which are taking part for the first time. This selection has been made from more than 1,700 entries received.
In addition, each day from the 23rd to the 26th, an outstanding film will be screened on the so-called "green carpet" and there will be an opportunity for dialogue with its directors. The films will be "Nezouh" by French Syrian-born Soudade Kaadan, "Little Nicolas" by co-directors Amandine Fredon and Benjamin Massoubre, "She's from another planet" by Korean Baek Seo-Bin and "Valley Road" by Khalid Fahad.
Imagination and diversity
Since 2013, and thanks to the patronage of Her Highness Sheikha Jawaher bin Abdullah al-Qasimi, president of the Sharjah Supreme Council for Family Affairs, children and teenagers have been enjoying an intense week of cinema, a big screen open to the world with which they aim to encourage creativity from an early age, but also to show them the diversity of cultures, religions and customs that exist.
In this sense, Sheikha Jawaher bin Abdullah al-Qasimi, emphasised that the participation of the different countries, with their languages and cultures, offers the possibility for young people to understand each other and understand that, although there are common themes that everyone talks about, they can be expressed in different ways.
This festival, the first of its kind to be held in the United Arab Emirates, and now in its first decade, is for its director Sheikha Jawaher bin Abdullah al-Qasimi, a bastion of creativity and a powerful catalyst for change in the lives of the younger generations, of whom she stressed the great potential they have and, therefore, the need to support them so that they can develop it.
Imagination, creativity, talent and this approach to other cultures through film are key to this meeting. But young people and children will not only enjoy the different films, but also, said the director, will be able to take part in workshops, meet their protagonists and experience other surprises.
She did not want to end her speech without mentioning the current situation in the world and remembering the children who have died in Palestine and those who are suffering from the war in the Gaza Strip, for whom she asked the audience to observe a minute's silence. Sheikha Jawaher bin Abdullah al-Qasimi announced that the proceeds of this festival will go to them through the Big Heart Foundation.
At the opening ceremony, during which important words such as tolerance and peace were heard, awards were presented to the artist Ahmed al-Jassami, the famous Egyptian actor Hussein Fahmy and the little boy Jan Ramez.
"Zoo", a short film that touches the heart
The event closed with the animated short film by Jordanian director and scriptwriter Tariq al-Rimawi entitled "Zoo". A total of 8 minutes of black and white drawings without dialogue that left no one unmoved and touched the heart. The main character, a boy named Sami, walks through an abandoned zoo in search of his football. On his journey he is shown the monkey, the crocodile and the dead lions in their cages until he finds his ball and next to him a small tiger who chases him until they become friends and decide to look for a safer place to play. But it is clear that the war has destroyed everything, the remains, like the bombs, are still a grave danger. The little tiger is wounded and the boy, carrying him in his arms, runs to save him. Finally she delivers him to an ambulance, while he is trapped in a ruined and walled city. Friendship and suffering, innocence and lack of freedom or future are mixed in this short film, which has already received numerous awards and which provoked the applause of the audience.
And so the 10th edition of the Sharjah International Film Festival for Children and Young People was inaugurated, which will be held until 28 October and which, before the curtain closes, will announce the winners of the eight categories.