THERE IS NO LIGHT at the end of the tunnel, ” Masoud Al-Ali, a veteran Emirati film critic and documentary filmmaker, is reported to have said a little over a decade ago when asked about the prospects of the United Arab Emirates developing its own film industry.
What he did not know then was that not only would he bear witness to the turnaround he had dreamed of and wished for, but also play a pivotal role in scripting the future of filmmaking in the UAE.
On 22 April, the UAE’s first homegrown film, City of Life, directed by Ali F Mostafa, released in theatres countrywide. The silver-haired Al-Ali, now the artistic director of the Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF), was the first to present Mostafa’s film at the sixth DIFF last December.
COMMENT