Indian’s documentary nominated for top honour in Gulf fest

DUBAI - A documentary by an Indian filmmaker based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has been nominated along with seven others for the top honour at the Gulf Film Festival (GFF) scheduled to be held from April 8-14.

Soniya Kriplani’s “Dobuy- The Fabric of Faith”, based on the struggle of Emirati women to dispel the misconceptions associated with the ‘hijab’ (veil), has been chosen for in-competition category against a number of entries received from across the UAE, Iraq and Kuwait, WAM news agency reported.

“The Gulf Film Festival is promoting talent through the documentary competition, which gained strong response from filmmakers across the world,” said festival director Masoud Amralla Al Ali.

“The eight films that have made the final cut are as varied in their subject matter as the treatment and will be revelations for movie lovers on the command young filmmakers have on the medium,” he added.

The other selected documentaries are Emirati filmmaker Muneer Ibrahim’s “To Fly A Dream”, Iraqi filmmaker Hady Mahoud’s “Collapse”, Britain-based Iraqi director Farouk Dawod’s “Kawkab Min Babel”, Hameed Haddad’s “80-82″, Abbas Muter’s “Dreams Look for Wings”, Khalid Alzhraou’s “Tonight, Next Week” and Kuwaiti filmmaker Talal Al Muhanna’s “Dancing on the Edge”.

The third edition of the GFF will choose winners from three sub-categories - feature, short films and documentary - under the Official Competition category, while short film and documentary under Students Competition.

A Special Jury Prize will be given in both the categories, besides a separate award under Script Competition, which is open to UAE scriptwriters.

The first and second prize winners of the two main categories will get $13,614 and $9,530 respectively.