Cinema Mondial Tour at The Pavilion Downtown Dubai
Cinema Mondial Tour, created and supported by The Hubert Bals Fund (HBF) and the IDFA Fund (previously known as the Jan Vrijman Fund) aims to bring awareness and appreciation of cinema culture to the African and Arab world. The tour consists of a series of documentaries and fiction films by award-winning filmmakers from across the globe.
Looks like I've missed their previous tours in Dubai, but they're back on 19th and 20th November screening two films at The Pavilion Downtown Dubai.
Monday, 19th November at 7.30pm
The City Of Photographers, directed by Sebastian Moreno
During Augusto Pinochet's heydays in the 1980s, an independent movement of photographers was gaining force in the Chilean capital of Santiago. They photographed what was not meant for the public eye, and this gradually brought about a revolution.
It all started with the publication of pictures of people buried alive and hung upside down in the mine shaft at Longuér. The photos of this place made Chile aware of what was happening under Pinochet. The Independent Photographers Guild Association - AFI in Spanish - was founded. The group was made up of both professional photographers and amateurs who simply owned a camera.
When foreign media also started publishing their work, the AFI became a party to reckon with for the junta: "Our work helped end the tyranny. That's why they went after us." The photographers' eyewitness accounts and pictures convincingly visualise the story of these passionate people.
The documentary gains strength through the well-documented addition of film footage: the photographic moments literally come alive in the archive footage. We see the photographers running for their lives or saving their companions from the corrupt police. Filmmaker Sebastián Moreno's father was among them.
Tuesday, 20th November at 7.30pm
The Invisible Policeman, directed by Laith El-Juneidi
The Invisible Policeman is a feature documentary following Palestinian Lieutenant Nidal, who lives an extreme paradoxical life. He is either a figure of authority that provides people with much-needed security or a father of many children, but not the two simultaneously.
A rare case where a man provides what he lacks and struggles to live a normal life, facing endless efforts to cope with daily pressure and manipulative mind games. A case where someone’s determination and belief could be seen as a form of insanity by some.
Event details:
Date: Monday, 19th and Tuesday 20th November at 7.30pm
Venue: The Pavilion Downtown, Dubai Emaar Boulevard, Downtown Dubai (location map)
Phone: +971 4 4477025
Free entry and seating is on a first come, first sit basis.
www.filmfestivalrotterdam.com/professionals/hubert_bals_fund/cinema-mondial-tour-cmt
www.filmfestivalrotterdam.com/professionals/hubert_bals_fund