Dubai, UAE; December 5, 2011: From a 900-minute long odyssey on the history of international cinema to star-studded productions by veterans such as Clint Eastwood, and pop idol Madonna donning the director’s hat for her second full-length motion picture, the ‘Cinema of the World’ showcase at the eighth Dubai International Film Festival promises viewers an array of memorable movie experiences.

Held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President & Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, DIFF’s ‘Cinema of the World’ programme brings the diversity of global cinema today with selections from the US, UK, Canada, Brazil, Italy and Canada, among others.

One of the most compelling cinema experiences at this DIFF will be British director Mark Cousins’ Story of Film: An Odyssey. Thirteen episodes of the ambitious multi-part documentary will be screened every day from Dec. 10 to Dec. 12 at Mall of Emirates Gold Class 2, daily at 12.30 pm, 2 pm, 3.30 pm, 5 pm and 6.30 pm. Touring through the evolution of international cinema, from the silent era to the contemporary digital age, the film focuses on the ideas and innovations that shaped the best of the world’s cinema.

An official selection at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival, it features personal interviews with global icons including two-time Emmy nominee Norman Lloyd (Steambath; The Name of the Game), DIFF 2009 Lifetime Achievement Award honouree Amitabh Bachchan, and twin Golden Globe nominee Paul Schrader (Raging Bull; Taxi Driver), among others.

Making its international premiere at DIFF 2011 is the French film Blind Valley (Mineurs 27) by director Tristan Auroret. The film depicts the story of two teenagers, complete opposites as personalities, fighting over the love of Deborah, only to unravel that their life is in danger. The film stars award-winning actor Jean-Hugues Anglade (Persécution; Queen Margot), newcomer Nassim Si Ahmed, and renowned television star Finnegan Oldfield (Engrenages). Watch the film on Dec. 9 at MoE 1 and Dec. 10 at MoE 8.

Also making its international premiere is British director Nick Murphy’s The Awakening. The film is set in 1921 England, where many of the Great War bereaved sought solace in spiritualism. Haunted by her fiance’s death, Florence acquires a remarkable reputation for debunking séances. When she is asked to investigate ghost sightings, despite her cynicism, she experiences a frighteningly chilling encounter that defies all reason. The film will be screened on Dec. 12 at the First Group Theatre, Souk Madinat Jumeirah.

Actor/director/producer and composer Clint Eastwood’s J. Edgar is another key attraction at DIFF this year. The film stars Oscar-winner Dame Judi Dench, three-time Academy Award winning actor Leonardo DiCaprio, Academy Award nominee Naomi Watts, and Armie Hammer, known for his phenomenal performance in David Fincher’s The Social Network.

The film charts the story of J. Edgar Hoover, head of the FBI for nearly 50 years, who rose to be the most powerful man in America. Outlasting eight presidents and three wars, he stopped at nothing to protect his country. Seen through the eyes of Hoover himself, the film explores the personal and public life of a man who could distort the truth as easily as he upheld it during a career devoted to justice. The film will be screened on Dec. 8 at the First Group Theatre.

Also from USA is Daniel Lindsay and T. G. Martin’s documentary Undefeated, which will be screened on Dec. 12 and Dec. 14 at MoE 4. The film was shot over six years, and follow the young members of the Memphis Manassas Tigers’ as they persevere to win their first football playoff in the school’s 110-year history.

Multiple-Grammy Award winning recording artist, actress, children’s book author, philanthropist, and fashion designer, Madonna’s W.E., is two parallel love stories separated by more than six decades, based on the lives of Wally, an unhappily married New Yorker seeking refuge in the romance of King Edward VII and Wallis Simpson. When Wally visits an auction at the royal couple’s estate at Sotheby’s, she meets Evgeni, a Sotheby’s employee, with a mysterious past. The lives of these two fragile, but determined women become inextricably linked. The film will screen on Dec. 9 at the First group Theatre.

A stark look at the day in the life of small town America, Magic Valley by Jaffe Zinn, portrays how life can waylay us at any moment, thereby changing us forever. The film stars Scott Glenn (Secretariat; Nights in Rodhante), Kyle Gallner (Beautiful Boy; A Nightmare on Elm Street) and Alison Elliot (Law & Order; ER). Magic Valley will be screened on Dec. 12 at MoE 8, and Dec. 14 at MoE 5.

Making its Middle East Premiere from Canada is Mathieu Roy and Harold Crooks’ Surviving Progress, an experimental documentary, follows the footsteps of Ronald Wright’s bestselling book, bringing together some of the world’s great contemporary thinkers and authors including Stephen Hawking, Margaret Atwood and Jane Goodall to explore the idea of progressive obstacles in the modern world. The film will be screened on Dec. 8, Dec. 9, and Dec. 10 at MoE 10.

Italian director Gudio Lombardi’s Là-Bas A Criminal Education, follows Yssouf, a young sculptor from West Africa who arrives in Naples in search of his uncle. Although his uncle promises him a better future, Yssouf gets sucked into his criminal drug-dealing life. This powerful story, blurring fiction and reality, is a contemporary crime noir, and will be screened on Dec. 12 at MoE 1 and Dec. 13 at MoE 4.

Brazilian filmmakers Helvévio Marins Jr. and Clarissa Campolina’s Girimunho, screening on Dec. 12 and Dec. 14 at MoE 8, is the story of the 81-year-old octogenarian, Bastu, and her vivid imagination, the way she perceives human relations and the co-existence of extremes – life and death; dreams and reality; and traditions and modernity – all amongst which she sees the spirit of her dead husband.

DIFF 2011 will screen 171 films from 56 nations representing the best of national, regional and world cinema between December 7 and 14 at the Mall of the Emirates, Madinat Jumeirah and The Walk at JBR.

The DIFF box office is now open online at www.dubaifilmfest.com and at the DIFF box offices in Dubai Media City, JBR The Walk, Mall of the Emirates and Madinat Jumeirah. Additional information is also available through the Festival’s dedicated customer care number, 363 FILM (3456).

The Investment Corporation of Dubai is the title sponsor of the Dubai International Film Festival, which is held in association with Dubai Studio City. Dubai Duty Free, Dubai Pearl, Emirates Airline and Madinat Jumeirah, home to the Dubai International Film Festival, are the principal sponsors of DIFF. The Festival is supported by the Dubai Culture & Arts Authority. For more and updated information about DIFF, please visit www.dubaifilmfest.com or join DIFF on     and 

DUBAI — Annual footfall in Dubai’s super malls is expected to rise in 2010, owing to tourist attractions and entertainment anchors within malls, leading real estate consultancy Jones Lang Lasalle said in a report.

“Despite the slow growth projected in consumer spending, annual footfall in major super regional malls such as Dubai Mall is expected to rise in 2010,” Jones Lang Lasalle (JLL) report said.  More enlightened centre managers are proactively engaging with tenants to offer more attractive and flexible terms, the report added. 

Super regional and regional malls currently account for 75 per cent of total mall-based retail space, it said.

Average retail vacancies across regional malls had increased to between 8-10 per cent, the report noted.

It added that expansion plans by retailers were either being “revised downwards or cancelled altogether. Dubai has seen a rapid growth in retail supply in recent years, with gross leasable area per capita growing from 10.5 square feet in 2006 to 14 square feet in 2010. Total retail supply as of second quarter this year in Dubai was around 26 million square feet.

JLL said no new major mall supply was expected to be released until 2013 when the first phase of the Mall of Arabia in Dubailand is scheduled to open.

In 2009, average retail rents in Dubai fell nearly 40 per cent with vacancies across major malls increasing, it said. Average estimated rental values declined by about 39 per cent to Dh209 per sq ft since the second quarter of 2009.

A report by the Dubai Chamber of Commerce has made a bullish forecast that retail spending in Dubai would increase by around four  per cent in 2010 and by more than eight per cent in 2011. In 2009, retailers and mall owners reported a typical decline of at least 20 per cent in retail sales, aaccording to the JLL. For the remainder of 2010 and beyond, Dubai’s retail market is likely to shift in line with the mainstream global retail market through an increased emphasis on competitive pricing, creative marketing programmes, convenience shopping and value for money, it said.

In an earlier report, JLL argued Dubai’s retail sector was undergoing a period of transition. With new supply entering the market, declining sales, lower footfalls and reduced tourist numbers in 2009, the pressure on the retail industry means it has to look long and hard at how it can evolve out of the crisis.

The pressure on the retail industry due to new supply entering the market, declining sales, lower footfalls and reduced tourist numbers in 2009 is no longer exits, it noted.

“The Dubai market has experienced a period where retail supply has been growing ahead of demand generators and this has resulted in a significant increase in the retail space per person. The next few years are likely to see a reversal of this situation, with retail supply growing less quickly than population and visitor arrivals,” JLL said.

The report argued that the slow growth in retail supply would result in the market returning to a position that can support major additional projects in due course. “The timing of these projects will be dependent upon that of the residential, employment and tourist generators in the surrounding area.” — issacjohn@khaleejtimes.com

Fourth – year participation aims at attracting global tourists to Sharjah’s leading tourist destination

Sharjah, March 10, 2010: Al Qasba, the premiere tourist, cultural and entertainment destination in the emirate of Sharjah has announced its participation in ITB Berlin 2010, the largest global tourism and travel exhibition, for the fourth consecutive year. Al Qasba officials have revealed that the objective of the participation will be to introduce the many attractions that Al Qasba and the Emirate of Sharjah offer and to draw more visitors to the picturesque destination.

Representatives of Al Qasba will be educating trade visitors and general public about the new offerings in Hall 21A. Running from March 10-14 at the Messe Berlin exhibition centre, ITB Berlin is expected to showcase the world’s hottest destinations with the participation of over 11,000 exhibitors from around the globe.

Commenting on the participation, Hazem Sawaf, Sales and Marketing Director of the Al Qasba Development Authority said, “Al Qasba has positioned itself as the premier cultural, entertainment and tourism destination of the region in a very short span of time thanks to a combination of dynamics of effort by a great workforce and a truly delightful location.  Our previous participations at ITB Berlin as well as other travel and tourism sector exhibitions have proved that such participation indeed educates visitors not just about Al Qasba, but the UAE and the emirate of Sharjah as well.”

“We are looking forward for our fourth consecutive participation in one of the world’s top exhibitions and we are eager to talk directly to our target audiences including tour operators, residents and tourists from various nationalities and age groups,” added Sawaf.

Positioned as a popular destination in Sharjah, Al Qasba offers a unique mix of high quality dining, entertainment, cultural events and lucrative business opportunities. Furthermore, Al Qasba houses the ‘Etisalat -Eye of the Emirates’, a giant Ferris wheel offering 360 degree aerial views of the Buheira cornice, lagoons and landscape. Al Qasba will celebrate this year the fifth year anniversary of the 60 meters high wheel in April.

“We have what it takes to be a leading tourist and entertainment destination in the world, our visitors can enjoy the best of dining, fun experiences and a wide variety of year-round events. We have witnessed an amazing visitors’ turnout in 2009 and our plans in 2010 will be to drive the figures higher,” concluded Sawaf.

Providing a unique mix of high quality dining, entertainment, cultural events and lucrative business opportunities, Al Qasba aspires to become a major tourist attraction destination on the regional and global scales, and strives to offer a combination of leisure and business through high quality events and services.