Gulf filmmakers react to DIFF’s uncertain future with both sadness and hope

Author: 

William Mullally

Thu, 2018-04-26 11:46

ID: 

1524732444562584100

NEW YORK: When the Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) recently announced that it was canceling what would have been its 15th edition in 2018, promising to relaunch the festival as an event once every two years with a greater focus on regional films in 2019, it was met with disappointment by film fans throughout the region.

Though the festival was a cinema-goer’s dream for 14 years, it was perhaps most significant to the Middle East’s filmmakers, for whom the festival was an essential part of the development of the region’s film landscape. For the leading filmmakers in the region, the news has cast uncertainty on what was a guiding light for the industry.

“All I can say at this stage is that it’s sad news,” says British-Emirati filmmaker Ali F. Mostafa, whose 2009 film “City of Life” was one of the high watermarks in the history of festival.

“I was quite shocked, I didn’t see it coming. It was quite devastating because it’s been the same management for the last 14 years. Kudos to them. They kept an amazing brand together. They created a brand that no one knew and now everybody knows. That speaks big volumes especially to DIFF’s chairman, Abdulhamid Juma,” says Nayla Al Khajja, CEO of Nayla al Khajja Films and winner of DIFF’s Muhr Emirati — Special Jury Award in 2015 for her film “The Neighbours.”

Filmmaker Faisal Hashmi, founder of Dubai’s Hashmic House Films, is concerned that the new schedule will mean fewer opportunities for the region’s talent to develop and shine.

“It means that filmmakers from the region now have half the amount of chances to showcase their films on a screen in the region. Half the opportunities to network with other creative professionals and foster new collaborations with them. Half the opportunities for them to watch the work of other peers and learn from it,” says Hashmi.

Al Khajja is unsure that the new schedule will allow the festival to compete with other festivals worldwide.

“No film festival in the world operates that way. You could lose momentum. What if you have a film that could potentially be an Oscar-nominated film for the UAE but that year there’s no festival? That person could end up losing out,” says Al KHajja.

Hashmi would support a more regionally focused festival that forgoes the big international screenings of films such as “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” which premiered at DIFF in 2015.

“I’m all for ditching the red carpet and the more glamorous aspects of the festival if that helps bring down the cost. That’s not what a film festival is about anyway,” says Hashmi.

Al KHajja disagrees, believing that bringing in Hollywood A-listers helped connect Middle Eastern filmmakers with top talent.

“Some people say it’s glitz and glamor and PR, but it’s not. That’s how we meet international producers, that’s how we network, and that’s how we have access to these people. The festival has been an incredible platform for us to go and meet that caliber of people.”

The biggest question for Hashmi is whether this will lead to increased funding for Middle Eastern filmmakers.

“If removing an international festival means a marked improvement in support for funding and exhibiting regional cinema, then that’s a trade-off I would be okay with,” says Hashmi.

“I really hope that whoever takes over in the future, the management should keep it to the same level, add to it and do not subtract from it. You have a solid brand, and you don’t want that brand to start shaking,” says Al KHajja.

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https://ift.tt/2r6ooUr April 26, 2018 at 07:56AM

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Displaced Boracay workers head home, look for other jobs as Philippines’ tourist island shuts down

Author: 

AP

Thu, 2018-04-26 (All day)

ID: 

1524729390332414400

BORACAY, Philippines: The cooks, hotel workers and other Filipinos who served tourists at the country’s most popular beach headed home and started looking for other work Thursday as police guarded the empty beach on the first day of a shutdown intended to let Boracay’s waters recover from overcrowding and development.
Police on the empty, white-sand beach turned away tourists trying to take a dip in the turquoise waters, and once-busy stores and restaurants stood closed.
“It’s painful for us to lose our jobs and it’s so sudden,” said canteen cook Marlon Laguna, 47, outside the closed beachfront restaurant. “Even though I don’t have my own family, I support my siblings ... We cannot do anything but to accept it.”
The island will be shut to visitors for up to six months while sewage containment and other work is done to clean up the waters President Rodrigo Duterte had called a cesspool.
The work was already underway Thursday. Police and residents were collecting seaweed in a cleanup drive on the beachfront, pipes were being laid, and construction had begun to widen the island’s main road. Some roadside structures were being demolished to make way.
Workers now out of jobs said they will look for other work to ride out the time the island is shut to tourists.
About 17,000 are employed in Boracay’s tourist establishments, and 10,000 to 12,000 others benefit from the bustling tourism business.
Displaced workers flocked to the Department of Social welfare operation center to get travel allowance for them to go home to their provinces.
“I am thankful that the government gave us travel allowance, even if we do not have a job anymore,” said construction worker Jomar Incierto, 27, who was among those receiving the cash assistance.
More than 2 million tourists visited Boracay last year, generating about 56 billion pesos ($1 billion) in revenue. But the influx, neglected infrastructure and growth of resort establishments and poor settlements have threatened to turn Boracay into a “dead island” in less than a decade, according to a government study. Settlers who’ve built illegal structures in forests and wetlands have added to the problems.
Less than half the establishments are connected to the island’s main sewage treatment plant, with many of the rest possibly maintaining crude septic tanks and others discharging their waste directly into the sea, said Frederick Alegre, assistant secretary at the Department of Tourism.
Parts of the island could re-open earlier than six months if sewage treatment systems could be built earlier and beach resorts comply with environmental regulations, he said.

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Philippines’ tourist island Boracay shuts down for rehabilitationPhilippines to declare state of calamity at Boracay island https://ift.tt/2HrYwgs April 26, 2018 at 09:11AM

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The road less traveled

Author: 

Arab News

Thu, 2018-04-26 10:41

ID: 

1524728535112381000

DUBAI: For the more free-spirited traveler who wants to avoid the tourist trails this summer, check out some of the more unconventional destinations on offer at last week’s Arabian Travel Market

The light fantastic
LAPLAND
It’s most famous as the home of Santa Claus, of course, but Finland’s northernmost region is much more than just a kitschy seasonal holiday destination. For a true once-in-a-lifetime experience, the Kakslauttanen Arctic Resort offers glass igloos from which to view the breathtaking Northern Lights (on view for eight months of the year — August to April — from this fringe-of-the-wilderness resort on the road to the Arctic Sea) in one of the cleanest environments on the planet. If you want a bit more privacy than a glass dome offers, the rustic log cabins should do it for you. They have a mini glass igloo attached too, so you can still enjoy the midnight sun in the summer. If you want something a little more active than sightseeing, there’s hiking, mountain-biking and kayaking on offer, as well as horse or husky safaris.
It’s a good place to soak up some local culture too; the semi-nomadic reindeer-herding Sami people have inhabited the region for more than 100 years. And the resort is just next to Finland’s largest national park, Urho Kekkonen.
And if you still need your dose of kitsch, Santa’s Home (official!) is just a five-minute drive into the forest.

Ape adventures
UGANDA
With Rwanda doubling the price of its gorilla permits last year, neighboring Uganda — the only other place on earth you can see the magnificent apes in their natural habitat — has become increasingly attractive to nature lovers. It’s not just gorillas either. Uganda is home to 10 national parks and boasts some astonishingly diverse scenery — the sparse savannah of Kidepo Valley, the snow-tipped peaks of Mount Eldon on the Kenyan border, the northern shores of Lake Victoria, the Mabria Forest reserve, the awe-inspiring Murchison Falls, and more. You can see plenty of big game, if that’s your thing, a huge variety of endangered bird species, and monkeys galore. For a more cultural experience, take a trip to the home of the Echuya Batwa, commonly known as pygmies.
There’s a wide range of accommodation on offer too. If you’re on a budget and not too concerned about comfort, then opt for public transport and camping and you’ll spend very little. Of course, you can go the other way and choose luxury safari options too.

Street to sky
TAIWAN
New York might have been immortalized in song as “the city that never sleeps,” but Taiwan’s capital of Taipei puts up a persuasive argument for deserving that title. This place is buzzing in the daytime, but when the sun goes down things really take off. The renowned Shilin Night Market is a must-visit for shopaholics and foodies alike, while culture vultures will love the city’s burgeoning indie arts scene in the Zhongsan and Dongmen neighborhoods. Taipei offers a great range of accommodation too, from the classic Chinese style of the iconic Grand Hotel to hipster hangouts like Humble House (where you’re “not only a guest but also an artist in living,” apparently).
If that all sounds too much, Taipei also has plenty of less hectic attractions: Take a bike ride around some of its beautiful parks and ancient temples, visit the hot springs and geysers at Beitou, or head up Maokong Mountain to escape the rush of the streets. Alternatively, go full vertical and ride the world’s fastest elevator to the viewing decks of Taipei 101, the country’s legendary skyscraper.

Cream of the Caribbean
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
As the rep at the Dominican Republic stand at the Arabian Travel Market pointed out, the country is ideally located for a Caribbean cruise holiday. But once you reach this place, you might decide against moving on. The republic is, the rep explained, home to “eight climates.” Its geographical diversity incorporates mountains, deserts, some of the world’s finest beaches and the stunning UNESCO heritage site of Santo Domingo, the capital, founded by Bartholomew Columbus (Christopher’s younger brother) in 1496. As you might expect, then, there is some stunning colonial architecture to be seen, particularly in the capital’s Zona Colonial — home to several of the New World’s “firsts” including the Catedral Primada de America, the oldest standing cathedral in the Western hemisphere.
But the Dominican Republic is by no means all about history. It’s a vibrant, chaotic treat, and a haven for culture lovers, from the highbrow — opera, orchestra, ballet, theater, avant-garde arts — to the pulsating nightlife and streetlife. The nature, too, is breathtaking: Humpback whales visit its northern shores every year, the protected Los Haitises forest is home to over 200 bird species, while dolphins and manatees regularly visit its waters. This country really does have something for everyone.

Here be tigers
BANGLADESH
It rarely features on the South Asian tourist trail, as Bangladesh continues to suffer from its media image as a place of natural disasters and political turmoil, but the country has a wealth of beauty, culture and comfort to offer travelers.
Its Arabian Travel Market brochure proclaims it “a country of rivers,” and they’re the cause of Bangladesh’s jaw-dropping, lush greenery. For outdoor types, this is a true haven — you can hike the rolling hills, dense forests and tea plantations of Srimangal or go bird- and snake-spotting in the freshwater swamp forest of Ratargul. The main draw for wildlife enthusiasts, of course, is the Bengal tiger. In the world’s largest mangrove forest, the UNESCO-protected Sundarbans, which Bangladesh shares with India, you can track these magnificent cats through the bleak beauty of the watery wilderness.
If you’re one of those people who thrive on the rush of sensory overload and hi-energy vibes that can only be found on city streets, you’ll love the bustling, colorful capital city, Dhaka. There’s history, architectural marvels and culture a-plenty (the stunning Pink Palace — Ahsan Manzil — will fill your Insta-feed for days), and, as you’d expect, some awesome street food to fuel your wanderings.

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https://ift.tt/2r0qIvW April 26, 2018 at 09:07AM

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The sound of the underground

Author: 

Iain Akerman

Thu, 2018-04-26 09:49

ID: 

1524725422092250700

BEIRUT: “It’s essential the youth have alternative heroes that can expose them to a certain lifestyle, a certain freedom and creativity that we don’t find in the mainstream,” said Zeid Hamdan. “It will inspire them to sometimes break boundaries and also be very creative with very little means.”
A pioneer of Lebanon’s underground music scene, Hamdan knows a fair bit about the impact and importance of alternative music. He was one half of trip-hop duo Soapkills (alongside Yasmine Hamdan — no relation), who, in the late 1990s, came to epitomize the carefree hedonism of post-war Beirut. His music continues to be a reaction to the political events that surround him.
“Aasfeh,” released in 2012 by Zeid and the Wings (Hamdan and a shifting lineup of other musicians), was a response to the revolutions that had spread across the Arab world; 2015’s “Balekeh” was a musical critique of the indifference toward war in Syria (particularly the song “Jazira”); while last year’s “Mouhit” reflects on a refugee crisis that has seen more than one million Syrians enter Lebanon.
“You want to express things, because the region changes so much and so quickly,” Hamdan told Arab News. “Perspectives change. ‘Jazira’ said, ‘We are not an island, we are a sinking ship’. I was expressing disgust at how indifferent we can be when we are all one same sick body. Now, ‘Mouhit’ is saying, ‘Come with me, let’s cross the oceans, let’s jump over the walls, let’s walk day and night, let’s go for our dreams,’ and it’s in the light of this refugee crisis, with us living in Lebanon with so many refugees. All these people need to grow, to free themselves, to build their dreams. So you see, we mature with the situation. We learn. We express. We produce.”
Hamdan is just one element within a regional alternative music scene that is growing in significance, even if very few artists within that scene have made it to the big time. In many ways, artists such as Mashrou’ Leila — the poster boys of Arab alternative music, Palestinian four-piece 47Soul, and Tunisian singer-songwriter Emel Mathlouthi are unified by a potent cocktail of attitude, spectacle, and socio-political lyricism.
“Through music you can resist and through music you can be creative and through music you can challenge yourself and challenge things,” Yasmine Hamdan — who plays DXBeats at Dubai Opera House on April 28, told me a while back. She is not alone in this belief. Mathlouthi, whose music is both powerful and eccentric, would be unable to operate within the confines of mainstream Arab pop.
“Inspiration and creativity are a blessing and we should never take them for granted, so I will not try to fake some ready-to-go music formula to be mainstream, losing my soul and therefore run the risk of not knowing how to defend it at all,” Mathlouthi told Arab News. “I just try to be alive and awake to catch whatever is passing by that could help me craft and innovate.”
Yasmine Hamdan has described mainstream music as Arabic pop kitsch, or musical junk food that pollutes the airwaves and recycles clichéd constructs of love and heartbreak. Anthony Khoury, lead singer of Beirut-based band Adonis, whose third album, “Nour,” was released last September, tends to agree. Last year the band said music in the Arab world needs both revival and renewal.

 

 

“The Arabic language is unparalleled in its richness and playfulness,” said Khoury. “Yet local pop songs have been ruminating for decades on a very limited group of words, ideas, structures, which has severely flattened our language. For us, the ‘revival’ of Arabic music is first of all a rediscovery of the Arabic language and the possibilities it offers.”

By extension that revival will depend to a degree on the success of independent artists. And yet with limited rehearsal space, few venues, and a lack of support from television and radio stations, the environment is challenging. Labels, too, are problematic, with very few willing to take a risk on bands that they view as socially and politically outspoken. Even Mashrou’ Leila, arguably the most successful Arabic independent group out there, remain unsigned.
“Labels are tricky,” admitted Firas Abou Fakher, Mashrou’ Leila’s guitarist. “Everyone we spoke to at Middle Eastern labels expected a lot more conservatism in the compositions, lyrics and public engagement than we were willing to entertain or compromise on. We’d be more than happy to sign when we meet the right match. It just needs to feel like they’re willing to take a risk on us, before we agree to take a risk on them, and then we’d totally swipe right.”
Some encouragement should be taken from this situation, however. From challenges, obstacles, creative friction and improvization emerge defining sounds.
“Every place in the world is more or less defined by its local indie music scene,” said Ali Al Saeed, founder of MuseLand Records, which releases its fifth compilation of regional indie music on May 1. “It is often what genuinely reflects the vibe of a city or a community. That culture is also what — in a way — documents that process.
“I often feel that we’re still trying to figure out our sound, collectively,” he added. “If you look at places like Egypt, Lebanon and Jordan, you get a sense of what the music movement is about. I’d like to see artists here, in places like Bahrain and Dubai, push their musical boundaries a bit and get out of their comfort zone. Some pretty interesting stuff is happening in Kuwait, which to me was a pleasant surprise.”
More initiatives to promote and support alternative music are needed, as are more venues that are built and designed for the sole purpose of housing gigs. But a further shift in mindset is also required, believes Al Saeed.
“There’s no shortage of efforts and initiatives and projects,” he says. “And they play a key role in growing and improving the scene. But the bigger change that no one seems to be addressing is the cultural aspect, and how to change the mentality of musicians and music fans. I’ve been repeating this quite often lately. The change I’d like to see is to move away from taking the musicians to the crowds, to having the crowds come to the musicians.”

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https://ift.tt/2r0cGKM April 26, 2018 at 07:53AM

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‘Game of Thrones’ author George R.R. Martin announces new book

Author: 

AFP

Thu, 2018-04-26 04:43

ID: 

1524718646651970200

NEW YORK: American author George R.R. Martin Wednesday announced a new book to be released in November — but fans may be disappointed to learn it’s not the highly-anticipated sixth installment of the hit “Game of Thrones” saga.
“Fire and Blood” is set several centuries before “Game of Thrones” in the same fantasy world of Westeros, the author said on his blog. Martin stressed it is not a novel, but rather a historical text setting out the history of Westeros’ Targaryen dynasty.
Since 2012, the author has published several passages from the new book. Publisher Bantam Spectra did not respond to a request for comment about the upcoming release, but the book is already available for presale online
As for the sixth “Game of Thrones” book — “The Winds of Winter” — Martin said: “No, winter is not coming... not in 2018, at least.”
Between 1996 and 2011, Martin published five volumes of the “Game of Thrones” series — letting six years pass between the fourth and fifth.
Since the sixth season of the phenomenally popular television show based on the series, the writers have not directly relied on Martin’s books — and in any case, producer HBO took many liberties with the original story in previous seasons.
The series — whose eighth and final season is expected in 2019 — has already scooped up a record 38 Emmy Awards.

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‘Game of Thrones:’ Winter is finally hereThe ultimate ‘Game of Thrones’ travel guide https://ift.tt/2HrFlDM April 26, 2018 at 06:22AM

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Pakistan’s qawwali music fights to be heard after singer’s death

Thu, 2018-04-26 07:51

ID: 

1524718293051957100

KARACHI: Nearly two years after Pakistan’s foremost qawwali singer Amjad Sabri was gunned down in Karachi, the devotional music of Islam’s Sufi mystical sect is struggling to survive, as fears of sectarianism and modern pressures slowly drown out its powerfully hypnotic strains.
Thousands poured into the streets near Sabri’s family home after his death for his funeral, a rare public display of affection in Karachi.
“He was a rockstar of the masses,” explained journalist and musician Ali Raj, who studied under Sabri.
His murder was just the latest in a series of blows in recent years to strike at the heart of qawwali, which has thrived in South Asia since the 13th century.
“I am still in shock,” Sabri’s brother Talha told AFP from his family home adorned with pictures of his superstar sibling, whose fame spanned the subcontinent and beyond.
“Why do they hate qawwali? Why do they hate music?“
Embraced widely as a part of Pakistan’s national identity, qawwali has played a key unifying role, with city-dwellers and villagers flocking to Sufi shrines for concerts.
Performances traditionally last hours, with a troupe of musicians interweaving soulful improvizational threads under lyrical, lilting vocal lines to a steady beat of thundering rhythms on dholak and tabla drums and hand clapping, sending fans drifting into trance-like transcendent states.
The genre entered a golden age in the 1970s as singers known as qawwals battled for prestige, with the Sabri Brothers — led by Amjad’s father, Ghulam Farid Sabri — and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan finding audiences around the world.
Following the death of Ghulam, Amjad took the helm and slowly carved out his place as Pakistan’s most prominent qawwal, becoming a fixture on national television and radio.
But now musicians worry that his murder — and the fear it sparked — has hastened the decline of qawwali.
At Cafe Noor in Karachi where qawwals have gathered for decades, musicians said business has been falling for years, with fewer shrines willing to host performances.
Sectarian militants have targeted Sufis, a mystical sect of Islam, for years — with the Taliban and increasingly the Islamic State sending suicide bombers to attack shrines over what they see as heretical displays of faith.
Just months after Sabri was killed, IS claimed back-to-back attacks on shrines in the provinces of Balochistan and Sindh that killed more than 100 people combined.
Earlier this month, the military approved death sentences for two militants linked to Sabri’s killing.
But questions linger over who ordered the murder — the Pakistani Taliban, or another group — forcing his brother to spend months guarded by elite paramilitary rangers.
Such fears, meanwhile, are not the only factors triggering qawwali’s decline.
Inflationary pressures have also kept the qawwals’ working-class fanbase from hosting shows. Increasingly only the middle class or elite can afford to pay a qawwali group to perform at parties or weddings.
“In the good old times, even a poor man... would manage to organize qawwali,” explained singer Hashim Ali, saying he is now lucky to play four or five shows during religious periods compared to dozens in the past.
The rise of more globalized interpretations of Islam has similarly chipped away at qawwali’s popularity, as Muslims in Pakistan increasingly depart from the subcontinent’s syncretic religious traditions and look to the Middle East for guidance.
“People access... (qawwali music) as a part of their faith,” said Ahmer Naqvi, chief operations officer for Pakistani music app Patari.
“A lot of the younger population is abandoning the ways that the older generations worshipped.”
Increasing conservatism has also hit the genre.
Even before Karachi’s Abdullah Shah Ghazi Mazar shrine — famed for hosting performances — was attacked by the Taliban in 2010, organizers had imposed restrictions on shows for years as part of a campaign against qawwali’s hashish-smoking fans.
The pressure has compelled more qawwals to try their hand at fusion, or even branch into more financially viable genres such as pop. Only a minority have embraced social media to promote themselves, journalist Raj said.
But they face an uphill battle.
“The youth... they don’t know what exactly qawwali is,” said fan Muhammad Saeed, 24, citing the popularity of contemporary music at home and from abroad, during a private show in Islamabad.
After 16 years playing by his brother’s side, Talha Sabri said he has struggled to find his place on stage until Amjad’s own sons are old enough to perform.
“We are under pressure,” he said, with his long hair and neatly trimmed beard cutting a stark resemblance to his brother.
But even as he fears the possibility of extremists striking again, he refuses to be cowed.
“Regardless of these threats, we have to keep on,” he said.
For Sabri’s mother Asghari Begum however, the murder of her son marked a turning point for qawwali, ringing the death knell for its future.
Her family previously made it through the tumultuous 1980s, when political parties and gangs battled for turf, turning Karachi’s streets into killing fields.
But they were respected then, passing unscathed through the city’s numerous pickets.
Amjad’s death proved things have changed.
“He has gone now,” she said. “And the passion of qawwali has gone with him.”

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King of Jordan discusses military cooperation with Pakistani generalIn war-torn Yemen, music lessons offer refuge https://ift.tt/2r3t90L April 26, 2018 at 05:53AM

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Women listed as inventors in third of global patent filings: UN

Author: 

AFP

Thu, 2018-04-26 04:00

ID: 

1524717485401907500

GENEVA: The UN on Thursday hailed a significant increase in women listed as inventors in global patent filings over the past decade, but warned a pronounced gender gap remained.
New data from the World Intellectual Property Organization showed that women were listed in 31 percent of the some 224,000 international patent applications it published last year.
That compares to just 23 percent a decade earlier, the UN agency said.
WIPO chief Francis Gurry celebrated in a statement “the innovative, creative accomplishments of women around the globe.”
He pointed out that “international patent applications are an important benchmark for measuring innovative activity in the contemporary, global economy,” stressing that “anything less than the achievement of full parity between men and women is a missed opportunity.”
The agency’s data showed that South Korea was best in class on gender, with at least one woman listed among inventors in more than 50 percent of all international patent applications.
China, the world’s second largest filer of international patents, also came in second when it came to including women inventors in its filings, at 48 percent.
The world leader in international patent applications, the United States, meanwhile only listed women among the inventors in 33 percent of its filings, placing it fifth, WIPO said.
International patent applications in the fields of biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and chemistry showed the highest inclusion of women, with female inventors listed in a majority of patents in these disciplines, WIPO said.
Biotech topped the ranking, counting women inventors in 58 percent of all filings, while patents related to mechanical elements was at the bottom of the list, with just 14 percent.

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Four women inventors make the nation proud4 women among 25 winners of prize for inventors, talented https://ift.tt/2HrFbMG April 26, 2018 at 05:46AM

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