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Art & Cinema

Welcome to DoinDubai's section on ART and CINEMA. You won't read about mainstream movies here, but you will read about top picks from Dubai's well established Film Festival that happens in December every year with red carpet galas held at the Madinat Jumeirah. It's a fabulous festival and well worth booking tickets for. ART Dubai is also now well established on the Dubai's event calendar and is now a well attended international show with something for everyone. DoinDubai has a special interest is Bollywood movies so you will find reviews of some of the more unusual offerings from India that I think have universal appeal. A great idea to see some of these when the weather is hot!

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DUBAI INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2013

LIVING:

What will you Watch? UPDATED 8TH DECEMBER 

This year is the 10th anniversary of the highly prestigious and now well established Dubai Internationl Film Festival 2013 held at the Madinat Jumeirah. Make some time to catch some incredible films that you won’t get to see ordinarily at cinemas in Dubai through the year. Two of them are based on fabulous books…

How will you decide what to watch ?

Here’s DoinDubai’s choice. Firstly for my younger subscribers (or those who are young at heart!)

I recommend: How I Live Now by award winning director Kevin Macdonald, based on the book by Meg Rosoff.

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aN0zU7Nf5n8&w=560&h=315] Paradise – a Spanish film about Carmen who has a problem with her image.

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXGBBBktm5Y&w=560&h=315]

For the more grown up and grittier drama try South African thriller Durban Poison

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oE6AdU3C_k&w=560&h=315] Changing the tempo and continent this time, a highly anticipated film from India, the Lunchbox, a sweet story of how one man’s lunch tiffin ends up with someone else or maybe this meal really did end up at the right place, go and see this feel good movie with talented actor Irfan Khan.

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8Nw2wUqx0U&w=560&h=315] The festival opens with Omar, an Arabic language, high octane thriller that is Palestine’s Oscar 2014 entry for Best Foreign Language film. CONGRATULATIONS ADAM BAKRI LEAD ACTOR WHO PLAYS OMAR..THIS WAS A FABULOUS MOVIE, IT DESERVES TO WIN A MAJOR FILM PRIZE. 

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zb5O3T9Vy5s&w=560&h=315] A fabulous and necessary piece of historical fiction is Mandela’s Long Walk to Freedom starring Naomi Harris as Winnie Mandela.

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFOvbFFfKB0&w=560&h=315] Moving to Nigeria in West Africa for the setting of Half of a Yellow Sun based on the brilliant book by Chimimanda Ngozi Ndicihie, if the film is half as good as the book, it’ll be worth seeing, DoinDubai’s top pick:

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZJ1y9VJKls&w=560&h=315] Click here for timings and ticket availability at the DUBAI INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2013

Thanks for sharing DoinDubai’s picks from DIFF 2013 with your friends, I really appreciate it.

Thanks, Monica.

Tom and Serj’s new cafe in Al Quoz and best books for 2014 coming up next so make sure you’ve subscribed so you don’t miss out on the free stuff !  Click here to learn how to subscribe

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BOLLYWOOD MOVIE IN DUBAI

The by line of the latest Bollywood singing spectacular Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani is:  “a film about love” You can say that again, but the problem for me was what kind of love? Romantic love between a young  couple? Filial love between a group of loyal friends, unconditional parental love owed to all children despite their selfishness or the love of oneself, one’s ideas, goals and rasion d’etre, the love of fulfilling your life’s destiny. Well there is a bit of all this kind of love in the movie and while it certainly had some truly comic moments with inspired dialogue and bizarre attire (Deepika Padukone is trekking in a mini skirt!) it was just a bit too long and didn’t focus on one main story arc or theme.

A visual delight though with all the exotic locations encompassing sun kissed beaches, majestic mountains and cool cities. A whole lot of action took place during the obligatory big, fat Indian destination wedding in Rajasthan where the elegant and understated suite interiors provided the perfect backdrop to the dazzling array of hot oranges, pinks, golds and reds in the wedding outfits. It’s a film that was made to look at, but you do find yourself saying “Hurry Up” !

I loved the unconventional looking heroine Kalki Koechlin (the owner of Bagwati in Zindagi Na Milegi Dubara) who has slightly buck teeth, is shortish and doesn’t look Indian, she is the feisty young girl who lives for today but eventually comes to her senses (?) when she finds her soul mate in the lovable and very liquid (he paid her friend’s bar bill and gambling debts) husband. But what was  interesting and generated a lot of titters among the audience yesterday in Mall of Emirates was the Eastern European sounding Indian girl Lara who’s Hindi is actually OK but as English isn’t her first language, it just doesn’t sound right especially when she says the word “trek” !

Well wait and see, Katrina managed very well ! But only go if you have 3 hours to spare. The teenagers will love it I think.

More Bollywood movies in Dubai here and if you liked this, do share the love and the post on FB. Thanks Yaar!

  • Click here for a catchy bite of the official “hakka noodle”  trailer..

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DUBAI FILM FESTIVAL 2012 PIC AND MIX

It’s that time again, the Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) is here with a host of delicious films to enjoy ! It’s hard to choose from so many so DoinDubai has has a good look at all that is on offer can come up with some intelligent recommendations that should appeal to many tastes.  Enough chatter, here are my top picks from the festival :

The Life of Pi : Based on a fabulous book by Yan Martell  and directed by Ang Lee, amazing effects used to tell an unforgettable story, the opening night Gala at the Madinat Jumeirah.

[youtube=https://youtu.be/Jd_JQbzR7L8]

Shutter :  A Malyalam film set over 2 days and one night of an ex pat Gulf worker returning home to his native Kozhikode in South India, home to thousands of expat workers here, ever wondered what could happen and how people can be changed from time spent working in the Gulf, this tense thriller premieres here and is also part of the 17th Kerala film festival, sounds gripping. On at Mall of Emirates.

[youtube=https://youtu.be/hak6YnGKcrU]

Body Complete :  From the Cinema of the World, another thriller, this time a journalist seeks to uncover the truth about a young girl’s disappearance in Bosnia, where people are more afraid of the living than the dead, real issues that cannot be ignored.

[youtube=https://youtu.be/InHdACrjGY4]

The Thieves :  My great big Korean Caper this time, a fast paced action adventure set in the fast world of South East Asian gambling dens and diamond heist hatching plans, this film seems fast, furious and a great deal of fun, despite it being in Korean ! One the guys will like for sure.

[youtube=https://youtu.be/dInWvReOw00]

Another film of the book here this one written by David Mitchell who also wrote the beautiful Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, this film made by those who made the Matrix Trilogy explores life, after life and how all our lives are connected to our karmas. See if it helps you understand your life better.

Cloud Atlas (Kindle Enhanced Edition)

[youtube=https://youtu.be/_p9lLWxsjMU]

Nairobi Half Life : A familiar story of a country boy leaving home to make it in the big city where things go very awry, we visit Kenya quite often so much of this film will be familiar to us I’m guessing but don’t let the Nairobbery nickname put you off !  More about Kenya from doindubai here UPDATE 12/12/2012 Just saw this movie at MoE, it was excellent, apparently has been running in Kenya for 17 weeks, all civil servants were told to see it, raises important issues of why people do what they do. It was made in just 4 weeks in collaboration with German and British managerial talent who guided the very savvy Kenyan production team. Authentic locations is an understatement, see it if you have the stomach for it.

[youtube=https://youtu.be/mmz6nSrw8JI]

 

Do like and share the post with other film buffs and tell me what you thought of my selection, cut, Monica The Director of www.doindubai.com

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BEST KIDS CAMPS: ART AT DIFC DUBAI

UPDATE FEB 2015

Although this is an old post, it gives you an idea of what the Art Camp is all about. I will update it with summer schedules as soon as they come out. Thanks Monica. It’s also worth calling to see if there are places for summer interns for the older kids as well! 

jArt_Camp_Dubai

The Farjam Collection art gallery’s summer camp (in Dubai’s DIFC) for kids aged roughly 7-10 still has places for the rest of the summer. This is the 3rd summer the camp has been running and it manages to incorporate a range of art activities inspired by art works in the well established and professional collection.  The kids are typical of Dubai, a mix of nationalities but all of whom are comfortable with English instruction. A typical day may comprise of creating art that incorporates painting, clay, drawing, collage and more. Class sizes are small with a high ratio of qualified internationally trained staff who interact with the children and encourage them at all stages of their creations.  Prices are very reasonable at Dhs 100 per day that INCLUDE all materials, unlike some classes I have come across where you need to shell out a fair amount of money before any tuition starts.

Art_Camp_Dubai_Summer

And the icing on the cake ? It’s based in DIFC, so for those of us who are not fasting, you can have a coffee with friends, or meet up for lunch at any of the range of fab restaurants in DIFC while the kids are educated and entertained at the same time. (Click here  for a link to a review of Royal China, a great Chinese chain with branches in London and Hong Kong as well as DIFC)

Call Marjan on    Tel: + 971 (0) 4 323 0303

to find out more or to book a place for your child any day this week starting from Sunday 29th of July or email   marjan@farjamcollection.org to find out more. Do mention you heard about the camp from Monica at www.doindubai.com and as usual do like and share the post on Facebook.

Send me in some pictures of your youngster’s creations and I’ll update the post with the images in August. Who knows maybe they’ll exhibit at Art Dubai next !

www.farjamcollection.org  at Dubai’s DIFC is at Gate Village 4.

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