DIFF’s ‘Cinema of The World’ Program reveals early titles

CAIRO – 25 October 2017: The Dubai International Film Festival has revealed some of the first titles that will be part of its "Cinema of The World" program, which is set to begin in December and brings together films from all across the globe.



First up is Ukrainian director Sergei Loznitsa’s "A Gentle Creature” (Krotkaya), which was released in 2017 and was part of the Cannes Film Festival. It follows a woman in a small Russian village whose husband is in jail, and one day receives a package she sent to him marked as ‘return to sender’. Enraged, she embarks on an arduous journey to the prison he is held in, seeking to figure out what he is doing and along the way comments on the state of incarceration in Europe.



Then comes Pakistani-British director’s feature film debut, "My Pure Land," a story about several Pakistani women, a mother and her daughters, who take up arms to defend their home after several armed men decide to invade. The movie is based on a true story.



Iranian director Milad Alami brings to the DIFF his film "The Charmer," a gripping psychological drama. When an Iranian immigrant in Denmark grows desperate to remain within the country, he begins desperately searching for a woman who will marry him, examining the cruelty behind the bureaucratic treatment of immigrants and the laws that allow them to stay.



East African-Indian director Anup Singh presents the Indian romance drama "The Song of Scorpions," starring Irrfan Khan and Golshifteh Farahani. A tribal woman learning the art of healing from her grandmother has an encounter with a camel trader, who falls in love with her after hearing her sing. However, there is more to him than it seems.

Amongst the other films listed are Czech director Jan Svěrák's "Barefoot," French director Sonia Kronlund’s documentary "Nothingwood," Indian director Dipesh Jain's drama "In the Shadows," British-Zambian director Rungano Nyoni’s

"I Am Not a Witch"

and Swedish filmmaker Ruben Östlund's "

The Square."

Also notable is that acclaimed Egyptian author and screenwriter

Wahid Hamed

is set to receive the Arab Lifetime Achievement award during the DIFF. The three Egyptian films

participating

in the festival are "Sheikh Jackson," "Withered Green" and "Whose Country."