The Arabist

The Arabist

By Issandr El Amrani and friends.

Film festivals

The sixth Dubai International Film Festival has just started, with much star-wattage and fanfare. It will host the premier of the film Nine, a musical starring Daniel Day Lewis and Nicole Kidman, and of James Cameron's new sci-fi film Avatar.

Meanwhile, here in Cairo, the Goethe Institute is putting on a more modest film festival of short independent work from the region. It starts today, and you can get the program here. The schedule I have only been able to find in German online, but Egyptian films are showing today at 1pm, followed the Algerian and Lebanese selection.