Musa Syeed offers a rare view into the world of Kashmir in the environmental drama “Valley of Saints." — Courtesy photoDUBAI/JEDDAH — As the Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) draws closer, titles from the AsiaAfrica program are being unveiled for the coveted Muhr AsiaAfrica Awards. The 9th edition of DIFF, set to take place from Dec. 9-16, shines the spotlight on a crop of pioneering directors with a promising lineup of new-wave cinema from South Asia. “This year we are extremely excited to bring to the Festival a slate of dynamic, visionary cinema inclusive of documentaries, shorts and full-length films from South Asia. The lineup will give audiences of all ages and ethnicities a chance to discover new South Asian voices and celebrate established ones," said Nashen Moodley, DIFF's Director of AsiaAfrica Programs. Considered to be one of the best emerging film directors working today, award-winning Ashim Ahluwalia brings his first feature “Miss Lovely" to DIFF. Selected at both the Cannes and Toronto Film Festivals, the stylized drama follows two brothers working in the grubby, low-rent, semi-criminal fringes of the Bombay film business. Also selected at Toronto Film Festival is the ambitious feature “Ship of Theseus" by filmmaker, playwright and artist Anand Gandhi. The film explores questions of identity, justice, beauty, meaning and death through the stories of an experimental photographer, an ailing monk and a young stockbroker. Among the winners at this year's Sundance Film Festival was independent filmmaker and writer Musa Syeed, who offers a rare view into the world of Kashmir in his feature “Valley of Saints." His first narrative feature is an environmental drama that casts light on the toll that human habitation and tourism have taken on Kashmir's lovely Dal Lake. Moving the spotlight to Bangladesh, established Bangladeshi film director, screenwriter and producer Mostofa Sarwar Farooki's latest feature “Television" deals with the theme of tradition versus modernity in a rural setting that focuses on a local elder trying to enforce a ban on televisions in his village. In yet another sign of the growing strength of cinema from South Asia, Sri Lankan filmmaker Asoka Handagama's latest feature, “Him, Here After" has been a firm favorite on the festival circuit this year. Considered as his most accomplished cinematic work, the film tells the story of an ex-militant who, two years after the war, returns home from a rehabilitation center hoping to start a new life. From award-winning Sri Lankan film director, screenwriter and visual artist Vimukthi Jayasundara comes his latest work, “Light In The Yellow Breathing Space," a short that focuses on a young boy with his father on his dying day. His first feature, “The Forsaken Land," won the Caméra d'Or at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival, making him the only Sri Lankan to win the award. Also from Sri Lanka is director and writer Suba Sivakumaran's “I Too Have a Name," a beautifully shot short that was in competition earlier this year at the Berlin Film Festival. It explores what it means to be a woman in a world where men are absent and where political, religious and social freedom is lacking. One of the most anticipated documentaries of the program is the complex, disturbing yet heartening story of “Gulabi Gang" from director Nishtha Jain. The documentary follows the pink sari-clad vigilante women of the Gulabi Gang in India, committed to protecting women against social malpractices, corrupt administrators, and abusive husbands. This is a group of women who are refusing to accept domestic violence and have decided to strike back. Critically acclaimed and multi-awarded director Sourav Sarangi, who shot to international success with his last documentary “Bilal," hopes to continue in this vein with his latest documentary “Char...The No-Man's Island." It follows Rubel and Sofi, two kids who take rice to Bangladesh from India by crossing the river that acts as the border and has eroded their home. They settle in Char, a fragile island formed within the river, a no man's land patrolled by army men. “Our programming team brings to the Festival this year a spectrum of quality work from the most pioneering filmmakers who are challenging the status quo in South Asia and bringing to the screens ground-breaking documentaries, gritty real-life stories and experimental features. This selection will give audiences a totally unique and real-life perspective of this part of the world that is both fascinating and complex," said Masoud Amralla Al Ali, Artistic Director of DIFF. For more and updated information about DIFF, please visit dubaifilmfest.com. — SG
