Banderas, Griffith at Middle East film festival

Dozens of Arab and international celebrities and filmmakers have confirmed their attendance at the Middle East International Film Festival (MEIFF) this year. The red carpet and opening night ceremony will screen the gala film “The Brothers Bloom” directed by Rian Johnson and produced by Endgame and Summit Entertainment, at the second edition, to be held from 10th to 19th of October.

Mohamed Khalaf Al Mazrouei, Vice Chairman of MEIFF and Director General of The Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (ADACH) said, “Despite the fact that we are only two years old, MEIFF has managed to establish an excellent reputation among similar events worldwide.”

“This year we have an array of celebrities confirmed for our event. We are extremely proud to host them in Abu Dhabi - a city which is full of surprises and through such an event, we are able to show them off brilliantly,” he added.

Director of the Festival, Nashwa Al Ruwaini confirmed more Red Carpet guests, proudly announcing that, Antonio Banderas, Melanie Griffith and Adrien Brody, who is one of the stars of the opening night film will be attending our grand opening night this year. Emirati Stars that will also be gracing our Red Carpet include, Samira Ahmed, Ahmed Al Jasmi, Bilal Abdallah, Dr. Habib Ghuloum and Ashjan. MEIFF will truly be an all star event this year with other Arab stars who have also confirmed their attendance including actors and actresses; Yosra, who will also be a juror of the Black Pearl Awards, Elham Shaheen, Hussein Fahmy, Kahled Saleh, Jamal Soliman, Sherif Munir, Hala Sedki, Fathi Abdel Wahab, Latifa, Saloom Haddad, Libliba, Khaled El Nabawy and Safeya Al Emary, Mohamed Heneidi, Solaf Fawakhirji, Haifa Hussain, Saad Al Faraj, Abdul Hussain Abdul Rida, Dawood Hussain, Duraid Lahham, among others.

Last month, at a press conference to announce the special presentations, Nashwa Al Ruwaini announced that Jane Fonda will also be attending, and will be honoured with the prestigious Black Pearl Award. Also attending will be Catherine Deneuve, Susan Sarandon and Laila Alawi who will join for the CINEMA VERITE/MEIFF 2008 panels to be held on the 14th and 15th of October concentrating on socially conscious cinema.

“We are looking forward to welcoming all our guests at MEIFF, and this year we have so much more to offer with our outstanding line up of films, our industry events and panels,” concluded Al Ruwaini.