10,000 expected at Muscat international film festival

About 90 countries will have entries in the Muscat International Film Festival (Miff) but Dr Khalid Al Zadjali, Chairman of the Oman Film Society, rues lack of full-fledged government support. "We get only 20 per cent of the cost of the MIFF from [the] government. The rest we raise with our individual efforts," he said during a media briefing to announce the seventh edition of the festival, which will be held from March 24-31. To a question, he said the government was aware of the growing interest in cinema in the country. "No one seems to be concerned. We need a person in the government who would care for cinema as an art." He urged the government to support creating a centre for making films. "First, the government will have to come forward with the support, then only can we go to the private sector," he said in reply to another question. Article continues below Al Zadjali further said that even the cinema hall owners and exhibitors don't support the festival. "We pay rent for each cinema screened for the festival at local cinema halls." However, he was happy that the festival had grown in stature. "We had a total audience of 600 for the first edition. Now we have over 10,000 coming for the entire festival," he pointed out. Celebrating David Lean This year, a retrospective will be held on Sir David Lean, who is best remembered for big screen epics such as The Bridge on the River Kwai, Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago and ‘Passage to India. "We will have Omar Sharif and Victor Banerjee, who have acted in Sir Lean's films, lending their insight into the glorious past and revealing nuggets of information of a bygone golden film era," said Al Zadjali. The opening and closing ceremonies of the festival will be held at the Grand Hall of Sultan Qaboos University. Al Zadjali noted that around 90 countries, including the US, the UK, France, Japan, China, India, Egypt, Morocco, Syria, Egypt and Iran, are participating and over 20 film personalities from Hollywood, the Hindi and Malayalam film industries and the Arab world will be honoured. Stand-up comedian and well-known Korean TV personality, Wonho Chung, who is fluent in five languages, including English and Arabic, will host the opening and closing ceremonies and the red carpet events. "We will be honouring Hayat Al Fahad [a Gulf-based actress], [Moroccan star] Hameedo and Shaikh Abdullah Bin Shuwain Al Hosni, Al Zadjali added. He said the organisers have also invited the Egyptian star Najla Fateh and are awaiting her confirmation. "From India, we have [Malayalam movie star] Mohan Lal and popular directors Priyadarshan and Major Ravi. We will also be bringing Dhanush [a current young singing sensation and actor from the South]," he said. He also pointed out that Miff is also aimed at enhancing and encouraging the existing local filmmakers. As part of this, the Oman Film Meet, a group of Omani filmmakers in its sixth year in existence, will be merged with this year's festival. "It will be a part of the festival, and it will serve in bringing together local filmmakers, showcasing local talents, which will be of assistance to the filmmakers," he said. Arab singing sensation Nancy Ajram, Tito Seif (belly dancer), Lucky Ali (Hindi soul singer), Sivamani (Indian percussionist), Isha Sharvani and Daksha Seth dance troupe, Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia (flautist from India), Salah Al Zadjali (Omani singer), the Malaysian dancer Ramli Ebrahim and the Sutra Group, plus dance performances from the Medo Group will be some of the highlights of the live performances during the festival. Meanwhile, he also gave details of the second Omani feature film, Aseel, which will be unveiled at a special screening for diplomats.