While there have been undeniably more wonderful films than what I've been able to watch at this year's Dubai International Film Festival, part of the excitement belonged to the talks, the conversations with international stars who kept coming "even after the opening night," as DIFF Chairman Abdulhamid Juma reminded me earlier today.
More of course on that chat, with Juma himself, the man who year after year sets me straight on the business of cinema in the Arab world, and then figuratively sends me out into the world another year -- in between Dubai film fests, I mean -- to ponder, research and enlighten myself. Only to come back more excited about this incredible world of cinema from the MENA region. Yes, more on that in the next few days, and trust me, it's all worth waiting for.
So one of the highlights of the talks -- and there were many, too many to list -- was the "In Conversation with Samuel L. Jackson" moderated by DIFF programmer Nashen Moodley. Movie star Jackson has this earnest, honest way of getting to the heart of a matter, without mincing his words. When he first sat down to address the audience, someone shouted "We love you Samuel!" and without missing a beat Jackson replied "love's important!" Continuing, "how much I enjoy the sound of (clapping his hands) that."
Starting from the very beginning of his career -- when Jackson admitted he was getting cast as "gang member, black guy, or bum" -- spanning through to his multiple films with both Quentin Tarantino and Spike Lee, Jackson took us on a rollercoaster ride of fun, enthusiasm but also sobriety. His sobriety, which came after a period of overcompensating for the fun he was having as an actor. "I ended up with a drug addiction," Jackson candidly disclosed, but even that, in true super actor form, became his preparation for the grandiose role of Gator, the junkie in Lee's Jungle Fever. "I was two weeks out of rehab, so I didn't need any make up," Jackson joked, and that iconic crackhead look jumped right back into my mind, as if the film had just come out. Lets not forget, it's been 25 years. Wrap your head around that, twenty. Five. Years. And Gator lives on.
"In Jungle Fever, that was the first time I'd connected with a character clean and sober, and that's when I knew I'd been getting in my own way," which Jackson admitted became his motivation for staying sober. He's been there now for a quarter of a century, as long as Gator's character has been occupying our imagination.
Jackson also commented on the two directors he's worked with most often. With Lee, he called the filmmaker "very fortunate," and continued, "he had Giancarlo Esposito, Bill Nunn, Denzel, we could all fill in the gaps in his work," during that special moment in time, the NYC of the late Eighties, early Nineties. About Tarantino, Jackson said, "we both share a love of Hong Kong films. Do you realize Reservoir Dogs is a remake of City on Fire?!" And that's how the two first bonded.
While the public chat was awesome, there will be more to come on these blogs from a more personal level, as I got to interview Jackson myself, up close and personal!
It was interesting to watch Ali F. Mustafa's film The Worthy here in Dubai, after attending the film's world premiere in London. While in London there was an otherworldly feel to the film, a "it could happen and then what would we do" anticipation to the dystopian nightmare portrayed in the apocalyptic film, in Dubai I squirmed in my seat, too familiar with the violence to come. It was also a weird side effect to hear the crowds applauding at every turn of death and destruction, which I've never experienced before in a movie theater. While I hold still my original opinion on Mustafa's film, I would say it's not a cinematic work that requires multiple viewings, although after my talk with Juma and his insight into the names used -- which all refer to world religion prophets like Jesus and Moses, and many more -- I may have to revisit that idea.
I also watched three short films from the Region, two Emirati shorts by women filmmakers and one, The Rooster by Salman Yusuf, a young filmmaker from Bahrain. The visual aspect of Yusuf's film was so vivid that I yearned to watch it on the big screen. Although its subject matter may feel a bit raw to Western audience, because the story deals with the sport of cockfighting and the film doesn't mince around with its images.
The next short I watched is A Night in a Taxi by Aisha Alzaabi and it tells the touching tale of a Pakistani taxi driver who is stuck in the Emirates at a crucial, tragic time in his life. The film has a Cinéma vérité feel to it, and the location, the eeriness of the disconnect between characters really hit me. While I always make it an effort to try and strike up a conversation with local taxi drivers, now I have even more motivation to do so.
Last but not least, what they say is "dulcis in fundo" -- leaving what is sweetest for last -- Nayla Al Khaja's Animal blew me away. But the woman always blows everyone else out of the water when it comes to short films. In Animal, Al Khaja explores her own troubled relationship with her father and the result is so horribly cruel, yet perfectly filmed that the character played by Mohammed Ahmed will haunt me for days to come. Two things, this film is not for the faint of heart, and it's not sweet at all, quite the contrary, and I can't wait for Al Khaja to venture into full features territory with a similar story, something she promised she's working on when I interviewed her earlier today.
Can't wait and Inshallah.
Photo of Samuel L. Jackson by Getty Images, all courtesy of DIFF, used with permission.