DUBAI: Emirati actress and filmmaker Meera AlMidfa has two short films screening on the sidelines of the ongoing Cannes Film Festival — “Shame” and “Umm Salama The Matchmaker”. 

Set to entertain audiences in the French Riviera, although the films are not playing on the official calendar of the film festival, each provides sharp insight and commentary on Arab womanhood, while approaching the subject from separate viewpoints and taking a different tone.

While in “Shame” AlMidfa plays a woman whose attempt to flee from home is abruptly halted when her mother catches her and leads to an intense confrontation, in “Umm Salama The Matchmaker,” she plays the daughter of a matchmaker trying to avoid getting hitched.

“The two films were made as part of Arab Film Studio workshop by Image Nation Abu Dhabi. And I was cast by the filmmakers who were doing the filmmaking course, both female directors. And they both explore similar issues about women and marriage,” AlMidfa said in an interview with Arab News.

However, AlMidfa is most excited about her first full-length feature, “Al Eid Eiden,” Image Nation Abu Dhabi’s Saudi-Emirati family comedy. “I play an Emirati woman married to a Saudi man,” said AlMidfa.

Starring opposite AlMidfa is Saudi actor Fahad Al-Butairi (“Telfaz11,” “The Office,” “From A to B”), with the film’s worldwide release planned for July 4.

The production brings together an all-female Emirati creative team featuring first feature director Maitha Alawadi, producer Rawia Abdullah and writer Sara Al-Sayegh.

The film’s logline reads, “‘Al Eid Eiden’ follows a Saudi-Emirati family as they make the final preparations for an Eid getaway in Abu Dhabi. An unexpected turn of events on their day of travel changes things drastically for the parents, but not wanting to disappoint their three young children, they decide to go ahead as planned.

“What ensues is a roller-coaster ride of comedic mishaps and misunderstandings as they hurtle through uncharted parenting territory, a theme park, and Eid gatherings with relatives. Through the chaos, they discover unity as a family.”

Having been an integral part of the theatre and acting scene for more than a decade in the UAE, AlMidfa — who has a master’s degree in film directing from the American Film Institute — is also interested in working behind the camera as much as she is performing in front of it.

“I would say acting comes more naturally to me. But the more I do production work, the more it sinks in as well. But it’s like a complete personality switch. So, you need to kind of figure out how to balance yourself when you switch from one to the other based on the project. So, I don’t mix them up too much — I don’t direct something and then act like back-to-back,” she said.

DUBAI: Lebanese designer Georges Chakra is making a splash at the ongoing 77th Cannes Film Festival and has so far dressed a number of stars on the red carpet.

Australian actress Claire Holt hit the red carpet before the premiere of Kevin Costner’s “Horizon: An American Saga” in an all-white gown by the designer.

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by GEORGES CHAKRA (@georgeschakraofficial)

The Georges Chakra Couture look was created from white satin and chiffon and featured pleated detailing across the hips and a dramatic chiffon shoulder train. The look hailed from the designer’s Spring/Summer 2024 collection.

Meanwhile, Tunisian actress Dorra Zarrouk attended the “Women in Cinema” gala dinner hosted by Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Festival in a white satin bustier gown with a satin cape encrusted with hand painted gold feathers from the label’s Fall/Winter 2023-2024 line.

Finally, Chinese actress and model Crystal Zhang chose a Georges Chakra Couture gold sequined gown with a draped veil from the Spring/Summer 2024 collection to attend the Marie Claire China event which took place on the sidelines of the festival.

Holt showed off her choice at the premiere of Costner’s latest film on Sunday. “Horizon: An American Saga” sees the director return to his favorite Western genre with a three-hour film that is just the first of four mooted chapters.

Costner put millions of dollars of his own fortune into the decades-long passion project.

“At a certain moment I just said OK, I'm going to do this myself. And so I mortgaged property, I raised the money,” he told AFP at the festival.

The early reviews were mixed, with The Hollywood Reporter deriding it as a “clumsy slog” while British newspaper The Telegraph said it was “earnest yet hopeful... (and) perhaps its full grandeur won't be fully realized until part two.”

Costner says he is unconcerned about risking his money.

“If they take it away from me, I still have my movie. I still have my integrity. I still listened to my heart,” he said.