A Choice Of Childrens Films And Powerful Social Commentaries Today At Gulf Film Festival

The second day of the fourth Gulf Film Festival, today (Friday, April 15, 2011) gives reason enough for a fun family outing with the little ones, as the festival screens a selection of ‘Cinema for Children’ as well as compelling social commentaries that will appeal to the serious movie-goers. Later in the night, join for the first ‘Gulf Nights’ session where film makers and industry veterans interact with the audience for a stimulating discussion.

The Festival, held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Majid Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Dubai Culture & Arts Authority (Dubai Culture), is screening 153 films from 31 nations until April 20. Today, a choice of over 50 films awaits audiences, who can watch them for free at Grand Cinemas in Dubai Festival City.

Among the compelling views of the day is the feature film, Al Raheel Min Baghdad (Leaving Baghdad), to be screened at 9.30 pm at Grand Cinemas 8. The Emirati-UK-Iraqi production, directed by Koutaiba Al Janabi, is a road movie shot in Iraq, the UK and Hungary, following Sadik, the personal cameraman to Saddam Hussein. Sadik is trying to escape the grip of the regime, being pushed from country to country by events around him, and smugglers and crooks on his journey.

There are nine fascinating tales screening today in the ‘Cinema for Children’ segment at 2.45 pm at Grand Cinemas 7. The films from France, US, Canada, Switzerland, Taiwan, Brazil and Greece will appeal to all cross-sections of audiences, and together have a running time of only 73 minutes.

The selection in ‘Cinema for Children’ include the globally acclaimed Fly Me Out directed by Li Qian, Fabrice Lau-Tim-Ling, and Florence Bichon from Taiwan; the award-winning Aleksandr by Remy Dereux, Maxime Hibon, and Juliette Klauser from France, and the Swiss production Ronaldo, directed by Jan Mettler, an action adventure focused on a boy who dreams of being a great soccer star, among others.

In the Intersections segment, today, at 6.30 pm at Grand Cinemas 9, watch the entry from Cameroon, The Cassava Metaphor directed by Lionel Meta about a cab driver who picks up a passenger from hell. Another acclaimed entry is the Spanish film, Fabrica De Munecas (Dolls Factory), directed by Ainhoa Menéndez Goyoaga about Anna whose life revolves around performing mechanical motions to put eyes into dolls at a factory.

In addition to a selection of documentaries and shorts that are competing for the top honours at the festival, GFF 2011 today will also screen a cross-section of International Shorts. Audiences can also watch a selection of films from the GCC region in the Lights segment.

The Gulf Film Festival box office is open from 10.30 am to 10 pm daily at the Grand Cinemas Dubai Festival City. All patrons are welcome to up to two tickets per person on a first-come, first-served basis. The full schedule of films is also available online at www.gulffilmfest.com.

GFF 2011 is being held at the InterContinental Hotel, Crowne Plaza and Grand Cinemas at Dubai Festival City. The festival is supported by Dubai Culture & Arts Authority and is held in association with Dubai Studio City. More details on the festival are available online at www.gulffilmfest.com.
 

International Character Shows To Brighten Childrens Eid

With only days left for Eid Al Fitr celebrations to kick-off, the Dubai Events and Promotions Establishment is bringing extraordinary international character shows for children during ‘Eid in Dubai’. Organised for free this Eid, the shows will be held in select malls across the city.

Visitors can ready to welcome two of the best -loved characters on to the stage this Eid: Ben 10 and Hello Kitty. Ben 10 features a twenty-five minute live stunt action show incorporating spectacular graphics and a chance for children to see Ben Tennyson, Four Arms, and Wildmutt in action. Hello Kitty, Dear Daniel, and My Melody get together for a musical performance in the Hello Kitty show.

To add to the festive spirit, popular dinosaur Barney joins Baby Bop and BJ for yet another scintillating show titled Barney’s Beach Party. The show is free and followed by a ‘meet and greet’ session. Popular children’s television programme Lazy Town also takes the stage to enthrall children. To emphasize the spirit of Eid and to spread the feelings of joy and festivity, all shows are being staged by the Dubai Events and Promotions Establishment for free.

The Shows
Ben 10 – Mirdif City Centre
(02:35pm, 04:55pm, 07:00pm, 09:05pm) (First three days of Eid Al Fitr)
Ben Tennyson travels across the country with his fun-loving and tough-as-nails Grandpa Max and his 10-year-old smarty-pants and snooty Cousin Gwen. Ben discovers a strange alien device in a crashed meteorite that immediately attaches itself to his wrist. Ben realizes that by using the watch he can transform into ten different alien superheroes each with unique powers and abilities all while keeping his 10-year-old personality. Ben uses his new abilities to fight against wrongs, save the world and occasionally get into some kid-style trouble. Watch the 25-minute live action show featuring spectacular multimedia and an exclusive meet and greet session after each show.

Hello Kitty – Mirdif City Centre
(03:20pm, 05:35pm, 07:40pm, 09:45pm) (First three days of Eid Al Fitr)
Join Hello Kitty, Dear Daniel, and My Melody in a scintillating musical for children this Eid. Watch them perform your favourite Hello Kitty songs in addition to a chance to meet and greet the adorable characters.

Freej Show – Mirdif City Centre
(02:00pm, 04:15pm, 08:30pm, 10:30pm) (Sep 9th – Sep 13th)
Mirdif City Centre will come alive with live mini stage shows of the popular UAE animation series Freej from September 9th to the 13th. Freej is a 3D animated series produced in the UAE that follows the tale of four old Emirati women living in a secluded neighbourhood in modern day Dubai.

The show’s main characters; Um Saeed, Um Saloom, Um Allawi and Um Khammas try to live a peaceful life in the midst of the ever-expanding city around them, but the city’s boom unveils new social issues every day that they have to solve in their own simple way.

Barney’s Beach Party (Mall of the Emirates)
(05:00pm, 06:00pm, 07:00pm, 09:00pm) (First three days of Eid Al Fitr)
The adorable purple dinosaur Barney joins Baby Bop and BJ in a musical titled Barney’s Beach Party. Barney and friends take a fun-filled educational trip to the sea and indulge in sail-boating, flying kites, hunting shells, and building sandcastles. Don’t forget to sing along with Barney and don’t miss Barney’s Hula Dance.

Lazytown (Airport Expo Dubai)
(04:30pm, 06:00pm, 07:15pm, 09:00pm) (First three days of Eid Al Fitr)
Lazytown features Stephanie, an optimistic girl with bright pink hair, who comes to live in Lazytown and meets a whole lot of different people, including Robbie Rotten – the world’s laziest super-villain. The show also features Spartacus – an athletic and super-fit super-hero who saves the town from Robbie’s evil schemes.
 

Dubai Culture Inaugurates Children’s Art Exhibition

Saeed Al Nabouda, Acting Director-General of the Dubai Culture & Arts Authority (Dubai Culture) inaugurates the ‘More than Art 2010’ exhibition, held recently at the Marsam Mattar gallery in Dubai.

The exhibition displayed the work of 80 children who are taking part in the ‘Kids Art’ programme this summer.

Established in 2003, Marsam Mattar is a local gallery that aims to highlight and promote Emirati talent.
 

Children’s Fashion Takes The Ramp As DSS 2010 Kids Fashion Week Begins

Kids Fashion Week, a signature event of DSS that brings some of the renowned names in children’s fashion to the ramp, kicked off on Sunday, August 1, at Deira City Centre, a member of MAF Properties that is a key sponsor of DSS 2010. The week-long event was officially opened by Laila Suhail, CEO of Dubai Events and Promotions Establishment, and attended by officials from Deira City Centre.

To be held till August 7, the week-long event features the latest trends in international children’s fashion. The shows will be held at 6:30pm everyday.

Kids Fashion Week this year features themed shows that will be showcased on the ramp through the combined collections of various participating brands. Brands for this year include A2Z, Sanrio, Zara Kids, Stadium, Okaidi, Woolworths, United Colors of Bennetton, Carnival 4 All, and Classy Style.

Around 30 young models for Kids Fashion Week were groomed for the ramp by fashion specialists in an intensive three-week fashion training camp. Extensive rehearsals were conducted for the children covering various aspects of fashion including make-up, the catwalk, and fashion accessories. Dubai-resident children from India, Philippines, United Kingdom, Sudan, Kazhakstan, Norway, Syria, Jordan, the US, Pakistan, Kyrgyz Republic, Azerbaijan, Australia, and the UAE, will add to a fashion event with a multi-cultural feel to it.

The opening day of Kids Fashion will be the first ramp experience for many of the participating models whose ages range between 5 and 10. Another highlight of this year’s event is the ‘Create Your Look’ competition where parents will design clothes for their children and these designs will be judged for the Best Summer Outfit.
 

e-junior Celebrates The Magic Of Haq Al Lailah With Dubai Children’s City

e-junior, the exclusive UAE kids channel from E-Vision, had a grand celebration on the occasion of Haq Al Lailah with hundreds of kids getting together with e-junior officials at Dubai Children’s City to experience the joy of this wonderful tradition.

Prior to the event, e-junior had organized a creative art contest where it had requested kids to give full rein to their creativity and design their own hand made candy bags using recycled material. All kids were then requested to bring their individually designed handmade bags to the e-junior Haq Al Lailah event, where the best bags won e-junior goodies and sponsored vouchers from Candylicious, a Dubai based candy store.

Making it a truly memorable day for all the kids who attended, e-junior also organized a candy race with loads of goodies being won by the winners. The kids also got the chance to meet some of their favourite cartoon characters “Dana & Friends” & “Murshid” at the event. They sang along with them and also got their pictures taken with these cartoon characters. On the occasion, the kids also participated in a fashion show contest comprising of traditional UAE national dresses.

“For e-junior, the magic of Haq Al Lailah is a great occasion to get together with kids and help them enjoy the festival to the fullest,” said Fatiha Bensalem, Manager, e-junior. “It’s a wonderful opportunity for kids here to connect with their roots and U.A.E traditions while having fun. At e-junior, we look forward to many more happy occasions like these in order to play an integral part in the lives of our loyal fan base. ”

She added,” We would also like to take this opportunity to thank our sponsors-Dubai Children’s City, Candylicious, Mamy Snacks, Tiffany and Unikai for making this such a successful and fun-filled event for kids.”

Haq Al Lailah which literally means “For this Night” is a cultural festival in the UAE and across GCC 15 days prior to the holy month of Ramadan, where kids wear traditional dresses and go around to people’s houses asking for candies and treats.
 

Dubai Launches Children’s Council Of The City

Dubai Municipality in cooperation with the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) on Sunday launched Children’s Council of the City. The Council, which will have 26 members, will elect a chairman, a deputy chairman and the council rapporteur from among the members.

The council is being formed to discuss the various problems related to children such as children’s amenities like safe passages, playgrounds, the extend of the provision of centres for developing children’s physical and knowledge capabilities, as well as the care given to special needs children while planning buildings.

The council will also take care of the role of children in enhancing the urban face of the Emirate of Dubai by activating their role in the fields of maintaining cleanliness, protecting public properties, reducing environmental pollution and taking care of architectural heritage, in addition to the participation of children in spreading awareness on health and environment related issues, ways to strengthen national identity and Islamic values, which should become the face of the children’s behaviour, children’s libraries all over the emirate, children’s sports schools and their requirements, children’s parks and the extend of providing recreational facilities suitable for different age groups.

"We want the participation of our children in the decision making process for the development projects of the emirate," said Eng. Hussain Nasser Lootah, Director General of Dubai Municipality.

"We are keen to ensure their role in all spheres of life as well as all the activities undertaken by the Municipality such as planning infrastructure facilities, environment, engineering projects, buildings, parks, recreational centres etc.," he said.

Lootah said the Municipality is keen to project the children’s pioneering role in building the future by launching the initiative of Children’s Council of the City.

He said a number of meetings and discussions will be arranged for the children with the officials to raise their issues, in addition to a number of meetings with other bodies inside as well as outside the Emirate of Dubai as per the needs and plans.

Lootah added a separate web page will be developed for the Council on the Municipality portal where children can log in a post their suggestions regarding any issues, which will be taken up for discussion as per the importance.

Fatema Ghanem Al Marri, CEO of the School Agency in the KHDA, hoped that the initiative will be a success and other emirates will follow the example.

"We are trying to create a student community, who are not just for writing examinations, but, are socially committed and take up the responsibilities of participating in the decision making process," she said, adding that it is important to give social education to the children.

Al Marri said that the partnership between Dubai Municipality and KHDA has become stronger after this initiative and it will give an opportunity for all to work hand in hand for the betterment of the future generation.

She also hoped that in the end the Children’s Council of the City will speak the true voice of the children in the emirate of Dubai.

Noora Salem Al Shamsi delivered the speech on behalf of the students. A group of students present on the occasion also cleared their doubts over the proposed council.

The Municipality and KHDA will form an Advisory Group to take care of the children’s issues and to help them raise their questions in the discussions in order to increase the activities of the Children’s Council of the City.

The Advisory Group will supervise all activities of the Children’s Council of the City, develop appropriate programmes as per the issues, formulate suitable plans and follow up their implementation, provide the necessary resources to stimulate children to launch innovative ideas, review and assess the questions posed by children and work out appropriate questions to follow-up and make sure children participate positively in the Council, prepare half-yearly reports on the status of the Council and the ensure the maximum participation of children, encourage children to conduct research on issues and develop creative proposals, coordinate for inviting whoever suitable within the Municipality to discuss issues in meetings of the Council or conduct any visits suitable to external bodies.

The Children’s Council of the City shall hold its meetings at the invitation of its Chairman or the Advisory Group and the meetings shall be valid if attended by the majority of the members of the Council and the Advisory Group. There should be the Chairman of the Council or Deputy Chairman. The Council shall take its recommendations unanimously or by majority vote of members present, and in the case of a tie it shall be decided by the Chairman’s vote.

The task of the Rapporteur of the Council includes inviting the members of the Council and the Advisory Group to attend the meetings, preparing their agendas, taking minutes of the meetings, following up the implementation of its recommendations, as well as performing any other functions that shall be assigned by the Chairman of the Council or the Advisory Group.

The time and place of the meetings and the method of work of the Council shall be decided by the Chairman or the Advisory Group. There shall be at least two meetings a year and the period of the meetings could be changed as and when necessary.

The task of following up the recommendations of the Council is vested with the Partnership Department of Dubai Municipality in coordination with all relevant authorities.

It shall be the responsibility of the heads of organizational units in Dubai Municipality to provide facilities and support necessary for the Council to ensure effective and efficient implementation of its objectives.

The student members of the Council shall be entitled to some benefits. The students shall have an active role in taking up all the issues that are raised in the Council to the students in schools to ensure the exchange of practical and comprehensive benefit for the schools of Dubai.

During the summer period every student member of the Council shall conduct research on several issues related to children and prepare proposals containing a simplified study of the issues and a set of questions that are seen important by the member so that it could be discussed with the Advisory Group to raise them during the regular meeting of the Council.
 

African Children’s Choir To Bring The Voice Of Africa To Dubai This DSS In Its First Show In The Middle East

The African Children’s Choir, an ambassador for Africa’s neediest, most vulnerable children, will perform in Dubai for the first time in the Middle East this DSS from July 21 to August 3. The Choir shows the world that its members, like the millions of abandoned and traumatized children in Africa, have beauty, dignity and unlimited potential. The first show will be held in Dubai Festival City, a key sponsor of DSS 2009, on July 21 and July 22 at 6pm, 7:30pm, and 9pm.

In 1984, in the midst of Uganda’s civil war, human rights activist Ray Barnett was called on to help the many thousands of orphaned and starving children, abandoned and helpless to feed and protect themselves. Realizing the enormity of the task Ray and his team came up with a unique approach. The only way to make a meaningful difference was to impact the lives of these children, one child at a time.

"Inspired by the singing of one small boy, we formed the first African Children’s Choir to show the world that Africa’s most vulnerable children have beauty, dignity and unlimited ability,” said Ray.

Laila Suhail, Chief Executive Officer of DSF Office said, “We are delighted to bring the African Children’s Choir to Dubai Summer Surprises as the values that the group espouses are those that Dubai Summer Surprises supports and encourages. This unique choir will not only entertain visitors this DSS but put forth a clear message to audiences.”

To date over seven hundred vulnerable children have been through the Choir program and the funds they have generated have provided the opportunity of education and hope for many thousands like them in some of the most desperate and needy areas of Africa.

Choir Training
Children selected to tour spend approximately five months at the Choir Training Academy in Kampala, Uganda. Here the children learn the songs and dances, attend school, play and attend Sunday School at a local church.

It is at the Choir Training Academy where the real life-changing work of the African Children’s Choir™ can be seen. The children’s personalities and talents emerge like never before as they settle into their new routine with the knowledge that they are loved and cared for.

As they come from some of the most needy families, the African Children’s Choir™ is committed to helping Choir children physically, spiritually, emotionally and academically, giving each child an opportunity to reach their potential. After returning to Africa, the African Children’s Choir™ provides care and education that builds on the unique international exposure the children experienced abroad. The children receive a quality education, leadership training and spiritual ministry at the Music for Life Primary School in Kampala, or at other well-equipped schools in their respective countries.

The African Children’s Choir™ will perform in Arabian Centre on July 23 and 24, at Modhesh World on July 25 and 26, Deira City Centre on July 27 and 28, The Dubai Mall on July 29 and 30, Dubai Marina Mall on July 31 and Aug 1, and Mercato on Aug 2 and Aug 3.

Show timings are 6:00pm / 07:30pm / 09:00pm from Saturdays to Wednesday, and 06:30pm / 08:00pm / 09:30pm on Thursday and Fridays.