Narrative Feature Competition
Exciting and original storytelling from international filmmakers

99 Homes
Director: Ramin Bahrani, 2014 | 112min., USA | English
MENA Premiere
Desperate to save his family home, an unemployed construction worker (Andrew Garfield) joins an unscrupulous realtor (Michael Shannon) in the dirty business of foreclosing on the disenfranchised, in this enthralling and timely drama from acclaimed director Ramin Bahrani.

A Second Chance (En chance til)
Director: Susanne Bier, 2014 | 105min., Denmark | Danish, Swedish
MENA Premiere
A veteran police officer with a wife and a new baby makes a fateful decision when he comes into contact again with a pair of junkie parents in a morally complex drama from Susanne Bier, the Academy Award-winning director of In a Better World.

Black Coal, Thin Ice (Bai ri yan huo)
Director: Diao Yinan, 2014 | 106min., China, Hong Kong | Mandarin
MENA Premiere
The grisly discovery of several corpses in a Northern China town results in the dismissal of detective Zhang, who becomes determined to solve the case on his own. In this noirish thriller suffused with moral ambiguity, his attraction to a mysterious femme fatale puts his life in danger.

El Ott
Director: Ibrahim El-Batout, 2014 | 92min., Egypt, United Arab Emirates | Arabic
World Premiere
Egyptian gangster El Ott divorces his wife and leaves his family soon after his daughter is mysteriously abducted. He is in a race against time when he discovers that a notorious mobster has recently kidnapped street children from his neighbourhood in order to sell their organs.

Fevers (Fièvres)
Director: Hicham Ayouch, 2014 | 90min., Morocco, France, United Arab Emirates, Qatar | French
Middle East Premiere
Benjamin is at war with the world. In his 13 years, he has known only violence and foster homes. On the day his mother is sent to prison, Benjamin learns that he has a father and goes to live with him in the working-class suburbs of Paris.

Hill of Freedom (Jayuui Eondeok)
Director: Hong Sang-soo, 2014 | 66min., South Korea | English, Korean
MENA Premiere
A lovelorn Japanese man travels to Seoul to reunite with the woman he still yearns for, but she is gone, and they may never see each other again. A delightful tale of thwarted love told with the unique, gentle wit of Korean master Hong Sang-soo. In competition in Venice.

Hungry Hearts
Director: Saverio Costanzo, 2014 | 109min., Italy | English
MENA Premiere
Mina and Jude, a young married couple in New York, engage in a struggle over the life of their newborn child in this eerie, claustrophobic suspense drama with a shocking denouement. Winner, best actor and best actress awards at the Venice Film Festival.

La Sapienza
Director: Eugène Green, 2014 | 105min., France, Italy | French, Italian
MENA Premiere
A brilliant but bitterly disappointed architect seeks refuge and spiritual renewal by traveling to Italy to study the magnificent, spellbinding structures of his favorite architect Francesco Borromini. An encounter with a young would-be architect transforms the trip into an experience of self discovery and healing.

Leviathan
Director: Andrey Zvyagintsev, 2014 | 141min., Russia | Russian
MENA Premiere
In a village in Northern Russia Kolia runs his auto repair shop and enjoys the beautiful land that has surrounded him since birth. But he now must face off against powerful political boss Vadim, who covets his land and will stop at nothing to get it.

Memories on Stone (Bîranînêm li ser kevirî)
Director: Shawkat Amin Korki, 2014 | 97min., Iraq, Germany, Qatar | Kurdish, Arabic, Farsi
MENA Premiere
After the fall of Saddam, childhood friends Hussein and Alan decide to make a film about the genocide of Iraqi Kurds in 1988. To tell the truth and to come to terms with their own identity, it`s worth putting everything on the line, even their lives.

The Valley / Al Wadi (الوادي)
Director: Ghassan Salhab, 2014 | 135min.
Lebanon, France, Germany, Qatar, United Arab Emirates | Arabic
Narrative Competition Winner
After surviving a car crash on a lonely road in the middle of Lebanon's isolated Bekaa Valley, an amnesiac man finds himself held hostage in the tense, eerie atmosphere of a local farm that doubles as an illegal drug production facility.

Nobi (Fires on the Plain) (Nobi)
Director: Shinya Tsukamoto, 2014 | 87min., Japan | Japanese
MENA Premiere
Theiconic director of Tetsuo depicts the horrors of war to a hallucinatory degree perhaps never before seen on a movie screen.The story of agroup of Japanese soldiers lost on a Filipino island during WWIItakes on universal meaning and becomes astrong statement against all wars.

Return to Ithaca (Retour à Ithaque)
Director: Laurent Cantet, 2014 | 95min., France | Spanish
MENA Premiere
On a rooftop terrace overlooking Havana's famous oceanside boulevard, the Malecón, five friends gather to celebrate the return of an old pal. They reflect on their lives, experiences and unrealized dreams in this thoughtful character study. Awarded best film at Venice Days.

Tales (Ghesse-ha)
Director: Rakhshan Banietemad, 2014 | 88min., Iran | Farsi
MENA Premiere
Award-winning Iranian filmmaker Rakshan Banietemad ends her eight-year hiatus from feature filmmaking to make pointed remarks about the necessity of socially engaged cinema with this ingenious, mosaic-like narrative, which knits together the stories of seven characters to create a microcosm of Iranian working-class society.

Test (Ispytanie)
Director: Alexander Kott, 2014 | 95min., Russia | Without Dialogue
MENA Premiere
As part of a film crew with a secret mission, Maxim travels to Semipalatinsk, where he meets his first love. The young people do not know that soon they will be at the epicentre of world events, the test of a hydrogen bomb.

The Riot Club
Director: Lone Scherfig, 2014 | 107min., United Kingdom | English
MENA Premiere
A scion of privilege at Oxford University joins the notorious Riot Club, a secret society of ridiculously wealthy and entitled young men with a tradition of breaking all rules that dates back centuries, in a starkly critical drama about British class society.

Timbuktu
Director: Abderrahmane Sissako, 2014 | 100min., Mauritania, France, Qatar | Bambara, Arabic
MENA Premiere
Not far from Timbuktu, now ruled by a regime of terror imposed by the jihadists, Kidane lives peacefully with his family, spared the chaos that prevails in Timbuktu. But, following a tragic accident, his destiny changes, and he now must face the brutal laws of the occupiers.

New Horizons / Afaq Jadida Competition
Presenting a director's first or second feature film, fresh styles and challenging ideas in narrative work from around the world

Camp X-Ray
Director: Peter Sattler
USA | English
2014 | 117min.
MENA Premiere
A young soldier who joins the military to become part of something bigger than herself is sent to serve as a guard in the charged atmosphere of Guantanamo. Despite the intense hostility of the prisoners, an unexpected bond develops between her and a young Muslim detainee.

Corn Island (Simindis Kundzuli)
Director: George Ovashvili
Georgia, Germany, France, Czech Republic, Kazakhstan | Abkhazian, Georgian, Russian
2014 | 100min.
MENA Premiere
An old peasant and his innocent 16-year-old granddaughter sow corn on an island in the middle of the Inguri River dividing Georgia from Abkhazia. The intense bond between nature and the two individuals is disturbed, however, by the arrival of the border police.

Difret
Director: Zeresenay Mehari
Ethiopia | Amharic
2014 | 99min.
Eligible for Child Protection Award
MENA Premiere
A 14-year-old girl on her way home is kidnapped by men on horses. Hirut grabs a rifle and tries to escape, but ends up shooting her would-be husband. Her lawyer embarks on a collision course between enforcing civil authority and abiding by customary law to save Hirut's life.

Entangled (Hyeon-gi-jeung)
Director: Lee Don-ku
South Korea | Korean
2014 | 94min.
International Premiere
After the multi-awarded Fatal comes another deeply moving story from Lee Don-ku. A couple, living with the wife's mother and sister, finally has a baby after seven years of trying. But at the peak of happiness tragedy strikes, leaving them bewildered and incapable of coping with the events.

Exit
Director: Chienn Hsiang
Taiwan, Hong Kong | Mandarin
2014 | 94min.
MENA Premiere
With her family away, Ling is left to care for her mother-in-law in the hospital by herself. After discovering a man with a severe eye injury in the ward, she starts to look after him secretly in this nuanced portrayal of a woman's inner life.

From A to B
Director: Ali Mostafa
United Arab Emirates | Arabic, English
2014 | 108min.
World Premiere
Three childhood companions who have grown apart take a road trip from Abu Dhabi to Beirut in memory of a lost friend. If what happens en route does not make them crazy, it just might bring them closer. Directed by Emirati filmmaker Ali F. Mostafa.

In Her Place
Director: Albert Shin
South Korea, Canada | Korean
2014 | 115min.
Eligible for Child Protection Award
MENA Premiere
A mother and her teenaged daughter living on a rural farm in South Korea take in a mysterious woman from Seoul with the hopes of helping each other repair their damaged lives.

Labour of Love (Asha jaoar majhe)
Director: Adityavikram Sengupta
India | Bengali
2014 | 84min.
MENA Premiere
In the crumbling suburbs of Calcutta, modern alienation is explored with lyricism and tenderness in times of great economic duress. A husband and wife share the same house and an intense love for each other. But since she works by day and he by night, they almost never meet.

Magical Girl
Director: Carlos Vermut
Spain | Spanish
2014 | 127min.
MENA Premiere
A father wants to fulfill the last wish of his dying young daughter to buy a dress she sees on TV. His gesture sets off a spiral of blackmail, as instinct and reason struggle in a tragic battle that will keep you on the edge of your seat.
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New Horizons Competition Winner - Theeb
Director: Naji Abu Nowar
Jordan, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom |
2014 | 100min.
A young Bedouin lad, Theeb, must learn quickly from his older brother Hussein about adulthood, trust and betrayal when he is plunged into the dangerous world of Ottoman mercenaries, Arab revolutionaries and outcast Bedouin raiders in the Arabian Desert during World War I.

No One's Child (Ničije dete)
Director: Vuk Ršumović
Serbia, Croatia | Serbian
2014 | 97min.
Eligible for Child Protection Award
MENA Premiere
This fascinating true story centers on a feral boy whom hunters found living among wolves in a forest in the mountains of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the mid-1980s. A deeply touching story that raises questions about what it means to be human. Best Film at Venice International Film Critics' Week.

Sivas
Director: Kaan Müjdeci
Turkey, Qatar | Turkish
2014 | 97min.
Eligible for Child Protection Award
MENA Premiere
In the steppes of Eastern Turkey, Aslan, an 11-year-old boy, and Sivas, a weathered fighting dog, develop a strong relationahsip after Aslan finds Sivas wounded in a ditch, left to die. Aslan has a crush on a classmate, and Sivas may be the key to his success.

Stations of the Cross (Kreuzweg)
Director: Dietrich Brüggemann
Germany, France | German
2014 | 107min.
MENA Premiere
A fundamentalist Catholic, Maria, 14, aspires to sainthood. Nontraditional storytelling methods paint a deeply moving picture of sacrifice, devotion and faith as Maria leads her everyday life in the modern world while denying herself the comfort of earthly relationships.

The Drop
Director: Michaël Roskam
USA | English
2014 | 107min.
MENA Premiere
A lonely Brooklyn bartender finds himself at the center of a robbery gone awry and an investigation that digs deep into the neighborhood's past where friends, family and foes all work together to make a living, no matter the cost. With James Gandolfini.
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The Last Hammer Blow (Le Dernier coup de marteau)
Director: Alix Delaporte
France | French, Spanish
2014 | 83min.
MENA Premiere
A 14-year-old boy who lives with his mother in the south of France never knew his father. But when he finds out that his father, a symphony conductor, is rehearsing nearby with an orchestra, the boy is determined to meet him and create a relationship.

The Man from Oran (El Wahrani/L'Oranais)
Director: Lyès Salem
Algeria, France | French
2014 | 128min.
International Premiere
During the first euphoric years following the independence of Algeria, two close friends, Djaffar and Hamid, face a promising future. Over the decades, however, secrets and betrayal drive them apart. The second feature from Algerian director Lyès Salem (Masquerade).

The Silence of the Shepherd (Samt Al Rai)
Director: Raad Mushatat
Iraq | Arabic
2014 | 104min.
World Premiere
Thirteen-year-old Zahra, a villager in the south of Iraq during the Saddam era, mysteriously disappears one day when she goes to fetch water. Her father vows to find justice for his daughter, but the only person who knows what happened remains silent.

The Wonders (Le meraviglie)
Director: Alice Rohrwacher, 2014 | 111min., Italy, Switzerland, Germany | German, Italian
MENA Premiere
Winner of the Grand Jury Prize in Cannes, the film is a delicate portrait of the feelings of a teenage girl, the oldest daughter in a family of beekeepers, trapped between her desire to explore the world and what her bull-headed father thinks it's best for her and the family.

Theeb
Director: Naji Abu Nowar, 2014 | 100min., Jordan, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, United Kingdom |
MENA Premiere
A young Bedouin lad, Theeb, must learn quickly from his older brother Hussein about adulthood, trust and betrayal when he is plunged into the dangerous world of Ottoman mercenaries, Arab revolutionaries and outcast Bedouin raiders in the Arabian Desert during World War I.

Whiplash
Director: Damien Chazelle, 2013 | 105min., USA | English
MENA Premiere
A young musician who dreams of greatness is desperate to be accepted by the best teacher at school. The pressure of success builds to a blistering climax under the ruthless direction of his music instructor who forces him to pursue perfection at any cost-even his humanity. Best Film at Sundance.

Documentary Feature Competition
Nonfiction films that explore remarkable stories and issues in the world around us

20,000 Days on Earth
Director: Jane Pollard, Iain Forsyth
United Kingdom | English
2014 | 95min.
MENA Premiere
Drama and reality combine in a fictitious 24 hours in the life of musician and cultural icon Nick Cave. With startling insights and an intimate portrayal of the artistic process, the film examines what makes us who we are and celebrates the transformative power of the creative spirit.

Cain's Children (Káin gyermekei)
Director: Marcell Gerő
Hungary, France | Hungarian
2014 | 90min.
Eligible for Child Protection Award
MENA Premiere
Their faces are angelic, yet they have killed. Documentarian Marcell Gerö looks for three Hungarian boys who have all committed murder in the past. They have paid for their crimes, but today, with the mark of Cain on their forehead, they struggle to find a place in society.

Dior and I
Director: Frédéric Tcheng
France | English, French
2014 | 90min.
MENA Premiere
A behind-the-scenes look at the storied world of the Christian Dior fashion house follows the creation of Raf Simons' first collection as artistic director. Melding the pressure-filled demands of fashion with echoes from the glamorous past, this is an homage to a dedicated group of collaborators.

Next Goal Wins / Documentary Competition Winner
Director: Mike Brett, Steve Jamison
United Kingdom | English, Samoan
2014 | 97min.
Having scored only twice in 17 years and declared the worst football team on the planet, American Samoa faces the daunting prospect of qualifying for the World Cup. A new coach has just one month to transform this ragtag band of losers. A must-see, not only for football junkies.

The Wanted 18 / Documentary Competition Winner
Director: Paul Cowan, Amer Shomali, 2014 | 75min., Canada, France, Palestine, United Arab Emirates | Arabic, Hebrew, English
International Premiere
In a true story from the first Palestinian Intifada, a group of Palestinians starts a collective dairy to produce "Intifada milk,' but the Israeli army orders the farm's closure after declaring the cows to be a "threat to national security.'

Echo of the Mountain (Eco de la montaña)
Director: Nicolás Echevarría
Mexico | Spanish
2014 | 91min.
MENA Premiere
Despite having created a renowned mural for the Paris metro, Mexican artist Santos de la Torre lives in oblivion in his own country. Echevarría follows him as he creates a new mural that illustrates the mythology of the Huichol people. An engrossing journey into a culture which is about to disappear.

Iraqi Odyssey (Al Odyssa al Iraqiya)
Director: Samir
Iraq, Switzerland, Germany, United Arab Emirates | Arabic, English, German
2014 | 162min.
MENA Premiere
This 3-D documentary adventure tells the story of the director's immigrant family who traveled for half a century. They recall dreams that were crushed by the horrors of dictatorship and paint a portrait of Iraq in the 1950s and'60s when art, education and culture flourished.

Marmato
Director: Mark Grieco
Colombia, USA | English, Spanish
2014 | 88min.
Eligible for Our World
MENA Premiere
Colombia is the center of a new global gold rush, and Marmato, a historic mining town, is the new frontier. Filmed over the course of nearly six years, Marmato chronicles how the townspeople confront a Canadian mining company that wants the $20 billion in gold beneath their homes.

National Diploma (Examen d'état)
Director: Dieudo Hamadi
Congo, France | Lingala, French
2014 | 92min.
Middle East Premiere
A group of Congolese high school students prepares to take the exam for their National Diploma. But teachers have been on strike and they do not have the money for private tutoring. They resort to the most extravagant ways to get the yearned-for diploma.

Pirates of Salé
Director: Merieme Addou, Rosa Rogers
Morocco, United Kingdom, France, United Arab Emirates | Arabic, French
2014 | 78min.
Eligible for Child Protection Award
World Premiere
On the edge of Morocco's poorest slums, a new circus is transforming young lives. The magical world of Cirque Shems'y is seen through the eyes of teenage acrobats, aerialists and entertainers who toil under a perfectionist director and for the first time find meaning in their lives.

Point and Shoot
Director: Marshall Curry
USA | English
2014 | 82min.
MENA Premiere
US citizen Matt Dykes made the news worldwide when in 2011 he was imprisoned in Libya as a member of a revolutionary group. From the two-time Oscar-nominated Marshal Curry comes the engrossing story of a man who became a revolutionary to protect his friends. Best Documentary, Tribeca Film Festival.

Queens of Syria
Director: Yasmin Fedda
Lebanon, Jordan, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates | Arabic
2014 | 60min.
World Premiere
Yasmin Fedda documents a group of Syrian refugee women in Jordan as they put on their own updated, Arabic version of Euripides' ancient Greek play about defeat and exile, The Trojan Women, dramatizing the uncanny parallels with the fate of refugees from Syria today.

Return to Homs (Al Awda ila Homs)
Director: Talal Derki
Syria, Germany | Arabic
2014 | 90min.
MENA Premiere
This extraordinary film dives into the primal reality of the Syrian resistance. The 19-year-old national team goalkeeper becomes a demonstration leader and singer. He and a 24-year-old renowned cameraman scuttle through the ghost town leading a circle of brave but inexperienced insurgents.

Sounds of the Sea (Sawt Al Bahar)
Director: Nujoom Al Ghanem
United Arab Emirates | Arabic
2014 | 93min.
World Premiere
A famous old sea singer wishes to cross Umm Al Quwain Creek on a fishing boat for the last time and sing one of his folklore songs to the fishermen. His children think he is too old to make the trip safely, but a close friend helps him accomplish his dream.

The Look of Silence (Senyap)
Director: Joshua Oppenheimer
Denmark, Finland, Indonesia, Norway, United Kingdom | Indonesian, Javanese
2014 | 98min.
MENA Premiere
The brother of a victim of 1965 genocide in Indonesia confronts his killers. This companion piece to the Oscar-nominated 2013 documentary The Act of Killing tracks down aging members of the civilian militia who carried out the slaughter of a million suspected communists after the Suharto coup.

Um Ghayeb (Mother of the Unborn) (Um ghayeb)
Director: Nadine Salib
Egypt, United Arab Emirates | Arabic
2014 | 95min.
World Premiere
In the isolated South of Egypt, Hanan has been unsuccessfully trying to get pregnant for over 12 years and has now become stigmatized as the "mother of the unborn.' Director Nadine Salib explores the maze of backward prejudices that treat women like her as victims of fate.

Virunga
Director: Orlando Von Einsiedel
United Kingdom, Congo | English, French, Swahili
2014 | 97min.
Eligible for Our World
MENA Premiere
In the forested depths of eastern Congo lies Virunga National Park, home to the last of the mountain gorillas, where a small, embattled team of park rangers tries to protect the site from armed militia, poachers and those who seek to control Congo's rich natural resources.

Short Film Competition
Inspired narrative, documentary and animated short films by emerging and established international filmmakers

Abderrahman
Director: Elias Sfaxi
France | French
2013 | 20min.
MENA Premiere
Abn has just turned 63. Retirement is approaching fast. A small neighbourhood clothing designer, he has been working 60-hour weeks for more than 30 years. But when his childhood friend Larbi resurfaces, all of Abn's plans suddenly become uncertain.

BÄR
Director: Pascal Flörks
Germany | German
2014 | 8min.
International Premiere
A grandchild recounts his grandfather's difficult past and the burden of his own inheritance. Grandpa's past was always very present. It would break through in something he would say or do, but he'd never talk about it. Only now, by revisiting his life and personality, is the weight of his inheritance felt.

Bath House (Simhall)
Director: Niki Lindroth Von Bahr
Sweden | Swedish
2014 | 15min.
MENA Premiere
Six animals meet at the swimming pool. The horse is the pool manager, a dedicated, conscientious friend of order. Over the years the premises have become her whole world. Two wolves come to the pool to bathe. Their relationship is hard to define, but one wolf constantly wields power over the other. Three mice also visit the pool, but they have a different agenda altogether.

Dear Hassan (Cher Hassan)
Director: Axel Salvatori-Sinz
France | English
2014 | 4min.
MENA Premiere
Syria, Yarmouk. Lost in Paris, I'm trying to remember what Syria was before the revolution. Specially about Yarmouk, a Palestinian refugee camp where my friend Hassan was living before being killed under torture by the regime.

Desire
Director: Hala Matar
Bahrain, USA | English
2014 | 17min.
MENA Premiere
A director tries to manipulate his actors into committing a crime on set. He takes revenge on an actress he desires by getting her boyfriend to kill her on set with a loaded gun.

Dinosaurs Don't Live Here Anymore (Los dinosaurios ya no viven aquí)
Director: Miguel Ángel Pérez Blanco
Spain | Spanish
2013 | 25min.
MENA Premiere
Juan is driving while Elisa sleeps by his side. On the back seat is Blues, their Labrador dog. Tonight they will rest at home. They pull off the road near a forest just to stretch their legs, to talk about the dream she had and to let Blues run a little bit.

Father (Père)
Director: Lotfi Achour
Tunisia | Arabic
2014 | 16min.
World Premiere
Hedi, a taxi driver in Tunis, takes a young pregnant woman about to give birth one evening. This brief encounter brought about by a series of funny and tragic accidents will change the course of his life. This story is inspired by a news item which appeared in Tunisia few years ago.

Ghosts in the Factory (Les fantomes de l'usine Sten)
Director: Brahim Fritah
France | French
2014 | 8min.
International Premiere
You sweep, you throw bins, you wipe the tables. Do ghosts dream? Do they remember?

I Exist (Ana Maojoud)
Director: Ahmed Abdelnaser
Qatar, Egypt, Syria | Arabic
2014 | 10min.
Eligible for Child Protection Award
MENA Premiere
Syrians and their children displaced after their homes and schools were destroyed are seen in refugee camps. They have spent three years living on the border.

Jennah
Director: Meryem Benm'Barek-Aloïsi
Belgium, Morocco | French
2014 | 18min.
MENA Premiere
Jennah is a testament to womanhood as it chronicles the transition of a girl into womanhood. With only her mother to model herself after, Jennah is caught between following in her footsteps and looking for a father figure. What she ultimately finds is that the bond between mother and daughter always prevails.

Koshk
Director: Abdulla Al Kaabi
United Arab Emirates | Farsi
2014 | 13min.
World Premiere
While carrying a heavy load of wood, a lonely old woman who is waiting for her son's return faints and is awakened by a traveller who resembles her son. She invites him to her tent and goes to fetch him some food. When she returns, she finds that her kindness has been repaid with theft.

Las Luces
Director: Manuel Abramovich, Juan Renau
Argentina |
2014 | 6min.
World Premiere
Every Christmas, Jorge and Jorge Jr. decorate their house in a special way. The people in the village call it The House of the Lights.

Love in the Time of March Madness
Director: Robertino Zambrano, Melissa Johnson
Australia, USA | English
2014 | 9min.
MENA Premiere
A tall short about a woman looking for love. Melissa Johnson reached the height of 6'4'' in eighth grade. Although this made her an instant basketball star, Love In the Time of March Madness follows her misadventures in romance as she dates shorter men and gets cheered or jeered wherever she goes.

Me + Her
Director: Joseph Oxford
USA |
2014 | 11min.
MENA Premiere
In a world far, far away, exists the tiny city of Cardboard. Normally a bright and happy place, Cardboard City is now dark because of the passing of Jane Cardboard. The day her cardboard remains were laid to rest in the recycling bin, the entire town shut down. At her funeral no one was sadder than the love she left behind: Jack Cardboard.

Model Village (Village Modele)
Director: Hayoun Kwon
France | English, Korean
2014 | 10min.
MENA Premiere
Model Village is loosely inspired by a North Korean propaganda village, Kijong-dong. Hayoun Kwon invites us into a fictional, carrying out the journey by proxy. The film testifies to this ghost town in its true state as a mechanism of fiction. The reality of a border confronted with its staging. This village can only be reached with our imagination.

Moneta
Director: Jad Dani Ali Hassan
Lebanon | Arabic
2014 | 32min.
World Premiere
A chronic alcoholic who constantly blacks out investigates an unusual microcassette to figure out how he spent the last five hours leading up to Christmas. Once he realizes that he committed a serious crime, he does everything he can to hide and repress his wrongdoings from his friend. Even murder.

Pacifier & Blowpipe
Director:. Broncos,. Broncos
Spain | English
2013 | 13min.
MENA Premiere
O'Neil and George, two young film lovers, have planned a robbery to finance their next movie. When their plan goes wrong, they take refuge in a diner. Minutes after their arrival two deputy sheriffs show up. At this point a George Michael lookalike will force everyone to come up with new plans, theories and face a life or death situation.

Rabbit
Director: Laure De Clermont-Tonnerre
USA, France | English
2014 | 17min.
MENA Premiere
A therapist working in tandem with a correctional facility's Pet Partnership Program-a model for the nation in the area of the rehabilitation of female offenders-entrusts a small white rabbit to a seemingly disinterested female prisoner. If the inmate is capable of taking proper care to look after the animal, her sentence may be slightly reduced.

Storm Hits Jacket (Tempete sur anorak)
Director: Paul Cabon
France | French
2014 | 13min.
MENA Premiere
A storm reaches the shores of Brittany. As nature goes crazy, two young scientists get caught up in the chaos. Espionage, romantic tensions and mysterious events clash with enthusiasm and randomness.

The Baby (La bambina (Bache))
Director: Ali Asgari
Iran, Italy |
2014 | 15min.
Eligible for Child Protection Award
MENA Premiere
Narges and her friend have just a few hours to find someone to take care of her baby for a few days.

The Bionic Girl (La Fille Bionique)
Director: Stéphanie Cabdevila
France | French
2014 | 14min.
World Premiere
A researcher creates a clone who will swap places with her and grapple with the outside world.

The Man with a Dog (Moul lkelb (L'homme au chien))
Director: Kamal Lazraq
France | Arabic
2014 | 27min.
MENA Premiere
Youssef lives as a secluded outcast. His sole friend is his dog, Chagadai. One evening at the beach, the dog disappears. In order to find him back, Youssef must engage in a dangerous quest through Casablanca's slums.

Xenos
Director: Mahdi Fleifel
Denmark, Greece, United Kingdom | Arabic
2014 | 12min.
Gulf Premiere
Xenos: (Greek) stranger, enemy, alien.

Young Americans
Director: Kevin Lacy
USA | English
2014 | 29min.
International Premiere
First love. First kiss. First bank robbery. On the verge of aging out of foster care, 17-year-old Mercedes Harper needs money, and she needs it now. She manipulates Denver Thomas, a former high school classmate with a massive crush on her, into helping her plan a bank robbery.

Emirates Film Competition presented by Dolphin Energy
Short films from established directors and new discoveries from the United Arab Emirates and GCC countries Juries of esteemed film professionals convene to present the Festival's Black Pearl Awards to films in each competition category

Showcase
A selection of recent outstanding feature films from around the world Audience members cast votes to select the Audience Choice Award winner from this programme

Special Programs
ADFF's wide range of Special Programmes celebrate the joys of cinema past and present


Winners 2014

NARRATIVE FILM COMPETITION

Black Pearl Award: LEVIATHAN directed by Andrey Zvyagintsev
Special Jury Award: TEST directed by Alexander Kott
Best Actor: ALEXEY SEREBRYAKOV from the film LEVIATHAN directed by Andrey Zvyagintsev
Best Actress: MARIA BONNEVIE from the film A SECOND CHANCE directed by Susanne Bier
Best Film from the Arab World: MEMORIES ON STONE directed by Shawkat Amin Korki
Best Director from the Arab World: GHASSAN SALHAB director of The Valley
Special Jury Mention: TIMBUKTU directed by Abderrahmane Sissako

DOCUMENTARY FILM COMPETITION

Black Pearl Award: VIRUNGA directed by Orlando Von EinsiedelFor
Special Jury Award: NEXT GOAL WINS directed by Mike Brett &Steve Jamison
Best Documentary from the Arab World: THE WANTED 18 directed by Amer Shomali & Paul Cowan
Best Director from the Arab World: YASMIN FEDDA director of QUEENS OF SYRIA
Special Jury Mention: RETURN TO HOMS directed by Talal Derki

NEW HORIZONS COMPETITION

Black Pearl Award: THE WONDERS directed by Alice Rohrwacher
Special Jury Award: STATIONS OF THE CROSS directed by Dietrich Brüggemann
Best Actor: Doğan Ïzci from the film SIVAS directed by Kaan MüjdeciFor
Best Actress: Yoon Da-kyung from the film IN HER PLACE directed by Albert Shin
Best Film from the Arab World: THEEB directed by Naji Abu Nowar
Best Director from the Arab World: LYÈS SALEM director of THE MAN FROM ORAN
Special Jury Mention: LABOUR OF LOVE directed by AdityaVikramSengupta

CHILD PROTECTION AWARD
Child Protection Award for Best Film: IN HER PLACE directed by Albert Shin
Child Protection Award for Best Script: Kaan Müjdeci for SIVAS directed by Kaan Müjdeci
Special Mention: Actor DENIS MURIĆ in the film NO ONE'S CHILD directed by Vuk Ršumović

FIPRESCI
FIPRESCI AWARD for Best Narrative Film: THEEB directed by Naji Abu Nowar
FIPRESCI AWARD for Best Documentary: UM GHAYEB (MOTHER OF THE UNBORN) directed by Nadine Salib

NETPAC AWARD for Best Asian Film
IRAQI ODYSSEY directed by Samir

AUDIENCE AWARD 2014
THE SALT OF THE EARTH directed by Wim Wenders & Juliano Ribeiro Salgado

ADFF 2014 Honours Rachid Bouchareb, Edward Pressman With Career Achievement Awards