Film festival season has begun in the Middle East, a new phenomenon that seems destined to open the floodgates of Middle Eastern theaters to films from around the world. The Middle Eastern International Film Festival in Abu Dhabi launched the season earlier this month but it coincided with the less hyped but similarly successful Beirut International Film Festival. In Abu Dhabi, this year's festival took a dramatic turn by focusing on regional films with enough international fare to keep its expat population queuing at the box office. It also focused on nurturing local filmmakers, a rare breed that the UAE is intent on making less rare. This week will see the Tribeca Film Festival in Doha in its inaugural event. Rather than a simple transplantation of the New York festival to Qatar, the festival will be top-heavy with films made in the Middle East. The Dubai International Film Festival rolls around in December and is expected to include a balanced fare of regional and international titles. The rash of film festivals is evidence of two trends in the Middle East: 1) countries in the region have an insatiable thirst for new movies and 2) the focus on regional productions means that filmmakers here are capable of making compelling fare while staying mostly within the cultural guidelines of the region. There are a number of young Saudis who have shown a comparable thirst for making movies. One even took home a significant cash prize presented by the Abu Dhabi Film Commission. As is the case with much of modernity, its advance is inexorable and must be embraced in order for a people to grow culturally in a healthy manner. Ignoring the obvious or attempting to explain it away with poorly constructed arguments results in the same repression that a human being faces when confronted by troubling thoughts or desires. Unless such tendencies are confronted reasonably and compassionately, the results can be devastating. The same can be said of a culture. __
