The 14th Dubai International Film Festival kicked off on December 6 at the Madinat Jumeirah hotel complex. Boasting 140 films from 51 nations, the fest has a strong Indian and South Asian presence. After winning the Best Actor Award at Star Screen Awards, the unstoppable Irrfan Khan who does not blend in but stands out in Bollywood for all his unconventional choices, and who has also made a mark internationally bagged an honorary award at the opening gala night for his "incredible body of work".
Irrfan Khan may not generally ‘care about awards’ but he looked chuffed while accepting this one.
The other recipients of awards at the ceremony were, Cate Blanchett (Carol, Elizabeth: The Golden Age), Sir Patrick Stewart (Star Trek and X-Men franchises) and Egyptian writer Wahid Hamed (the Yacoubian Building).
The lineup at DIFF includes Indian films like Anup Singh's Song of Scorpions, Dipesh Jain's In the Shadows and Piyush Panjuani's 5 Rupyah (5 rupees). Iranian auteur Majid Majidi's Beyond the Cloud featuring Ishaan Khatter in his debut role and Malavika Mohanan will also be screened.
The festival’s opening and closing films are Scott Cooper’s Hostiles, starring Christian Bale and Rosamund Pike and Star Wars: The Last Jedi, respectively.
Indian actors, Shabana Azmi and Sonam Kapoor are also attending the festival.
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